RSSChuck Wilburn
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Cleveland’s Chuck Wilburn: Talent and Tragedy
He was a good prospect out of Cleveland in the early 70s. The fortunes of Chuck Wilburn looked bright when he turned pro in 1970. He lost his second fight to Mike Harris but he stopped Harris in a rematch. He then went up to New England and beat some tough veterans like Beau Jaynes and Winston Noel. He then got a couple of wins at Madison Square Garden’s Felt Forum.
In July of 1972 Chuck appeared at the main Garden. His opponent was an up and coming fighter from Puerto Rico named Esteban DeJesus. Wilburn had a record of 10-1 when he entered the ring to face DeJesus. After ten rounds DeJesus won a rather one sided decision. Four months later DeJesus would hand the great Roberto Duran his first loss. In fact it was Duran’s only loss at lightweight. Esteban is a potential Hall Of Famer so a loss to him was nothing to be ashamed of.
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