Ezzard Mack Charles (July 7, 1921 â May 28, 1975), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1959. Known as "the Cincinnati Cobra", Charles was respected for his slick defense and precision, and is often regarded as the greatest light heavyweight of all time, and one of the greatest fighters pound for pound, having defeated numerous Hall of Fame fighters in three different weight classes. Charles was the world heavyweight champion from 1949 to 1951, and made eight successful title defenses in under two years.
After losing the world title, Charles continued to fight several top rated heavyweight contenders and made three close but unsuccessful attempts at reclaiming the heavyweight championship. Charles eventually retired from a near two decade long career with a record of 95âÂÂ25âÂÂ1. He was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class of 1990.
Charles was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia on July 7, 1921. After his parents divorced, Charles moved to Cincinnati, Ohio at the age of nine to live with his grandmother and his great-grandmother. Charles graduated from Woodward High School in Cincinnati where he was already becoming a well-known fighter (greatly inspired by fighters Kid Chocolate and later Joe Louis). Known as "the Cincinnati Cobra", Charles fought many notable opponents in the middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, eventually winning the World Championship in the latter. Although he never won the Light Heavyweight title, The Ring has rated him as the greatest light heavyweight of all time.
Charles began boxing as an amateur and won the national Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) middleweight championship in 1939.
On March 12, 1940, Charles launched his professional boxing career by scoring a fourth-round knockout against Melody Johnson in Middletown, Ohio. He went on to win his first 15 professional contests before facing Ken Overlin on June 9, 1941, in an outdoor match at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Overlin, a seasoned fighter who had turned professional in 1931, had compiled 147 bouts and held recognition as NYSAC middleweight champion in 1940. During their encounter, Charles was dropped in the second round and suffered a unanimous decision defeat, marking the first loss of his professional career.
Over the following nine months, Charles rebounded by defeating former titleholders Teddy Yarosz and Anton Christoforidis and later fought Overlin to a draw in a rematch. Before the close of 1942, he also earned two decision victories over future light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim.
Charles fought only twice in 1943, enduring difficult defeats in both outings. Jimmy Bivins knocked him down seven times in one bout, while Lloyd Marshall floored him eight times before the referee halted the contest in the eighth round. During World War II, Charles served in the military and captured the Inter-Allied light heavyweight championship in Rome in 1944.
Returning to the ring after his discharge in 1946, Charles won all ten of his fights that year, including victories over Marshall and future light heavyweight champion Archie Moore. He defeated Moore again in 1947 and posted an impressive record of 11 wins in 12 bouts that year, with his only setback coming in a disputed split decision against hard hitting Elmer "Violent" Ray, which he later avenged.
In February 1948, however, tragedy struck during a bout in Chicago when Charles knocked out a young fighter named Sam Baroudi, who later died from a cerebral hemorrhage sustained in the contest. Deeply shaken by the incident, Charles considered retiring from boxing. At the encouragement of Baroudi's family, he chose to continue fighting and contributed the purses from that match and his subsequent bout to them.
When reigning heavyweight champion Joe Louis retired on March 1, 1949, the title was left vacant. On June 22, the National Boxing Association (NBA) matched Charles with Jersey Joe Walcott for the championship at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Weighing just 181 pounds and conceding 14 pounds to Walcott, Charles prevailed by unanimous decision to claim the NBA world heavyweight crown.
Charles' first defense of his title was set for August 10, 1949, at Yankee Stadium in New York City, against Gus Lesnevich. Charles was awarded a knockout when Lesnevich could not answer the bell for the eighth round. The United Press (UP) reported: "Lesnevich, former world light heavyweight champion, could scarcely see out of either eye, and he was bleeding from gashes above and below his right eye and from a gash on his left cheek at the end of the seventh round". Six weeks later at the Cow Palace near San Francisco, Charles knocked out Pat Valentino in the eighth round. Valentino would lose his sight in one eye after this fight. On August 15, 1950, Charles put his title on the line by fighting Freddie Beshore in Buffalo. Charles won by technical knockout (TKO) in the 14th round.
In 1950, Joe Louis returned from retirement, due to troubles with the IRS, and challenged Charles for the undisputed heavyweight championship on September 27 at Yankee Stadium. Giving up 34 pounds, Charles nonetheless outboxed Louis convincingly and secured universal recognition as champion. Over the next year, he remained an active titleholder, defending the championship four times within 12 months by stopping Nick Barone and Lee Oma, and winning decisions against Walcott and Maxim. For these achievements in such a short span of time, Charles was named The Rings Fighter of the Year twice consecutively in 1949 and 1950.
Charles lost the title to Walcott on July 18, 1951, when he was stopped in the seventh round. Having been defeated twice before, Walcott was a 9:1 underdog, but scored a major upset, knocking out Charles with a perfect left hook to the jaw. Nearly a year later, on June 5, 1952, he met Walcott again but fell short in a closely contested unanimous 15-round decision. Remaining a top contender with wins over Rex Layne, Tommy Harrison and Coley Wallace, Charles scored a second-round knockout over Bob Satterfield in a heavyweight title eliminator bout on January 13, 1954. Charles was now next in line to challenge the new heavyweight champion: Rocky Marciano.
The two stirring battles between Charles and Marciano are regarded as ring classics. In the first bout, held at Yankee Stadium on June 17, 1954, he valiantly took Marciano the distance, going down on points in a vintage heavyweight bout. Charles is the only fighter ever to last the full 15-round distance against Marciano. Marciano won a unanimous decision. Referee Ruby Goldstein scored the bout 8-5-2 in rounds for the champion. Judge Artie Aidala scored the fight 9-5-1 while judge Harold Barnes' tally was 8-6-1. In their September rematch, Charles landed a severe blow that actually split Marciano's nose in half. Marciano's cornermen were unable to stop the bleeding and the referee almost halted the contest until Marciano rallied with an eighth-round knockout. The fight was awarded The RingâÂÂs 1954 Fight of the Year.
