Nice Mike Casey article on Ezzard Charles

Does anyone know when the boxing ethos changed regarding losses?

Back then an unbeaten guy was pretty much seen as an untested guy.

Today an unbeaten guy seems to be what all the promoters are chasing.

 

he was a light heavy for about 18 months. charles was HW champ by 1949.

 

Yes his victory over bivins was his last as a lhw, it was in 49 I believe.

Name me one lhw better than charles from 46-49. Use whatever criteria you so desire.

 

1948 charles never scaled within the LH limit. 1949 charles never scaled within the lightheavyweight limit. Bivins was a real crusier weight in 1946 when he met charles. Jimmy had been an interim heavyweight champion and was rated exclusivly as a heavyweight since 1942.

Charles was better than all the lightheavyweights in 48 and 49 but he was not a lightheavyweight at that time. Its like saying Floyd patterson was the best lightheavyweight on the planet from 1953-1961. Because floyd was once a lightheavyweight (and like ezzard rated at #1 in that division as the outstanding contender) before ruling as a heavyweight shouldnt that make floyd the best lightheavyweight for a period? Floyd beat Moore for the heavyweight title but it may as well have been for the lightheavyweight title since october 1955 floyd was a lightheavyweight and #1 contender at lighthevayweight.

 

From May 46 - May 49 he beat the following in LHW fights: moore, Marshall, Smith, Smith, Moore, Marshall, Fitzpatrick, Moore, Baroudi, Bivins.

Who else during them 3 years can compete with that run?

 

Agreed. He is a very good writer.

 

Bivins was over the LHW limit and ranked at HW in all three of their fights. In fact he was the #2 HW when Charles first beat him.

Charles was over the LHW limit in all but one of these meetings.

Ezzard Charles, Cincinnati light heavyweight, toppled Jimmy Bivins from the leading heavyweight contenders ranks by slamming out a unanimous 10 round decision over his heavier opponent before 4,791 fans at the Gardens tonight. Bivins, weighing 186 - 11 pounds heavier than Charles

However your points stands. Charles was the logical best LHW in the world at that point.

What Choklab is failing to mention is that most top LHWs regularly mixed it up with HWs at this time. The divisions were really one in the same except when the LHW belt itself was on the line.

For instance, the LHW CHamp Gus spent the majority of 46-49 mixing it up with HW contenders and not doing nearly as well as Charles, good wins in beating Bettina and Mauriello but also dropping fights to Woodcock and Oma. Giving Billy Fox two title chances was also just stupid and pointless considering how rare he was defending the title and fighting below 175.

Charles may not have the belt but he was doing far better than Gus.

 

Yes but in any of these fights only a crazy person would call them a hw fight. Each guy was below 180 and very near to or at the title limit.

Bivins beat gus at 178 pounds. I think that's a clear indication that bivins is the premiere lhw. Some people are strict about the limit, i'm not.

 

:good HEGRANT has an agenda and is the first to jump on the against the 50's guys reason...How could Marciano be so good...after all he was not black

 

Charles was great and dangerous he was on a strong surge after KOing Coley Wallace and Bob Satterfield and was up for Marciano....every time I see fight 1 Marciano/Charles it amazes me how talented Charles was and how underrated Marciano is by some...Great 15 round fighters

 

exactly.:good there was no such thing as a "lightheavyweight" anyone over middle was regarded as a type of heavyweight and would all fight each other. The LH title was a stepping stone for the smaller end of the same division. The title existed but the division as we know it did not.

 

this of course being one of the signicant reasons these men were greater than the many fighters that would follow, when all this and divisions became further devided, stopped.

a time & fighters never to be seen again!

 

Nah, Bivins had not been ranked as a LHW since 1942. He had not been below the LHW limit for years and remained above the limit the rest of his career. He came in low for one Charles fight. But a HW is a HW.

Just a case of Charles mixing it up with anybody he could to make a fight with either Louis or Gus.

 

so much talent.