Very tactical fight and probably one that wouldn’t be too appealing to the casual fan. Lots of non stop movement and skill. A real chess match. I’m thinking that Young’s allusive style may actually prompt Charles to be the aggressor and the pursuer here. Young has the advantages of height, reach and weight. Both were very durable . Despite Young’s awkward and frustrating style, I don’t think there’s any type of fighter that Ezzard hasn’t faced in his long mixed bag career. He was a man who literally saw it all. My guess is that the margin of victory is razor thin and very difficult to judge and referee. The outcome may depend largely on who’s officiating. I’m leaning toward Charles ever so slightly by decision but not with any certainty.
Charles was not as high volume a fighter as was Frazier...and Joe Frazier is the lone fighter in my estimation who would have beaten a master negative defense virtuoso as Young. Young frustrates, counters and bamboozles Charles en route to a decision win. This fight would be something of a heavyweight Angott-Pep bout.
I may not agree with your prediction but I'm liking your comment for referring to the Angott-Pep fight.
I think Charles had just the right mix of defensive acumen coupled with good power and intelligent pressure to offset Young's slickness and win on points. A chinstroker more than an edge of your seat type of fight but it would be a good cerebral battle.
Could go either way though I lean towards Charles,,only thing I'd be confident of is it goes to the scorecards.
You’d have to go Charles, but with some apprehension, IMO. I’m looking at his mixed bag with Walcott as my baseline. Young isn’t going to knock Charles senseless as Walcott did once, but he could win a decision on one of his better nights. Still, Charles has all the proven feats on his side here, & did well enough against Walcott (whom I consider Young’s superior) to start favourite.
