Ezzard Charles was the number 2 ranked middleweight at the end of 1941 ,Tony Zale was Champ,Georgie Abrams the number 1 contender. Charles was the number3 ranked light heavyweight end of 1942. Gus Lesnevich was the Champ,Jimmy Bivins number 1 contender ,Anton Cristoforidis number 2 ,Charles number3. Skip to 1946. Lesnevich is still Champ,Billy Fox is number 1,Charles is number2. 1947 Lesnevich Champ ,number 1 contender Charles. My question is had Charles been give title shots in both the middleweight division and the light heavyweight when he was a top ranked contender ,would he have won the titles in those two divisions ,before going up to heavyweight where he won the vacant title against Walcott,thereby emulating Bob Fitzsimmons feat of winning the three top weight divisions?
He definitely beats Lesenvich. I mean, he already did it. Zale could be an interesting fight, as Charles' weakness at 160 was that he didn't belong there. The weight cut seemed to kill his stamina, and he'd obviously be taking some big body shots in a fight with Zale. That said, I think Zale looks pretty sloppy on film and I think Charles was several levels above him. Even as middleweight. Yeah, I he does it.
It's hard to bet against, given the stats Charles compiled (pretty much from the get-go). They're just insane. So, yes - given the opportunity, he wins those championships.
Yeap I think he would. Zale would be tough but still favour Charles and he showed he was the best light heavy at that time title or not.
I can see him doing it. It is Ezzard Charles we're talking about, great below heavyweight, extremely good at Heavyweight.
I'd call af fight with Zale in '41 or '42 a tossup. Tony was at his peak and Charles was still a little bit green as evidenced by his tough outings against Overlin and Tunero. He definitely would have beaten Lesnevich or Maxim at any time in their careers. And we know what happened at heavyweight!
