Enlighten me about Ezzard charles:

I've only seen a few fights, but i'd say he's a boxer who was an expert of the subtleties of the sweet science. His defense, footwork, handspeed, power, and accuracy, along with ring intelligence were what made up his strengths and style. His chin is hard to rate. He was beaten up by a great fighter named Lloyd Marshall (who he later stopped twice) but past his best, went 15 rounds with Rocky Marciano, losing a very, very close decision. Other than that, from what i've seen and heard, he had no weaknesses. Many say he stopped throwing power shots after he killed Sam Baroudini, which at that state of his career would be a flaw. He's rated so highly because his opposition may be the best of any boxer. he beat A. Moore (3x), C. Burley (2x), J. Louis, J. Joe Walcott (2x), J. Bivins (3x), L. Marshall (2x), Joey Maxim (5x), Freddie Mills, Gus Lesnevich, Bob Satterfield, Elmer Ray, Jose Basora, Rex Layne, and many others. That's 21 wins over fellow hall-of-famers.

 

Agree with the above post. Charles was one of the best P4P fighters ever, and probably the best LHW of all time. At HW, he's a bit underrated, like Evander Holyfield, because he followed a well-known, popular champ. Nonetheless, until relatively recently, he was still ranked by some in the top ten.

When I think of "complete fighter," Charles is one of the guys who comes to mind. Like the "five tool player" in baseball, Charles excelled in all aspects of the game. At HW, his chin was a bit of a weakness, but not so much at the lower weights.

 

Like i said, his expertise was in the subtleties of boxing, so i don't think he impresses that much on first look of him, but when you watch what he does a few times, you'll see his greatness. Few fighters i have ever seen were as skilled technically as "The Cincinnatti Cobra."There isn't much film of him as a lightheavy, which is unfortunate. Truly a P4P great, I usually put him at #11, and top 10 sometimes.

 

Charles is one of the greatest of all time his resume is incredible probably only second to that of Greb and Langford's. He is widely regarded as the greatest light heavy ever and to think possibly the second greatest light heavy Archie Moore lost to Charles three times he beat the best from middle to heavy. He was beating ATG like Burley when he was only 21, he could do everything he fought like a bigger Ray Robinson except he was a better infighter and probably a little less durable.

 

Agreed. Charles was a for real, no-nonsense great fighter, whose heart, balls and work ethic, unlike Roy Jones and Floyd Mayweather led him to fight so many times, like a warrior, against so many bad assed animals and quality fighters in his time. His classy, skilled beating of Joe Louis, even an old Joe Louis is a fight that always fascinated me. He pulled himself together, at a time past his own prime, to give The Rock his toughest battle, being the ONLY man to go 15, and stay on his feet against Marciano. Charles was a smallish (one of his few deficits, though one he couldn't help) heavyweight with catlike skill, balls and a punch. He was criticised for being a bit too cautious, like against Walcott, but that's the sign of being a smart fighter, especially against a dangerous cutie like Walcott. Overall, a truly great fighter, especially at lightheavy, but also at heavyweight.

 

Superbly skilled fighter who could do practically everything, feint, slip, counter punch, good at mid range and on the inside and he could bang aswell. Very good at middleweight, the best 175 of all-time and a fantastic heavy aswell. His resume speaks for itself, 2 wins over Charley Burley, 5 over Joey Maxim, 4 over Jimmy Bivins, 2 over Jersey Joe Walcott, 3 over Archie Moore and wins over Gus Lesnevich and Joe Louis aswell. Definately top 10 p4p of all-time in my eyes.