The Ezzard Charles Appreciation Thread

[HomicideHenry]

Where do you rate him among the LHW greats?

Where do you rate him among the P4P greats?

Where do you rate him among the HW greats?

[gilgamesh]

I think he's the very best Light Heavyweight of all time

I think he's one of the Top 5 Boxers of all time in any weight class.

As a Heavyweight his legacy isn't quite as established, but is still pretty respectable and often overlooked. He'd probably be somewhere between 25 and 35 in All Time Heavyweight rankings I would think. I've never really went deep enough into my All Time Heavyweight list to place him, but other than some of the obvious ones in the Top 10 and 15, I think you'd be hard pressed to name 20 more guys who belong on the list over Ezzard.

[dempseyfire]

I have him at #2 at light heavyweight

Somewhere around #13-15 at heavyweight

Top 5 lb for lb

[Ambling Alp II]

Pretty much where I have him.
Light heavy- Arguably #1, Moore, Tunney, and Spinks are the only ones that you could put a head of him, if you don't count Langford as a light heavy.

Heavyweight- #14-28. Behind the usual (Ali, Louis, Foreman, Johnson, Frazier, Holmes, Marciano, Dempsey, Lewis, Holyfield, Tyson, Liston, Jeffries)
Then you have a large group that Charles is roughly even with- the mid-level champions and a few black contenders who never got a title shot (Tunney and Langford again, Corbett, Fitzsimmons, Wills, Jeannette, McVey, Schmeling, Sharkey, Baer, Walcott, Patterson,Norton, and Bowe.)

lb for lb is always tricky, but he certainly is Top 10.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Where do you rate him among the LHW greats? #1

Where do you rate him among the P4P greats? #5

Where do you rate him among the HW greats? I think I had him #12, somewhere between 11-15. Ahead of Tyson & Dempsey.

[HomicideHenry]

Am glad there's alot of knowledgable people in here with sense on Ezzard.

I think his HW legacy is a bit underdone, overlooked, etc. however as for everything else, the man is spot on being either the #1 LHW of all time or one of the top ten p4p boxers that ever lived.

[gilgamesh]

I have him at #2 at light heavyweight

Somewhere around #13-15 at heavyweight

Top 5 lb for lb

Who ya got at #1 over him Dempsey?

[gilgamesh]

Where do you rate him among the LHW greats? #1

Where do you rate him among the P4P greats? #5

Where do you rate him among the HW greats? I think I had him #12, somewhere between 11-15. Ahead of Tyson & Dempsey.

I wouldn't rank him above Tyson or Dempsey.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Where do you rate him among the LHW greats? #1

Where do you rate him among the P4P greats? #5

Where do you rate him among the HW greats? I think I had him #12, somewhere between 11-15. Ahead of Tyson & Dempsey.

I wouldn't rank him above Tyson or Dempsey.

Ok

[BoxBuzz]

Yeah Saad....so don't do that.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Yeah Saad....so don't do that.

They're all in the same interchangeable 9-20 tier for me. Marciano, Liston, Tyson, Charles, Walcott, Dempsey, Jeffries, Wills, Schmeling, Jeanette, McVey.

[dempseyfire]

I have him at #2 at light heavyweight

Somewhere around #13-15 at heavyweight

Top 5 lb for lb

Who ya got at #1 over him Dempsey?

Sam Langford. Tunney is #3.

[HomicideHenry]

I have him at #2 at light heavyweight

Somewhere around #13-15 at heavyweight

Top 5 lb for lb

Who ya got at #1 over him Dempsey?

Sam Langford. Tunney is #3.

Langford, I acknowledge to being the greatest boxer P4P who ever lived, but his status in the various weight divisions he competed is another matter for me---- is it possible that he was an ATG in welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight? I don't know, somewhere along the line someone has to really break it all down and decipher just how good he was in each perspective weight division he competed.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Who ya got at #1 over him Dempsey?

Sam Langford. Tunney is #3.

Langford, I acknowledge to being the greatest boxer P4P who ever lived, but his status in the various weight divisions he competed is another matter for me---- is it possible that he was an ATG in welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight? I don't know, somewhere along the line someone has to really break it all down and decipher just how good he was in each perspective weight division he competed.

I agree with this. He is either my all time #1 or 2, but I don't think I'd have him in any divisional top 5.

[elmersalsa]

At light-heavyweight he is #1
At heavyweight, he is somewhere the 14th to 20th position. It was not his best class, but he fought well in there.
At pound per pound? At #7.

[HomicideHenry]

At light-heavyweight he is #1
At heavyweight, he is somewhere the 14th to 20th position. It was not his best class, but he fought well in there.
At pound per pound? At #7.

14th to 20th position among the greatest heavyweights of all time?

I don't know if I would go that far to be honest. Sure he beat alot of 'Colored' greats, but his peak years as a heavyweight showed he couldn't beat someone like Fred Fulton---- and I'll admit Fulton was one of the top 100 punchers of the last 85-90 years in boxing, but I think that speaks volumes when a guy like Dempsey destroyed Fulton in fifteen seconds. Of course---- then again, Dempsey wrote that the only man he willingly ever side stepped as Sam. It's ironic how things go in boxing; but one that sticks out to me was, at his "best" Langford used to promote himself as "Willing to take on all comers, except Jim Jeffries."

Never forget, this was a man who I think only managed one win in over a dozen fights with Harry Wills. Maybe some people were just too big, too strong, too tough for Sam--- after all he was only 5'5" in height, but I don't know where to put him as far as heavyweights are concerned--- granted, I'd put him higher than some alphabet title holders but I can't see him actually being a top 20 heavyweight of all time.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

At light-heavyweight he is #1
At heavyweight, he is somewhere the 14th to 20th position. It was not his best class, but he fought well in there.
At pound per pound? At #7.

14th to 20th position among the greatest heavyweights of all time?

I don't know if I would go that far to be honest. Sure he beat alot of 'Colored' greats, but his peak years as a heavyweight showed he couldn't beat someone like Fred Fulton---- and I'll admit Fulton was one of the top 100 punchers of the last 85-90 years in boxing, but I think that speaks volumes when a guy like Dempsey destroyed Fulton in fifteen seconds. Of course---- then again, Dempsey wrote that the only man he willingly ever side stepped as Sam. It's ironic how things go in boxing; but one that sticks out to me was, at his "best" Langford used to promote himself as "Willing to take on all comers, except Jim Jeffries."

Never forget, this was a man who I think only managed one win in over a dozen fights with Harry Wills. Maybe some people were just too big, too strong, too tough for Sam--- after all he was only 5'5" in height, but I don't know where to put him as far as heavyweights are concerned--- granted, I'd put him higher than some alphabet title holders but I can't see him actually being a top 20 heavyweight of all time.

He's talking about Ezzard Charles. Didn't you start the thread?

[HomicideHenry]

Oh lol, I thought since the discussion of Langford come up he was referring to Sam. My bad.

[gilgamesh]

I have him at #2 at light heavyweight

Somewhere around #13-15 at heavyweight

Top 5 lb for lb

Who ya got at #1 over him Dempsey?

Sam Langford. Tunney is #3.

Charles is a more accomplished Light Heavyweight than Langford by a wide margin.