BoxRec

Does anyone know more information about when Ezzard Charles may have started suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, the illness thae eventually killed him?

His former trainer Ray Arcel seems to suggest (from what I have read) that he may have been suffering from the early stages during the last few years of his glorious Boxing career.

Any info' fight fans?

..ezzard said he felt some trouble in moving to his right during the later days of his career, but i don't know how soon.

this is a good question and i will contact a friend who knew ezzard well and see if he can add anything.

i do know he lived much longer with als than most because it affected his breathing much later than is the usual case. however, this wasn't much of a blessing, as he was paralyzed and speechless for most of this time. he and his wife worked out a system of eye blinks that he used to communicate with her.

so sad...so awfully sad.

I may have the same book Joe. Ray says that at the time he thought Charles decline was due to age but afterwards he thought it was the early stages of the illness. Charles complained of feeling stiff and his motor skills faded badly. Its possible that he already had the illness when he fought Marciano. He certainly went into a bad decline after the Marciano fights but he already seemed to be fading going into the Marciano fights which is one of the reasons he got the shot really.

Jaclem wrote:this is a good question and i will contact a friend who knew ezzard well and see if he can add anything.

Jaclem, that would be great if you could do that and I am sure I would not be the only one interested. I have to admit the more I learn about Ezzard Charles, the bigger fan I become of his.

What astonishes me about Ezzard is his defeating Archie Moore three times while Archie was in his prime and at light-heavy no less.