A 19 year old teenager recording 2 wide decision wins over a hall of fame ATG middleweight in his prime Super Impressive Promoter Jake Mintz didn't want to throw Ezzard in the ring with burley. Ezzard was a replacement for ken overlin. But Chris Dundee told Mintz "Charles is a boy who can't miss being champ one day". Mintz replied " burleys a hell of a fighter and no high school kid should get near him outside of asking for his autograph" In Charles book this victory made ringside observer Ray Arcel claim" "Charles is a legitimately great fighter"...soon after he became Charles trainer
Ezzard Charles as a young MW sensation who was so great a MW beat the great Charley Burley twice in his 29th and 30th fight. This young edition of Ezzard Charles would most likely beaten the MW edition of Ray Robinson IMO...The only fighter who beat young Ezzard during this time was Ken Overlin, a creaky old veteran who was nicknamed "the poor man's version of Harry Greb", because of his non stop windmill style....When the prime Ken Overlin heard the nickname given him, he retorted " I'm convinced that Harry Greb would have licked me and my top contender, both of us in the same night with no rest between fights" !...The more we learn about Greg, the more surreal he becomes...But Ezzard Charles was one of the great fighters of alltime in his LH prime. And a helluva gentleman to boot...
It should be pointed out that Ezzard Charles had a size advantage over Charley Burley, who had fought as a welterweight or a small middleweight during his career at the time of his bouts with Charles. That being said, Charles should be given some credit for beating Burley, a more experienced fighter. - Chuck Johnston
A side note here, I had the privilege to be trained by Ezzards army boxing mate Gil Mitchell sr who always saw Charles as the greatest LH who ever put on the gloves, he having been a master boxer himself.
