Ezzard Charles

At his peak, he was like a larger version of Sugar Ray Robinson. Fantastic fighter, the best LHW of all time for my money, based both on head to head(though it's close) and resume. His resume is behind only guys like Harry Greb and Sam Langford all time. #6 P4P of all time for me.

 

Charles was well past his prime when Marciano beat him. His prime was years earlier at Light Heavyweight.

 

he absolutely would. i see charles as 2-3 all time for the weight class.

 

Charles' career you need to look at closely through the lense at light-heavyweight. He never won the title at that weight, but he fought many greats who were champions at the weight, either previously or after Charles fought them.

Walcott, Maxim, Bivins, Marshall, and Moore. He fought most of those opponents more than once. Charles wasn't unbeaten at the weight, but he was consistent and had strong longevity.

Charles was past it at heavyweight, but he finally won the title, something he never unfortunatley accomplished at his prime weight.

 

Because he was never given a shot, despite beating everyone there was to beat.

 

Ezzard Charles was one cut away from beating Marciano a few more hits to the nose, he would've been the first two time heavyweight champ.

 

Thats just myth making from the media to build up the story. Both the Ref and the Doc said they were not going to stop the fight, because it was a championship fight. The so call story of the ref letting 1 more round go is in fact, myth making, never happen.

 

Thanks for clearing it up, they've had this fight on some documentary and said it was almost stopped.

 

Charles beat future Hall-of-Famers all the way from middleweight to heavyweight during a span of over a decade. He faced nearly every elite fighter of his era, white or black, which is a significant distinction amongst his peers, and in his mercuric peak in the mid-to-late '40s at light heavyweight, he was one of the most devastating, dominant forces the division has ever seen. Unfortunately, he was denied a title shot there, as he had been when he was #1 middleweight contender as a young man in the early '40s, but his subsequent move to the heavyweight division proved immensely fruitful, finally producing a world championship, along with his memorable rivalry with Jersey Joe Walcott, and two thrilling, gallant performances in losses to Marciano. Charles beat revered Hall-of-Famers like Archie Moore (three times), Charley Burley (twice), Jersey Joe Walcott (twice), Jimmy Bivins (four times), Lloyd Marshall (twice), Joey Maxim (five times!), along with a host of other quality contenders, many of whom were avoided by other champions. In terms of multi-division accomplishments and depth and quality of the opposition beaten, I think Charles ranks near the very top of the list, and a reasonable case could be made for him over absolutely anyone. I consider him a definite top three all-time light heavyweight, top 20 all-time heavyweight, and top 15 pound-for-pound in the history of the sport.

 

Yeah I did say that, "he never won the title" which doesn't necessarily mean I'm saying he got a shot at the title. And I also mentioned he beat many fighters who were champions at the weight which covers your "despite beating everyone there was to beat"

"He never won the title at that weight, but he fought many greats who were champions at the weight, either previously or after Charles fought them"

 

Trully one of the finest fighters of all-time, and imo a lok for number 1 ATG at LHW. Was the absolute best in a golden era at 175