"If you have to give Charles all of the advantages that Ward had, you're admitting that Charles as he was couldn't compete with Ward" Im not admitting that, i said i would take Charles. I would favor him even more so if he had all those advantages. However (and im not saying this is the absolute right way to do this), in hypothetical matchups i personally try to account in the advantages and disadvantages for boxers born in very different time periods and when this hypothetical match takes place.
Would you argue Charles as one of the best natural fighters of all time? He started young and with minimum quality amateur experience.
Amateur wise, Ezz had an excellent run. He apparently went undefeated, although there was some dispute about that due to rival promoters claiming words to the effect of "our boy licked him once, he could do it again", or even plainly just calling the record a myth, saying he lost at least four or five times. Although, the papers all said he was undefeated for his entire career before his loss to Overlin. I tend to believe he picked up one or two losses. He won something pretty substantial at featherweight while very young, but I can't remember what it was and I can't find anything on it. Anywho, Charles won plenty of regional/state tournaments while young, moving up through lightweight to middleweight. He was going through it easily, winning Diamond Belts, AAUs, Golden Gloves and others. He was boxing for about ten years before turning pro. But to answer your question, absolutely. As well as being one of the most skilled fighters ever, he was one of the most talented. He was wicked fast, hit like a truck, had bags of stamina, extremely tough was strong enough to compete with guys like Moore and Bivins, and was incredibly comfortable in the ring.
The 42-0 amateur record we have heard about for years, is just a myth. Only a couple of months ago Henry Hascup wrote this on another forum: Ezzard Charles lost at least 6 times as an amateur, and fought a draw at least once: He lost to Jim Shuffelberger on December 2, 1936, He lost to Johnny Castro on March 3, 1937 in the Golden Gloves He lost to Freddy Lewis on April 13, 1937 He lost to Arthur Dorrell on March 1, 1938 in the Golden Gloves He lost to Dodo Woods on March 26, 1938. He lost to Sam Amico on March 28, 1938 He also fought a draw against Bill Brown on November 13, 1936 Just last week, BoxRec updated his profile to include these amateur losses.