{{short description|English boxer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox boxer | name = Curley Walker | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | realname = | nickname = | weight = Flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight | height = <!-- "X ft Y in" or "X cm" (conversions are automatic) --> | reach = <!-- "X in" or "X cm" (conversions are automatic) --> | nationality = British | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1894|02|04|}} | birth_place = Lambeth, London, England | death_date = 1973<!-- {{death date and age|year of death|month of death|day of death|year of birth|month of birth|day of birth}} --> | death_place = | style = | total = 106 | wins = 55 | KO = 12 | losses = 41 | draws = 10 | no contests = | medaltemplates = | show-medals = }} '''Curley Walker''' (4 February 1894 – 1973) was a British boxer who was British bantamweight champion between 1914 and 1915.
==Career== Born in Bermondsey and based in Bermondsey, Cornelius "Curley" Walker made his professional debut in August 1909. In his first three years as a pro he had around 30 fights, losing only to Young Major, Louis Ruddick, and Jimmy Berry. In September 1912 he unsuccessfully challenged for Sid Smith's British flyweight title, losing on points over 20 rounds.
He moved up to bantamweight and in April 1914 faced Digger Stanley in a fight for the British title that had been postponed from January after Stanley broke his foot.<ref>{{cite news |title=Boxing News and Notes |work=Daily Mirror |date=28 January 1914 |accessdate=28 August 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19140128/162/0014| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Stanley was disqualified in the thirteenth round for persistent holding, giving Walker the title.<ref name="Ledoux">"[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90517469 Ledoux Defeats Walker]", ''Bendigo Advertiser'', 1 July 1914, p. 7. Retrieved 28 August 2015</ref><ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19140422&id=A7RVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T5cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2665,1192120&hl=en Digger Stanley v Curley Walker]", ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 22 April 1914, p. 9. Retrieved 28 August 2015</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Walker Beats Stanley |work=Daily Mirror |date=21 April 1914 |accessdate=28 August 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19140421/188/0018| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Two months later he lost to former European champion Charles Ledoux and in December drew with Joe Fox.<ref name="Ledoux" />
He was due to defend his title against Berry in November 1915 but no longer able to make bantamweight he relinquished his title in October and moved up to featherweight.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bantam-Weight Challenge: Jimmy Berry, of Newcastle, Selected by N.S.C. |work=Birmingham Gazette |date=11 October 1915 |accessdate=28 August 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000669/19151011/085/0003| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Win for Curley Walker |work=Aberdeen Evening Express |date=24 October 1916 |accessdate=28 August 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000445/19161024/050/0004| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=All Sorts of Sport |work=Evening Despatch |date=26 October 1916 |accessdate=28 August 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000671/19151026/130/0006| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He won all four of his fights that year, but in 1916 lost to Mike Honeyman (disqualified for butting) and Johnny McIntyre.<ref>{{cite news |title=Curley Walker v Mike Honeyman: Walker Disqualified |work=Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer |date=18 April 1916 |accessdate=28 August 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000445/19161024/050/0004| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In October 1916 he beat Bob Cotton in a British featherweight title eliminator but didn't go on to challenge for the title.<ref>{{cite news |title="Feathers" Fly: A Spirited Contest Between Cotton and Walker |work=Birmingham Gazette |date=24 October 1916 |accessdate=28 August 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000669/19161024/052/0002| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
From 1917 onwards his career went into decline. He won a few fights against less experienced opponents but in an 18-month period between 1917 and 1919 he won only one of eight fights. Between December 1920 and January 1922 he lost eleven straight fights. He continued until April 1923, never repeating his earlier success.
Walker served as a private in the British Army during World War I.<ref>{{cite news |title=To-day's Boxing |work=Daily Mirror |date=7 January 1918 |accessdate=28 August 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19180107/025/0002| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://www.boxinghistory.org.uk/records/15947-Curley-Walker-Bermondsey.pdf Career record] at boxinghistory.org.uk *{{BoxRec|18015}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Curley}} Category:1894 births Category:1973 deaths Category:English male boxers Category:Bantamweight boxers Category:Flyweight boxers Category:Featherweight boxers Category:Boxers from the London Borough of Lambeth Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British Army soldiers Category:20th-century English sportsmen