Which one do you rank higher: Ezzard Charles or Floyd Patterson at heavyweight?

Patterson’s best offical win at HW is Ingo? Oscar? Ezz beat Walcott twice. I would say at HW Ezz had the better wins and was probably the better fighter of the two.

 

Didn't Charles have a busload of successful title defenses? Patterson avoided too many challengers

 

Patterson was a good fighter until the end of his long career. He had good wins on the way up (Moore) and after he held the title (Machen, Chuvalo, Cooper, Bonavena) and he beat Jimmy Ellis but got robbed. He was the first ever to win the heavyweight title twice. Charles suffered a steep decline after his two bouts with Marciano and suffered losses to untalented journeymen. Patterson NEVER lost to a bad fighter. I go with Floyd over Ezzard on the merits.

 

I would say Charles because he was the better champion. He was a busy, active title reign. Ezzard beat Joe Louis to legitimize his crown. I dont know of any significant contenders that Charles put on ice. Also when he lost the crown The Cincinnati Cobra came back and had two terrific fights with younger Rocky Marciano. Charles fought great and came close to winning his belt back at an advanced age against an allitme great.
Charles was a better fighter than Patterson. Floyd was more fun to watch. Charles was just perfection and thats.boring.

 

Yep,,,I like a prime Floyd to beat Charles at heavyweight in a great fight

 

Two of the grandest gentlemen the game has ever known. They had different strengths and different vulnerabilities and used the strengths to their best advantage. Both skillful boxers but I'd give the edge to Charles. Both very good punchers, but the edge goes to Patterson. Floyd was vulnerable to the big punchers. Charles did well against them. I would say that Charles had the better title reign. Even though his reign was shorter, he was more consistent against a better quality of challengers. Incidentally, Patterson during his prime years was someone we seldom saw in the ring. From the time of his first bout with Ingo in 1959 (TKO by 3) he appeared in the ring once in the Johansson rematch in 1960 (KO 5), twice in 1961 - Ingo (KO 6) ,and McNeeley (KO 4), once in 1962 - Liston (KO by 1) and ditto for 1963. Twenty rounds over four years. And he suffered three of his stoppage losses during this time. It has been said, and I agree, that many of Floyd's best victories came after he had lost the title. And when it comes to longevity, few can match Floyd's record. From the time he won the title until his last fight, he was either champion or a highly ranked contender throughout. Charles declined significantly after the Marciano fights. But overall, h2h, I would give the edge to Charles and if they fought a series I could easily see it looking like the Charles-Walcott series. Now, if Floyd's title challengers had included Zora Folley, Eddie Machen, and maybe Cleveland Williams and if he had been victorious over all of them (I would pick him over all three, with Williams a question mark) that would change the argument significantly!