Is Ezzard Charles the GOAT?

He def has an argument. His list of wins is incredible and he got the greatest prize moving up to HW and catching that crown.

 

An argument can be made, sure. Ezzard was a marvel. Still, I'm of opinion that the GOAT status will always be to a certain extent relative to the weight you put on various universally accepted criteria. There were so many wondrous fighters that finding the best leads to an endless debate although surely Robinson comes as close as they get.

In my book being a candidate for the GOAT status is the highest reasonable praise for any boxer. Charles earned it fair and square.

 

Look at his resume:
Burley (2x), Maxim (5x), Moore (3x), Marshall (2x), Bivins (4x), Walcott (2x), Louis.
Resume, Longevity, Accomplishments or H2H. He had it all. Definitely Top 10 P4P and you can make a case for him being the #1 P4P, but guys like Robinson or Greb deserve it more imo.

 

He sure as hell has an argument, his resume speaks for itself.

 

Yeah the fact he captured so many titles in an era without catchweights, A side/B side bickering, the title wasn't split up into 4, and he managed to get all the way up to heavy despite suffering from ALS is insane. His career is like something out of a comic book and I have deep respect for him.

 

He has as strong a claim to all time P4P best as anyone … absurdly underrated , mostly forgotten fighter. Interestingly I saw an interview where Archie Moore favored Michael Spinks over Ezzard at 175.

 

Hell yeah he is for me...his resume is outright the toughest resume I have ever ever seen on any fighter. Not only that, he actually looked good and entertaining in film like SRR compared to guys like Harry Greb and Sam Langford. No one ever faced opposition this bloody tough.

 

What titles are you referring to GCC?

 

You can rearrange the top guys till the cows come home. Ezzard is one of them. Obviously there isn’t a right answer after a certain point.

 

And even the "after a certain point" is probably pretty fluid, considering how cultural preferences for what constitutes a "great" boxer seem to shift over time.

 

Honestly, Sam Langford.

 

He won quite a few of them in his amateur career from lightweight to middle. Then turned pro and went from light heavy all the way to heavyweight. It's insane.

 

There is nothing of Greb but him fooling around for a few seconds with a non-fighter not even in a real fight, nobody can judge anything on that. It would be like deciding Ali may not be very good because you think that D'Amato looked superior to him when he had Ali square off with him...

Langford is the one ancient boxer who I & many folks think looked excellent!

 

Is World Heavyweight Champeen the only title he won?