# Charlie Magri

Carmel Magri (born 20 July 1956), who boxed under the name Charlie Magri, is a British former professional boxer. He is from a Tunisian family that settled in Mile End, London, where he grew up. During his professional career he held the WBC and lineal flyweight titles.

## Early life

Born Carmel Magri in Tunis, Tunisia in 1956 to Andre and Rose Magri, both of whom were born in Tunisia and had some French-Maltese heritage via their grandparents, Magri moved with his parents and six siblings to England in 1958, and Magri was raised (after moving house a couple of times) on the Burdett Estate in East London. Charlie Magri went to St Philip Howard RC Secondary School in Upper North Street E14. It has been demolished and is now a housing development.

## Amateur career

After playing for the Millwall F.C. youth team, which was captained by Jimmy Batten, who was already boxing regularly, Magri decided to take up boxing. As an amateur he boxed for Arbour Youth Boxing Club in Stepney Green and was trained by Jimmy Graham, who arranged for the name on Magri's ABA registration to be changed to Charlie when he was 11.
Charles first ever amateur bout was against Chris Genkins of the Orpington Boxing Club.
He gained the following ABA titles:
* ABA Youth Champion (Class A) - 1972
* ABA Youth Champion (Class B) - 1973
* ABA Light-flyweight Champion (48 kg) - 1974
* ABA Flyweight Champion (51 kg) - 1975
* ABA Flyweight Champion (51 kg) - 1976
* ABA Flyweight Champion (51 kg) - 1977
He also won a bronze medal at the 1975 European championships, and boxed for Great Britain in the 1976 Summer Olympics losing in the third round to Ian Clyde of Canada.

## 1976 Olympic results

Below are the results of Charlie Magri, a flyweight boxer, who competed for Great Britain at the 1976 Montreal Olympics:
* Round of 64: bye
* Round of 32: was awarded a victory by walkover versus Eric Quaotsey (Ghana)
* Round of 16: lost to Ian Clyde (Canada) by third-round knockout

## Professional career

Magri was 5 ft 3 in tall and had an exciting, aggressive style, being a two-handed puncher who did not care much for defence. He was managed by Terry Lawless.
While working as a tailor's cutter by day, he had his first professional fight in October 1977, at the age of twenty-one; He knocked out Neil Mclaughlin in the second round at the Royal Albert Hall.
In only his third fight he gained the vacant British flyweight title after his fight with Dave Smith was stopped in the seventh round, equalling Dick Smith's 63-year old record for becoming British champion in the fewest fights. In December 1977 he was voted Best Young Boxer by the Boxing Writers' Club.
In his twelfth fight, in May 1979, having won the previous eleven, he won on points against Franco Udella to take the European flyweight title. He won on points over twelve rounds at Wembley Arena.
In December 1979, he defended his European title against Manuel Carrasco, of Spain, winning on points. In June 1980, he defended it again, this time against Giovanni Camputaro of Italy, winning on a technical knockout in the third.
In February 1981, he defended his European title against Spaniard, Enrique Rodríguez, knocking him out in the second round. In September he fought a re-match with Rodríguez in Avilés, Spain, and again knocked him out in the second.

### World title

In March 1983, he fought Eleoncio Mercedes, of the Dominican Republic, for the WBC and lineal flyweight titles. The fight was at Wembley Arena and Magri won the titles when the fight was stopped in the seventh on cuts.
In September 1983, he defended his world titles against Frank Cedeno, of the Philippines. The fight was at Wembley Arena, and Magri lost his titles when the referee stopped the fight in the sixth, after Magri had been knocked down three times.

### Later fights

In his next fight, in August 1984, Magri fought for the vacant European flyweight title that he had previously relinquished. He fought Italian Franco Cherchi in Cagliari, Italy. Magri won in the first round when a clash of heads left the Italian so badly cut that the referee had to stop the fight.
In his next fight, in February 1985, he fought for the WBC flyweight title again. Since Magri had lost it, it had changed hands several times and was now held by Sot Chitalada of Thailand. The fight was held at the Alexandra Palace, London and Chitalada won on a technical knockout at the start of the fifth, after Magri's corner retired him due to cuts.
In October 1985, Magri fought a re-match against Franco Cherchi, in Alessandria, Italy, winning by a knockout in the second round.
In May 1986, Magri had his last fight, defending his European title against Duke McKenzie of Croydon. Magri had relinquished his British flyweight title in August 1981, and McKenzie was now the holder. The fight was stopped in the fifth round when Magri was knocked down and his manager, Lawless, threw in the towel when Magri beat the count.

