why is Robinson rated ahead of Charles

[Cojimar 1946]

One thing I'm curious about is why Sugar Ray Robinson is rated higher than Ezzard Charles. I feel like Charles was as dominant during his prime as Robinson was and beat better opponents. He didn't age as well but during his peak he seems to have been comparable in terms of dominance and against better opponents.

[Taansend]

You partially answered your own question but a massive part of it is Robinson was a Superstar. There may have been other fighters whose peak was as good as or close to Robinson but he was "The Man" for such a long time.

The looks, the style, the punch, the entourage. He had it all. And he did it with style.

[Abradolf Lincler]

They're the two greatest at their respective prime divisions (Robinson at Welter and Charles at Lt. Heavy). Robinson's edge would be in consistency, durability, and longevity. He fared better over a longer duration at his next weight (Middle) than Charles at Heavyweight.

I would agree that Charles faced the better competition, though. Probably beat the better opposition, too. He just lost more often (with the caveat being that both men were still somewhat near their primes). A loss against better competition isn't necessarily damning, but scattered stoppage losses at different stages of your career are. At least when you're being compared to Robinson, who was never really stopped (unless you count the Maxim fight) in his entire career. This despite fighting about 80 more times and finishing his career 5 or 6 years older than Charles was when he called it quits, respectively.

[elmersalsa]

I rate the great Sugar Ray Robinson over the great Ezzard Charles myself.

The reason why is that after their prime years, Robinson did much better than Charles. Charles started to lose too many fights after his absolute prime. I admit that he beat better fighters than Robinson. Robinson accomplished much more. For example, at 37, Robinson won the middleweight crown for the 5th time. Charles at 37, was already totally washed up.

[oogiebe]

All time great (Charles) v. all time greatest! (Robinson)

[Kalan]

Charles was the far better boxer... Robinson wore the lime green slacks and drove a Flamingo colored Cadillac... He was a more charismatic and colorful figure and that's why he gets the huzzahs from overzealous fans

At his peak Charles won 40 straight fights (I'm including the outrageous robbery vs Elmer Ray which every newspaper reporter attending agreed Charles won easily).... In that stretch Charles beat Jersey Joe Walcott twice... beat Archie Moore 3 times... beat Joey Maxim twice... beat Lloyd Marshall 3 times... beat Jimmy Bivins 3 times... Starting with his 3rd Walcott Fight, Charles was suffering from the early manifestations of ALS which he eventually died from... ALS has been known to attack your nerves for decades until you can’t move a muscle... Charles fell off form at a very young age.

Robinson was decked by crude swingers: Rocky Castellani... Artie Levine... Jake LaMotta... Rocky Graziano... and Tommy Bell.

Sugar Ray was stopped by Joey Maxim... For people who say the weather stopped Robinson -- no Maxim stopped him... It was just as hot that night for Maxim as it was for Robinson. The strategy Doc Kearns concocted for Maxim was to goad Robinson into throwing punches while Maxim conserved his strength... Kearns had been a fight manager for decades and knew the heat sapped a boxer's strength, even if they were fighting at night..

Joey kept telling Robinson that he wasn’t breaking popcorn with his punches. Maxim was an exceptionally rugged LHW who easily absorbed the smaller Robinson’s punches. He told his corner SRR was getting weaker. He stepped up the attack and got the KO when Robinson refused to come out for the 14th round. Instead of doing the rematch which would’ve been big money – Robinson retired (for 2 years)... In his second comeback fight SRR was hammered by huge underdog Ralph Jones who was coming off 5 straight losses... Robinson was driven all over the ring and barely avoided his 2nd stoppage loss in 3 fights.

[prewarboxing]

It is great to see that Ezzard Charles is getting serious recognition as an ATG. I remember 30 to 40 years ago when discussing best ever heavyweights he barely got a mention. It was always the same names that cropped up in the top ten (and there were only about 30 HW champions to choose from up until that point). It was the punchers that dominated everyones thinking. I always felt that Charles and Tunney were under-aporeciated. That view now seems to have changed, thankfully.