Jersey Joe Walcott vs. Ezzard Charles IV

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Fight #4 of this video begins at 57: 45

1. Charles making an attempt to sabotage Walcott's midsection. Walcott clinched more than in any of the previous fights. Charles.
5. Charles was the primary aggressor, jabbing and going to the body. Walcott predictably would counter before clinching afterwards. Walcott landed a solid but ineffective right before the bell. Charles.
9. Not an ATG round, but to be honest, one of my favorite exchanges ever. Walcott led with a left hook and followed with a right, but Charles remained composed. Just a few seconds later they traded heavy fireworks, Ez pounding away to JJ's midsection, and Walcott ripping shots to Charles' head. The exchange was ended by a left hook of Walcott's. They had another good exchange that was caught in a close-up (thank God). Walcott started with a right uppercut, and Charles closed the gap between them with a sound left hook, and Walcott retaliated with a left hook and two right hooks. An exchange that belonged to Walcott, but Charles was not hurt. Another good exchange came a little bit later, which did hurt Charles in my opinion. Charles came in throwing a right hook, and then a left. Charles attempted a second left hook, but Walcott countered with a right hand that knocked Charles off balance. Walcott chased after Charles, throwing a left hook, which Ez blocked. They proceeded to tee off inside quite a bit (Charles is the better in-fighter btw). Like I said, not ATG, but actually a pretty good round. Walcott.
12. They once again began fighting from a distance, although Walcott landed a right bolo in close. Both continued to land solid punches, but because of their excellent defense neither managed to hurt the other. Walcott's overhand right seemed the dominant punch of the fight, although Charles often landed heavy hooks to both body and head. Close. Walcott.
13. A right hand buckled Walcott a little bit. Charles' best punch thus far. Charles landed a good counter straight right, but it did not hurt JJW as the announcer had supposed. Charles.
15. Walcott landed a good right hand early in the round. The two had another brief but meaningful exchange I enjoyed immensely. Walcott led with a huge left hook that looked like it would land on the body, but actually reached the bottom of Charles' chin. The two then land simultaneous right (Walcott) and left (Charles) hooks, and Charles got the last word with a big right hook. The two exchanged fiercely until the end although Charles' youth gave him the edge I think. He landed left hooks and overhand rights and Walcott clinched more and more. Walcott by this time threw probably once to Charles every three blows. Another pretty good round. Charles.

Of the 6 rounds shown, I gave 4 to Charles and 2 to Walcott. I asked my mom who she thought had won, because I figure she'd say Walcott. Naturally, she did, and I explained to her that probably the reason she thought that was because of rounds 9 & 12. I consider Walcott a more dominant fighter. Charles wins rounds a lot closer than a fighter like Walcott does. Walcott is a lot more flashy fighter who wins rounds without question, whereas Charles' are always pretty close, therefor my mom, and probably a lot of people remember only the rounds Walcott won, and say that he won. As it stands though, 6 rounds is not enough to judge who won. I would at least want to see 3 more rounds that are scattered throughout the film before I made a guess at if Charles was robbed, or Walcott justly earned the decision.

Three additional notes:

1. This is the first time a African-American man refeered a title fight, or was it a heavyweight title fight? I don't remember which. Round of applause to Zach Clayton who did a great job here and for the next 20 years.
2. Charles is not a devastating puncher, especially to the body, by any means, but he showed he was a fair body puncher in this fight.
3. I must say it again, probably for the last time, how much it improves the Walcott-Charles experience to rewatch many of the rounds they fought in slow motion. I watched all of the big exchanges of this fight and saw that Charles hurt Walcott more than you would think if you never stopped to slow down the film. Albeit, when Charles hurts Walcott, it is not as noticeable as when Walcott hurts Charles, but that's because Walcott had the bigger punch and Charles had the weaker chin. Walcott just recovered quicker than Charles. But look at the exchanges in slow motion; you will see what I'm talking about.

Verdict: I said I enjoyed rounds 9 & 15, and I did, but this is probably the worst fight of the Charles-Walcott series. It's certainly not better than II or III. It makes sense though; you have two great technical boxers, and by the fourth fight, how much action can there be. They are both wary of the pain they can cause one another, and are not going to be too adventurous.

 

Like I said, it is hard to tell, but it looked to me like Charles was winning.

 

Thanks buddy, you're right about the video quality.

Don't be sorry, it is funny.

 

Where is George?

 

You are both wearing the ski masks of course, Lol.

 

@George Crowcroft, what is your assessment of this fight?