Haunting footage of Ezzard Charles at the end of his life

[overhand_right]

Never seen this before, or indeed any video of Ezzard Charles post boxing. This is a 1973 commercial demonstrating the Lou Gehrig's Disease Ezzard was stricken with. He was dead two years later.

[Ambling Alp II]

That is pretty sad. He would have only been about 47 when he got it and not quite 54 when he died.

[HomicideHenry]

It's quite a tragic illness and quite sad to see the footage for sure. What I don't like or appreciate however is people like the late Bert Randolph Sugar who tried to claim that Ezzard Charles was already showing the signs of Lou Gehrig's disease when he fought Rocky Marciano, when that is complete nonsense because that disease acts rapidly.

[margaret thatcher]

i know someone whose brother has als, they have all their mental functions still but can only move their eyes. scary and incredibly frustrating disease

[wouter]

Former Dutch football player Fernando Ricksen died of it a few years back. He was in his early 40s.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

i know someone whose brother has als, they have all their mental functions still but can only move their eyes. scary and incredibly frustrating disease

Brutal. That has to be one of the worse ways to go

[margaret thatcher]

its a nightmare, id off myself before it got to that stage

[Caractacus]

here is Ezzard Charles at age 40 years in 1961
( at 20 minutes into clip)

[tiny_acres]

its a nightmare, id off myself before it got to that stage

In cases such as these I believe in Doctor assisted suicides. No one should have to live like that.

[Caractacus]

check out this link to an article from 1968.
Charles started noticing something wrong with his legs in 1957.

http://books.google.com/books?id=BTgDAA ... pg=PA50&dq

[overhand_right]

His people put his body through way too much. Going into the first Marciano fight he was 32 with just short of 100 bouts under his belt! And those weren't our modern day can opponents, he had been fighting dangerous opposition. Continuing on when he was past his prime, racking up 25 losses, can only have exacerbated his appalling later condition, the worst I've seen in an ex-boxer who didn't get maimed in one fight.