Ezzard Charles vs Roy Jones Jr

???

Charles looks awesome in footage.

 

But not more awesome than Jones, imo!

 

Level of opposition can flatter to deceive.

 

Roy Jones Jr fought a literal garbage collector and a postman.

His opposition is nothing compared to Charles.

 

The Cobra by knockout, Charles is a level above Jones at Light heavyweight

 

Very close fight imo. I'm not as convinced Charles wins as others. At 175, I'll give the slight edge to Charles. At 168, I don't pick anybody to beat Jones.

 

I don’t find Jones unbeatable at SMW (but that is a seperate thread), but I do agree he had an almost perfect blend of speed and power at this size. At LHW I am not sold on Jones as a great and pick Charles.

Not many I would pick over Jones at 168 and they are minority picks that are biased (and not a philly bias either). Over 12 rds at 168 you might need to be perfect to beat Jones he really was that good.

 

Nice, I was going to ask you who you might pick to beat Jones at 168, but I'm thinking I'll just make a thread and see who you pick there I do agree with you on the 175 and Charles being greater, he's greater there. I just think that sometimes being better at a certain weight because you have a larger and more impressive body of work, doesn't mean you'll beat someone with less of a resume there. Most times one would, but there are exceptions. Jones may not be, I guess I just have a hard time seeing most beat him from 168-175 at his best. I guess Charles might be one of them though.

 

Bump

 

Ezzard Charles is one of the very few LHWs that I would favor over RJJ. Just too skilled, crafty, tough, and well rounded, which is enough to overcome the athleticism and speed of RJJ. I could see this being a highly competitive fight until Charles makes the adjustments and knocks RJJ out.

 

If someone asked me this in 1994 or throughout the 90s, I would have said Jones because he impressed me that greatly. He had amazing speed and reflexes, had one punch KO power, was unorthodox and could do things fundamentally wrong, but it would still come out right. Nobody knew how to solve this back then. Maybe they were too wary of his big punch? I guess because of the Tarver KO loss, and the subsequent KO losses after that, there will always be doubt regarding Roy's chin. I get that. Was it because he went to heavyweight, then, came all the way back down to light heavy and lost all that weight in a short time that weakened him so badly, I don't know. Or was it just that he was too fast and punched too hard that nobody was able or brave enough to expose his weak chin until finally, he began to slow down just enough to where he couldn't get away with the same mistakes anymore and guys were finally able to tag him....? I've seen Charles fight. My dad was big on him. I think he was a traditional style fighter, a plodder, could punch, good speed, (I wouldn't say great). Still, I guess I trust his chin over Roy's and I guess Ezzard would KO him at some point...

 

His footwork was fundamental, but I wouldn't call him a plodder.

He was a calculated plodder at Heavy, though.

 

I agree with that. Maybe plodder wasn't the correct word. He moved a little better on his feet than that....

 

Sometimes I think this forum really underrates Roy and overrated Charles. Even as a top-tier ATG, he wasn’t the unbeatable, flawless specimen he’s made out to be here.

 

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!