Ezzard Charles, A quick look at his Championship Victory, and Title defenses. After defeating Jersey Joe Walcott for the vacant NBA Heavyweight Championship. First Defense; August 10, 1949 Gus Lesnevich 34 years-old, 5' 9" 178 lbs. 60-13-5 (23 KO's) Ranking #1 Light Heavyweight A worthy challenger, border-line. A very safe opponent for a '1st defense'. Was the former World Light Heavyweight Champion. Generally considered a 'hard' tough-guy, not easy to fight. Decent power, when he needed it. Had a reliable chin. Very cagey defensively, as he utilized a low crouch. Could be out-boxed by a stylist. In his previous fights. 5/23/49,,L Dec 15,,,Joey Maxim (out-boxed by Joey Maxim, scoring, Maxim 8, Lesnevich 5, Even 2) 3/3/49 ,,,KO 1,,,,,,,,Eldridge Eitman 7/26/48,,,L Dec 15,,,Freddie Mills (floored twice in the 1st round, and outboxed throughout) 3/5/48,,,,KO 1,,,,,,,,Billy Fox 10/31/47,,KO 7,,,,,,,Melio Bettina 7/30/47,,W Dec 10,,,Melio Bettina Both the KO 1 Billy Fox and KO 1 Eldridge Eitman fights were under scrutiny, questionable fights. Gus last good fight, versus Melio Betina, 22-months earlier. Fight Result: Ezzard Charles battered Gus Lesnevich from the opening bell. Charles utilized his expert boxing skills, landing combinations throughout. Lesnevich was almost felled in the 6th Round, and just barely made it though the 7th round. Corner stops fight after the 7th Round. Gus Lesnevich retires, and never fights again.
Lesnevich was so reluctant to fight Ezzard, while he was champion, maybe Ezzard just wanted to beat him up for not giving him the shot.
charles was a beter heavyweight than given credit for. His resume is deep at heavyweigt with KO'S OVER baksi, elmer ray, Bivins, oma, walace, layne and satterfeild proved he could also bang. Throw in his clear wins over walcott and joe louis and there isnt many good fighters he did not beat at HW during the post war period.
Second Defense October 10, 1949 Pat Valentino 29 years-old, 6' 0", 182 lbs. 44-10-4 (20 KO's) Ranking #5 Heavyweight A good boxer, with mediocre power. Performed well against Top 10 rated fighters. Chin suspect. Could be floored, as he was knocked down in 12 bouts. But was only KO'd (stopped) in 2 of those bouts. Willing to mix it up with the hard-hitters, by trying to out-work them by throwing more punches. Good hand-speed. Had a tendency to leave himself open. Defensively, average at best. Upset Turkey Thompson in December 1948, for the California Heavyweight Championship to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. Previous fights; 12/20/48,,,,W Dec 15,,,,Turkey Thompson 10/4/48,,,,,,W Dec 15,,,Tony Bosnich 8/30/48,,,,,,W Dec 10,,,Freddie Beshore 6/7/48,,,,,,,,Draw 10,,,,Joey Maxim 4/20/48,,,,,,L Dec 10,,,Jimmy Bivins 3/22/48,,,,,,Draw 10,,,,Joey Maxim 1/5/48,,,,,,,L Dec 10,,,,Tony Bosnich 12/8/47,,,,Tech Draw 1, Tony Bosnich He did go 5-straight fights without a win. Turned it around with a victory over Freddie Beshore. And reversed an earlier decision loss to 'Tough' Tony Bosnich. Fight Result: Though out-matched by Ezzard Charles speed and power, Pat Valentino hangs in there and gives as good as he gets for 5 Rounds. Rocked several times, Valentino comes back with combinations to slow down Charles. The Champion opens up in Round 6, and starts landing heavier shots which take there toll on the wide-open Valentino. Charles hammers Valentino with an assortment of heavy shots in Round 8, and when Valentino is apparently defenseless, the fight is stopped. Pat Valentino retires, and never fights again.