Would Ezzard Charles have a chance against Usyk?

Yes. But there are two issues:

- We do not know how well Charles defense would hold up vs a left hander since there were so few quality left handers available back then.

- Heavyweight Charles did not punch with full force according to some due to the tragic death of one of his opponents and we don't necessarily have a lot of footage of peak Charles from post ww2.

Usyk is great, sure. I have cheered for him for 5+ years. I picked him to beat both Joshua and Fury.

But some folks are getting carried away. Regardless of what Usyk himself states, his toughest fight was vs Mairis Breidis, a fight which he narrowly won. Breidis had the skill and power and most importantly work rate to keep up with Usyk.

Usyk has big advantages vs big heavyweights in terms of speed and stamina and these advantages wouldn't work vs Charles, , Holmes, Ali etc. These guys can keep up with Usyk in terms of stamina. Usyk's strategy of wearing guys down and letting them expend their energy over the first 6 rounds and then turning up the heat won't work with guys who are trained for 15 round fights.

Charles has better boxing skill than anyone Usyk has faced. He also likely has better stamina than anyone Usyk has faced. He is quicker than anyone Usyk has faced except maybe Hunter and Hunter didn't have the stamina to keep things up beyond 6-7 rounds.

At the very least, Charles will be very competitive and could conceivably win once out of 3 times. Usyk has to be favoured as we don't know how well Charles's chin and defense will hold up vs a left hander like Usyk who has underrated power.

I believe Usyk would have far more trouble with heavyweights his size or smaller who can match his skill and stamina than he would with larger heavyweights. So just because Usyk is a giant killer does not mean he is unbeatable.

 

of course, definately, why wouldn't he?

a Proven great, from a proven era, verses a terrible HW (S-HW) division and a fighter, Usyk, not proven to the same degree as him and dozens of other HW's over the decades. We have gone from great boxing to trying to account for so many Belt Holders as if they are something special, just because they hold a Plastic Strap with few fights in weaker Boxing periods.

Usyk is good, in the average sence of good, which is attributed to literally 1000s of fighers over the 150 years of boxing, not a wonder dawg, not at all.

 

Charles would be without doubt the most skilled fighter Usyk has ever fought (albeit the smallest).. so of course he'd have a chance.. he's one of the GOATs... but to call Usyk just 'average good' like 1000s of others is complete & utter crap.. he's not just good, he's elite... he's generally considered the best fighter of this era, unified both CW & HW & won Olympic gold.. that's not something 1000s have done. What are u taking about? Era is era.. you can only beat what's in front of u.. he has, he completed every goal he set & rose to the top of the sport, that is greatness.

 

A fighter as complex as Charles has a chance against anyone.

 

Shame we didn’t see him near his best… his legs were dead by Louis. Charles today would have a career path like Toney (weight hopping) without the weight issues, he’d stop at 190lbs if it existed still but he’d have a good shot of being undisputed 3 times (very possible) 160-175-190 and in the 80s-90s he’d be Holyfield’s first loss, send him upstairs with fire.

 

I'm not talking about Era vs era, some Era's ARE Historically percieved & accepted as Better Overall Era's, while other era's are reportedly 'weaker'... so that is a Fact, just as some Division's are also Reported Better Periods than others, also a Fact i.e. the 1970s Heavyweights.

and Yes, 100%, "you can Only Fight the Fighters 'put' in front of you", again Fact, 100%, though some would try have you think otherwise.

But here is what you are Not Understanding, what you are perhaps missing in your thinking, it's not simply Rating if a fighter beats everyone placed in front of him, it's the Rating of the Whole of it...

- who were they fighting & when
- did they 'Earn' their way into place or were they Protected into place, see Fury
- was there some Moneymen Ownership For or Against a Fighter(s)
- What is & How is that Overall Era and/or said Division of Fighters Percieved
- abc Straps or more Ligitimate ones

- in How many Fights, it does make a diff, because a Good Fighter CAN Win 'given' the chance, but then shortly after fall away, again see Fury.

Elite, far from it sorry, Good, haven't seen anything as yet to convince me (and plenty of others), just yet.

YES, 1000's of Good and Great Fighters over the Decades & Century - 1000's of them... Elite, very few, albeit, there are Dozens & Hundreds of them in History, but compared to the 1000's, very few.

Acheivement Based Rating's mean FA, WHY???

because they DON'T Tell the Full Story and 'worse', far worse, a Fury type ALWAYS ends up getting thrown in the mix of "Greatests" list.

absolutely Rediculous & Inaccurate.

 

Average Good, on it's own can sound a bit misleading, I see that, but I mean it in a completely opposite context.

Boxing has literally given us Tens of Thousands of Boxers, probably well over a couple of hundred thousand or so. So when you are a Top Very Good & Noted Fighter that is 'Pretty Darn Good', lets first be clear about that.

So Usyk is in Excellent Company, no worries about that.

All I'm saying is, over the whole of it, 150 years, times Hundreds of Great Fighters, Usyk, I don't feel is one of them.

Let's see him fight and beat Parker, sooner than later, that would certainly improve his credibility.

 

Yes, let's see it...

but as to even those rating's, in reality H2H, Fury shouldn't even be on a list.

Boxing IS a Corrupt Business, he, TF, is only where he is by it, protective machination's, Corruption.

 

I agree. What's this Godification of Usyk all about?

 

A chance yes if they were the same size perhaps he would even beat him but I feel like Usyk combination of skill plus size would be too much for Charles to overcome. In Charles era big fighters weren't skilled and while he did have some success against bigger fighters( most of so wouldn't even be considered real HWs today) he also lost to guys like Valdez. I also feel old school guys like Charles would really struggle with good southpaws just because of how different they are to what they're used to and would require them changing up their entire approach.