Posted: 07 Aug 2006, 17:36
Ezzard was a HW and should be ranked as a Heavy. Makes these conversations far less complex.
Charles was floored quite a few times, if anything his chin looked more solid at heavyweight but at 175 he'd be vulnerble to Sams power... either way this isnt an easy fight for either man, Charles has the edge in boxing skill but Langford the edge in power and durability... it could come down to who is better on the day... but certainly theres no way that Langford is an easy fight for Charles....BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:silkov wrote:Considering Langford was a huge puncher and Charles didnt have a great chin I dont see how its an easy fight for Charles... a fighter like Langford could adapt to fighting 15 rounds! to say he couldnt is just nonsense.... if these two had 5 or 7 fights itd be about 4-to-3 or 5-to-2 to Langford imo....Decagon wrote:In a 15-round bout? Easily. Langford was more versatile in that he could fight in 6-, 10-, 15- or even 45-round fights, but the modern boxer is defined by how well he does in 12- and 15-round bouts. Ezzard Charles was a master of that genre, and that would be the difference in this fight. I rank Charles above Langford at every division they both fought in because my divisional rankings are based on more modern criteria, but I rank Langford above Charles pound-for-pound because he did something that simply didn't exist in boxing by the time Charles came around.
charles had a very solid chin though. all time puncher and KO artist archie moore(just as good a puncher as sam) was unable to FLOOR charles in 3 meetings. charley burley unable to floor charles in 20 rounds. charles went 51 rounds with hard hitting jersey joe walcott without being floored. all time puncher lloyd marshall and jimmy bivins were unable to knockout a peak charles 46-49. charles took flush punches from huge punching bob satterfield without going down. charles also took fluish punches from big hard hitting heavyweights like haynes, louis, valdez, wallace, layne without going down. of course the cream of the crop is the first marciano fight which should clearly silence all questions about charles chin.
charles faced a murderous list of punchers, and showed in those fights he can clearly take a punch. charles had a very good chin. certainly at 175lb!
also dont forget charles at 175lb was a great puncher.