Charlie Polite

[Adeyinka]

The personification of the term 'journeyman' who fought and lost to an up and coming Joe Frazier and to Bob Foster amongst many. Was born in Massachussetts. Would love to talk to him....

[Austin]

Adeyinka,

I knew Charlie Polite many years ago when I trained with Eddie “Redtop” Owens. From time to time Polite would drop in the gym to work out. He was a very nice person, with a sense of humor. One evening he was working out with Eddie, he tapped Redtop on the shoulder to break. As Eddie stepped back, he dropped the surprised Owens with a sneak right. He thought it was a big joke and laughed. Eddie didn’t think it was so funny. I heard he passed away a few years ago from a heart attack.

Austin

[Adeyinka]

Thank you kindly for your response. I checked a few references to note if he was still alive or contactible.

I had wanted to speak to him in regard to my biography on Frankie DePaula. Apparently, Polite hosted Frankie at his home on the night before a bout Frankie was having in New England and drove him to the fight.

Why is this mundane matter of great importance? It was an alibi at a trial Frankie was involved in; regarding the heist of copper bars in New Jersey.

Thanks again Austin.

[kenmore]

Charlie Polite is or was from western Massachusetts.

In the '70s, while I was in my early teens, I would sometimes work out in the gym in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where Charlie Polite had been a Golden Glover 10 or 15 years earlier. The coaches at the gym remembered Charlie and thought highly of him. If I remember correctly, Charlie's photo was one of three hanging on the gym walls, the other two being of Eddie Owens and welterweight Ted Whitfield.

I never met Charlie personally but I certainly remember seeing his name in "Ring Magazine" often enough.

Adeyinka: a good way for you to try to track Charlie Polite down would be by contacting the operators of the boxing gym at the Holyoke, Massachusetts Boys Club, if it's still open. Another option would be for you to contact the sports editors at the local newspaper, the Springfield, Massachusetts "Republican".

Here's the newspaper's link:
http://www.masslive.com/republican/

You might also ask John "Ice Man" Scully if knows where Charlie Polite is these days. Scully is from the Connecticut/western Massachusetts area and he has extensive contacts with the boxing community there.