Ezzard Charles, The Thread

1953

 

Certainly his results would endorse your opinion.

 

A lot of these guys (Greb, Tunney and Jones Jr come to mind) have a chance with him but individually I like his chances against them all.

 

I think he slipped out of his best after he was knocked out by Walcott but returned to his best condition for Marciano 1, then promptly fell out again and gained the weight back

Charles' best weight was 180-185. Also in 1955 he started having signs of ALS which caused him to drop off fast. What happened afterwards is a tragedy, someone should've forced him to retire

I'll give the thread a read

 

Charles is the GOAT at LHW and I can't see anyone except perhaps Tunney beating him

I still favor Charles over Tunney.

His resume is wonderful and underrated. I rank him 5th p4p, above Sam Langford himself and below Henry Armstrong. Charles' heavyweight reign was short but full of quality and his LHW resume is unmatched. He was probably dodged by SRR and MW and he grew up in a hard division with the likes of Maxim and the black murderer's row out and about.

Some of the best ring generalship, handspeed and combos in the heavyweight division. Great counterpuncher, good stamina, warrior

 

I voted:
Harry Greb - stylistic nightmare for Charles, he would win at-least once IMO (thinking in series terms, since Charles at his best beats them all IMO).
Fitzsimmons - has the power and mind to exploit any vulnerability or sluggishness, though it is admittedly slim. He's just too great to count out.
Other - Dwight Qawi could also take a win in a series. Great pressuring defense and Jab makes it very awkward for Ezzard IMO.

Others like Spinks and Jones could also win in a series, but I found these more unlikely.

 

I'm a changed man.

 

I'd love to see Fitzsimmons strategy against him. Charles beat extremely good (arguably the best) puncher in Moore more than once, so it would be really hard for Bob to overcome such a big obstacle.

On the other hand, Fitz was a strategist. Maybe he would find a vulnerability in Ezzard's style. Then of course, Fitz power is legendary and he's always dangerous - for a whole fight.

 

Agreed, however, I see this as more consequential in a rematch. In the first, I see Ezzard consistently outjabbing him for a decision.