How would Charles do vs the top fighters of the 70s? Would he be in the top 10? Would he be unheard of? Would he be champion?
He beats anyone not named Ali, Foreman, Frazier or Holmes. And he beats various, non-prime versions of Ali, Foreman and Frazier.
I know he'd be beastly at LHW, but he was heavyweight champion of the world in his era, so I'm wondering how he'd do in the 70s, especially since Quarry and Patterson didn't do so bad and they both were under 200 pounds. Joe Roman was also a ranked contender.
He would never weigh more than 175 in the 70s. Fighting Foster, Galindez and in the final yrs Franklin & co.
Unless yr name is Foreman or Liston, Smokin' Joe is the worst nightmare of all the heavyweights for the other champions. A nonstop bull threshing machine whose entire ring time is bent on yr destruction.Frazier stops Ezzard in 12 at the most. I would say 8.
I think he does awesome at heavyweight but only as a top tier contender. If we could get him back down to light heavy then he dominates that division
Interestingly, a fighter in Ezzard Charles's era and ring rival was Jersey Joe Walcott. Of fighters who won a version of the heavyweight title at some point, Jersey Joe Walcott lost 6 title fights. Andrew Golota and Frans Botha each appeared in four heavyweight world title bouts. The former was up against Lewis for the WBC trinket in '97, Byrd (IBF) and Ruiz (WBA) in 2004, as well as Lamon Brewster (WBO) in '05. Although Andrew didn't officially win any, he did draw against Byrd, who kept the title as the defending champion. Botha, meanwhile, went up against Schulz and Moorer for the IBF trinket in 1995 and 1996, respectively, before meeting Lewis in 2000 (WBC) and Klitschko in '02 (WBO). Frans initially got a split decision against Schulz which later was changed to a No Contest due to a failed drug test by the former; so zero victories for Frans. Given that, does Golota's draw, technically speaking, mean that Andrew has a slightly better record than Botha in four heavyweight title matches?
Charles was really wily and would be more skilled than anyone in the 70s P4P (outside of Duran perhaps). After FotC, I feel Frazier could be had and Charles could manufacture a way to do it. Ali would outgun him in every department, and Foreman is bound to land something fight changing at some point, but Ezzard Charles IMO could decision the post-FOTC Frazier and hold the title briefly.
He was a master boxer, and could beat anybody, anytime. I rate him 2nd under Jack Johnson, and Floyd Patterson 3rd.
He could maybe beat Quarry, Lyle but once we go in to Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton land , then he loses. No shame there and maybe apart from Foreman I can see Charles be moderately competitive with em.