## Professional boxing record

| 35 fights | 30 wins | 5 losses |
| By knockout | 23 | 5 |
| By decision | 7 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 35 | Loss | 30–5 | Duke McKenzie | RTD | 5 (12) | 1986-05-20 | Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K. | Lost EBU flyweight title |
| 34 | Win | 30–4 | Franco Cherchi | KO | 2 (12) | 1985-10-30 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Alessandria, Italy | Retained EBU flyweight title |
| 33 | Loss | 29–4 | Sot Chitalada | RTD | 4 (12) | 1985-02-20 | Alexandra Palace, Wood Green, England, U.K. | For WBC flyweight title |
| 32 | Win | 29–3 | Franco Cherchi | TKO | 1 (12) | 1984-08-24 | Cagliari, Italy | Won vacant EBU flyweight title |
| 31 | Loss | 28–3 | Frank Cedeno | TKO | 6 (12) | 1983-09-27 | Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K. | Lost WBC flyweight title |
| 30 | Win | 28–2 | Eleoncio Mercedes | TKO | 7 (12) | 1983-03-15 | Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K. | Won WBC flyweight title |
| 29 | Win | 27–2 | Jose Torres | PTS | 10 (10) | 1982-11-23 | Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K. | |
| 28 | Win | 26–2 | Enrique Rodríguez | TKO | 2 (12) | 1982-09-18 | Pabellón Deportivo de La Magdalena, Aviles, Spain | Retained EBU flyweight title |
| 27 | Loss | 25–2 | Jose Torres | TKO | 9 (10) | 1982-05-04 | Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K. | |
| 26 | Win | 25–1 | Ron Cisneros | TKO | 3 (10) | 1982-04-20 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 25 | Win | 24–1 | Cipriano Arreola | PTS | 10 (10) | 1982-03-02 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 24 | Loss | 23–1 | Juan Diaz | KO | 6 (10) | 1981-10-13 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Jose Herrera | KO | 1 (10) | 1981-06-20 | Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K. | |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Enrique Rodríguez | TKO | 2 (12) | 1981-02-24 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | Retained EBU flyweight title |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Santos Laciar | PTS | 10 (10) | 1980-12-08 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Enrique Castro | TKO | 1 (10) | 1980-10-14 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Alfonso López | PTS | 10 (10) | 1980-09-16 | Conference Centre, Wembley, England, U.K. | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Giovanni Camputaro | TKO | 3 (12) | 1980-06-28 | Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K. | Retained EBU flyweight title |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Aniceto Vargas | KO | 3 (10) | 1980-01-22 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Manuel Carrasco | UD | 12 (12) | 1979-12-04 | Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K. | Retained EBU flyweight title |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Candy Iglesias | TKO | 3 (10) | 1979-10-23 | Conference Centre, Wembley, England, U.K. | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Raul Pacheco | TKO | 6 (10) | 1979-09-25 | Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K. | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Freddie Gonzalez | KO | 3 (10) | 1979-05-29 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Franco Udella | SD | 12 (12) | 1979-05-01 | Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K. | Won EBU flyweight title |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Mike Stuart | KO | 3 (10) | 1979-02-20 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Filippo Belvedere | TKO | 1 (8) | 1979-01-23 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Mariano Garcia | KO | 3 (8) | 1978-12-05 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Claudio Tanda | TKO | 1 (8) | 1978-10-24 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Sabatino De Filippo | TKO | 7 (8) | 1978-09-12 | Conference Centre, Wembley, England, U.K. | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Manuel Carrasco | PTS | 8 (8) | 1978-04-25 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Dominique Cesari | RTD | 3 (8) | 1978-04-04 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Nessim Zebelini | TKO | 3 (8) | 1978-02-21 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Dave Smith | TKO | 7 (15) | 1977-12-06 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | Won vacant BBBofC flyweight title |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Bryn Griffiths | TKO | 2 (8) | 1977-11-15 | York Hall, Bethnal Green, England, U.K. | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Neil McLaughlin | KO | 2 (8) | 1977-10-25 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K. | |

## After boxing

Magri was the manager for super-featherweight boxer, Dean Pithie. Magri owned a sports shop on the Bethnal Green Road and later owned the Victoria pub in Bow, east London.
In 2017 he became a coach at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College's boxing academy.