Unfortunately for Charles, like many boxers, financial problems forced him to continue fighting. Age and damage sustained during his career caused Charles to begin a sharp decline following his title fights. Over the next four years, he lost on points to heavyweight contenders Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson, Harry Matthews and heavyweight champion of Mexico, Alfredo Zuany. He was also disqualified during a fight against Dick Richardson, who later became the European heavyweight champion. Overall Charles lost 13 of his final 23 fights. Charles retired after his final bout on September 1, 1959. He finished with a final record of 95-25-1 and scored 52 knockout victories.
After boxing, Charles went into professional wrestling in 1960. He retired from wrestling in 1962.
<blockquote>"Ezzard Charles. Who else has been great in every division he fought in?" - James Toney</blockquote>
Ezzard Charles was one of the greatest ring technicians that ever laced on a pair of gloves. He could seamlessly blend between defence and offense and adapt on the fly. Charles fought side on, leaning slightly to the right to take his head off the centre from the line of attack. This increases the distance the opponent's punch has to travel as well, giving him more time to see punches coming. This 'old-school' stance was similar to those of Joe Louis, Charley Burley and Sandy Saddler. Charles parried with both of his hands and smothered opponents on the inside, even against larger men, he was fully capable of trapping the opponent's glove to prevent them from punching on the inside. On the outside range, Charles would stalk his prey, circling leftwards and utilising his lightning-quick probing jab to attack both the head and body to properly gauge the opponent's distance. Charles was also well known for his use of the shoulder roll. James Toney credits Charles as the inspiration for his variation of the shoulder roll. In his prime, Ezzard would be exceedingly aggressive, often relying on his thunderous power and accuracy to win exchanges. However, some would note that after Sam Baroudi died of injuries during their 1948 fight, Charles is alleged to have become less aggressive and more cautious, although this theory is hotly debated.
Charles was recognized for his counter-punching and technical skillset, which enabled him to compete effectively across different weight classes. Although a natural middleweight, he secured victories against notable light-heavyweight and heavyweight opponents during the 1940s.
Charles was married to Gladys Charles. The couple had three children, Ezzard Junior, Deborah and Leith. Charles was an avid fan of jazz and played a variety of instruments throughout his life. He also spoke fluent Italian, and even held a short conversation with Rocky Marciano in Italian during a televised interview shortly before their first fight. After his title fights, Charles became very close with Rocky Marciano and later was a neighbor and friend of Muhammad Ali when they both lived on 85th Street in Chicago (later in life when Charles suffered from financial difficulties and illness, both men along with other boxing celebrities hosted a fundraiser on his behalf). Charles also starred in one motion picture: Mau Mau Drums, an independent (and unreleased) jungle-adventure film shot in and around Cincinnati in 1960 by filmmaker Earl Schwieterman.
In 1968, Charles was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The disease affected Charles' legs and eventually left him completely disabled. A fundraiser was held to assist Charles and many of his former opponents spoke on his behalf. Rocky Marciano in particular called Charles the bravest man he ever fought. The former boxer spent his last days in a nursing home. A 1973 commercial showed Charles in his wheelchair disabled by ALS. Charles died on May 28, 1975, in Chicago. He was buried at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
Charles was The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year in 1949 and 1950.
In 1976, Cincinnati honored Charles by changing the name of Lincoln Park Drive to Ezzard Charles Drive. This was the street of his residence at the height of his career.
In 2002, Charles was ranked No. 13 on The Ring magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years.
Muhammad Ali said in his own autobiography:
"Ezzard Charles was a truly great fighter and champion. He was the only heavyweight champion, other than a young Sonny Liston, who I think would have really troubled me at my best."
In 2007, ESPN online ranks Ezzard Charles as the 27th greatest boxer of all time, ahead of such notable fighters as Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes and Jake LaMotta.
In 2007, prominent boxing historian Bert Sugar listed Charles as the seventh greatest Heavyweight of all time.
In 2009, Boxing magazine listed Ezzard Charles as the greatest Light Heavyweight fighter ever, ahead of the likes of Archie Moore, Bob Foster, Michael Spinks and Gene Tunney.
In 2019, Ezzard Charles was named the 13th greatest pound for pound fighter of all time by the IBRO (International Boxing Research Organisation).
<blockquote>Coming in the 13th position is Ezzard Charles with 200 points. Charles finished 1st at light-heavyweight, in the top 20 at middleweight and in the top 20 at heavyweight. Charles impressive record of opponents; going 3-0 over Archie Moore, 2-0 over Charley Burley, 4-1 against Jimmy Bivins, 3-0 over Joey Maxim as well as 8 successful title defenses at heavyweight prove he was one of boxingâÂÂs best. 21 of 31 voters had Charles in the top 20, 7 of those had him in the top 10. Charles finished tied 12-13th last time, so falls in about the same spot as IBROâÂÂs last pound for pound poll.</blockquote>
In 2022, Charles was ranked No. 8 on The Ring magazine's list of the 100 Best Fighters in the history of The Ring magazine's rankings .
In 2022, a statue honoring Ezzard Charles was unveiled in the former Laurel Park in the West End neighborhood of Cincinnati. The park was renamed to Ezzard Charles Park alongside the unveiling of the statue.
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