This. The Bruno jab alone is a huge obstacle to avoid and to take for big guys, a smaller skilled fighter like Charles won't last long, he's simply not strong enough or powerful enough to get Bruno's respect. 4 rounds max
P4P Charles is of course the superior fighter - but the sheer physicality he's up against here would be a huge problem. Maybe if Bruno was the world's poorest boxer, Charles could pull it off - but he wasn't really. Not even Lewis was able to outbox him - but we're supposed to believe, tiny Charles is going to teach him a boxing lesson? Not very likely, imo! I see Bruno being too big, too strong - and with a left jab that would prevent Charles from getting set to do much of anything. Bruno by stoppage - and probably early.
Charles is a better boxer than Lennox, far better in fact. Not better HW fighter overall, but it's harder to outbox Charles than Lewis.
P4P there's an argument, as a HW he isn't because of the height and reach. In fact Lennox is probably faster than Charles anyway. And we're talking about 10 inches of reach Also Bruno outboxed everyone he faced in the early going bar Tyson and he did catch Tyson in that first fight. Simply put, Charles would need steroids or some form of bulking program to function as a HW in this era. Otherwise he'd just got bullied. He has no advantage at any angle weighing 180lbs. On the outside he has a big heavy jab thrown in double to chest and jaw. Inside he gets ragdolled. 60lbs of muscle mass would continually be pushing him off balance
Prime Frank Bruno (82-83, 85, 87-88, 91-92 or 94-95) never once lost in the ring. He is widely renowned for having the best jab in HW history (think the snap of Ali, the force of Liston and the variation of Holmes). His power is regularly discussed as being top 5 minimum. His chin, during his prime years outlined above, stood up to every punch thrown at it. Any fight with Prime Burno only goes one way. He jabs you against the ropes and unloads his bombs all over you. Bruno ko is the very obvious pick here.
No, he's not. It's not even close in fact. Who did he fought that was even close to Charles as a boxer? Because Charles outboxed quite a few better boxers than Bruno. Charles fought against fighters 30-40 lbs bigger than him, I don't think there is huge difference in that.
You kind of had to overpower Bruno to win. He never lost a decision. Really only came close once - had the Spoon fight lasted 12. Bruno wasn't like David Tua, who didn't lose that often but was routinely down or even on the cards when he rallied to score a KO late. Anyone with a decent jab and some movement could win rounds against Tua. Jeff Wooden and David Izon nearly pulled it off. But Bruno was never really outboxed over the distance by anyone. As others have said, his jab was a weapon. I don't know if Ezzard Charles overpowers Bruno. I'd make Bruno the favorite, for sure.
The best jab in Heavyweight history ? Power top 5 ? Chin stood up to every punch ? Any fight with a prime Bruno only goes one way ? Is this Donald Trump's 4th of July speech set to a Bruno beat ? I saw every one of Frank Bruno's professional fights as well as his very fortunate win over Rudi Pika in the ABA Finals. As a Boxing fan in the 80's it was almost a legal requirement. The guy you're describing would not have avoided David Pearce nor ducked a re-match with Stewart Lithgo or been knocked spark out on his feet by Jumbo Cummings.
