How successful/unsuccessful would Charles be ,if he'd been a heavy contender at the start of the 30s ? Right in there with schmeling ,Sharkey ,Max Bear etc ? Could he cancel out those guys title reign s ?
Fair comment. If he'd became champ with the vacant title ,after Tunney ,who'd you see at that point beating him.? Let's say he gets put in against Max S or Sharkey .We'll take it as the Charles that beat Walcott for the vacant belt .
I think that he could split a series with Sharkey, Schmeling, and possibly even somebody like Risko. I could see a lot of possible outcomes in the scenario that you describe.
I disagree with you here.. No way does risko beat a late 1940s Ezzard Charles. Charles is on a whole different planet skill and speed wise..he wins a wide decision over risko I think Charles also beats sharkey every time...he just looks better on film. Sharkey didn’t always come in the ring in shape either Schmeling Charles..that would be a close evenly contested fight Baer has a punchers chance vs Charles, but that’s it..he loses if he can’t knock him out
Here is how I would look at it. Charles was good enough to beat Walcott, but beatable enough to lose to men like Ray and Layne. If we implant him on the 1930s he is going to have good days and bad days, and he is going to come up against some controversial officiating at some point. What that tells me is that he is probably good enough to beat guys like Schmeling or Baer on the day, but beatable enough to lose to guys like Risko or Loughran on an off day, especially if the judges favor his opponent.
Thats true regardin charles,he may put in a good day then the next fight lose .on his best days i see him beatin sharkey by late ko .And also Primo .Max S could be difficult ,maybe a couple of fights with him either way.Baer another hard one ,could be a classic .
I’m talking the late 40s prime Charles, who was very consistent. The early 50s Charles was still a great fighter but past his prime. He beat the heck out of layne in two out of 3 fights, and the 2nd fight was some serious hometown cooking. Charles didn’t start to become erratic until the early 50s as his legs declined, and he’d put up a great performance followed by a dud...he still mustered a few great Performances left until 1954 post Marciano..he was only putting up duds. But check out Charles vs Valentino 1949..that’s the prime Ezzard at his best.
