Vinny’s Views: Remembering the Immortal Ezzard Charles

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By Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci

Damn few people will ever walk this sweet earth and depart it having been known as being larger than life. Such monograms are designated for scant few as the public at large and biographers have a steady forbearance to the champions labels form icon to legend.

Enter the immortal Ezzard Charles whose silky skills and precision power were not only on display in the greatest era of light heavyweights but he bested the best in succession and rematched them in tandem leaving no doubters in the dichotomy of historians who dared to rank him any lower than “the” greatest 175 pounder of all time.

In Memorandum, Ringside Report fondly remembers “The Cincinnati Cobra” who was born of humble beginnings in Georgia in 1921 before moving north to Cincinnati at the tender age of nine where he was raised by his matriarchal grandmother and great grandmother in the city’s West end. Later in 1949, Ezzard transformed the city to a landmark becoming its first world champion beating Jersey Joe Walcott by UD. His storied career started out like most others as he passed his early teenage years in the amateur ranks as a prospect to keep an eye on with 42 wins at welterweight. He turned pro at sixteen entering the middleweight ranks where he was more avoided than the legendary Charlie Burly who the honorable trainer Eddie Futch once exclaimed, “Burley is the finest all around fighter I ever saw.”

So exactly how good was Charles? The venerable Ray Arcel who was perhaps the only trainer in history considered better than Futch remarked, “the greatest middleweight I ever witnessed was Ezzard Charles.” Both legends made indelible footprints in time like dinosaurs in the badlands of North America but had to vacate promising rankings at 160 pounds because neither was able to secure a title match among the well-known stars of their era.

It was at this juncture Charles had already beaten Burley once and future hall of famer Teddy Yarosz when his boxing career was interrupted by proudly serving his country in World War II in 1945 and returning at conflicts end to resume his illustrious profession at light heavyweight. There is an old adage of recourse that goes, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” and at one hundred seventy five pounds Ezzard set the world ablaze inside boxing confines on a collision course to make every great fighter of his era a dance partner on elevated canvas. Ezzard became the perfect prototypical boxer where his classy skills electrified audiences with a smooth blend of speed and power, balance and acumen.

There were no faults to exploit as he had come to master every facet of the game he cherished even though he met up with cruel roadblocks once again never permitted to challenge for light heavyweight title even though he ran amok in division and amassed the greatest run through 175 pounders ever recorded.

Like a Caesar of the Roman Empire he defended his birthright against all challengers even though the only throne he sat upon was “People’s Champion.” In a six year tenure at 175 pounds and beyond he tangled with Lloyd Marshall besting him 2 out of 3, Archie Moore 3 out of 3, Jimmy Bivins 3 out of 4, Charley Burley 2 out of 2, split a pair with Elmer Ray, and handed Joey Maxim no less than 5 losses. Considering these boxers are all hall of famers the word immortal truly takes on a special significance. During that magnificent run at light heavyweight he was 25-1, having lost only to Elmer Ray.

Early in 1948, Ezzard knocked out Sam Baroudi in the tenth round to which the fallen boxer died from head injuries sustained in match the next day. Ezzard had gone to hospital after the bout with his manager and kept a bedside vigil until Baroudi’s passing. In a strange and cruel irony of fate Sam had accidentally killed Newton Smith in the 9th round of a light heavyweight contest the year before. Nonetheless Charles was absolutely devastated and found himself once again at the precipice of his career with torn emotions which way to turn at the proverbial cross roads. Luckily few fighters have had to soul search so deeply into the abyss to find if their destinies were to continue the brutal profession of choice with unknown possibility of repeating unintentional sin they never chose to commit.

It has been written that Ray Mancini the lightweight sensation of early 80’s went into such a deep depression after a successful title defense against Duk Koo Kim in 1982’s 14 round knockout in which the challenger sustained a subdural hematoma putting him into a coma at bouts conclusion. Kim succumbed to his injuries dying four days later and Mancini lost his “killer instinct” forever. No one can ever know the reflections of conscience or the self-introspection a fighter goes through under these extreme circumstances unless one has walked inside these boxer’s shoes.

That precarious Baroudi bout was sandwiched between knocking out Archie Moore in 8 and avenging loss to Elmer Ray by 9th round knockout. Before the year was over Charles bested Erv Sarvin and Jimmy Bivins by UD, before moving north to heavyweight and stopping Walter Hafer in 7, and rugged Joe Baski in the eleventh round of scheduled fifteen. By years end there, wasn’t a shadow of a doubt that “The Cincinnati Cobra” was once again building an iconic legacy and focusing on a collision course with a title shot that had twice eluded him before.
It’s been said that Ezzard never mentioned Baroudi again in public possibly haunted by the ghosts of doubt and regret as he was a not only a gentleman outside of ring but a deeply religious man also.

Intestinal fortitude and the resiliency of a boxer’s mettle cannot ever be defined in words; only actions. While most historians and writers have reserved the utopian light heavyweight throne for Ezzard it is at heavyweight where he finally was strapped with a title belt but for a slightly unappreciated rein denied all the accolades he truly deserved having fought out of Joe Louis’ everlasting shadow much like Larry Holmes ascending after Muhammad Ali. In June of 1949, Charles beat Jersey Joe Walcott by UD at Comiskey Park in Chicago for Joe Louis’ vacated title. After nine grueling years and 71 fights Charles was finally a champion.

In his first defense he stopped hall of famer Gus Lesnevich by TKO in seven. In short order he added two more defenses by stoppage against Pat Valentino (KO 8) and Freddie Beshore (TKO 14) before giving come backing Joe Louis a shot at his old title in 1950 where Charles rebuked the challenge by UD and won universal recognition as the heavyweight champion of the world at Madison Square Garden.

Charles then added two more defenses going into 1951 against Nick Barone and Lee Oma who were stopped by 11th round KO and 10th round TKO respectively. In his seventh defense he once again beat Jersey Joe by UD in Detroit Michigan and then granting old adversary Joey Maxim a shot at crown two months later winning another UD in Chicago Illinois. Having already defended the belt three times in 1951 Charles was matched with Jersey Joe Walcott that summer with few marketable names that were viable even though it was a general consensus that Walcott was over the hill.

In his ninth defense Charles was shockingly knocked out in seventh round in Philadelphia Pennsylvania with a hellacious left hook that dropped the champion face down on canvas. He tried desperately to beat the count but back in the day the ten counts weren’t the prolonged “one Mississippi” that it has morphed into in recent decades. Of note Charles was twelve pounds lighter than his challenger who was perceived to be over the hill at 37 even though he entered ring in pristine conditioning. At this juncture in his life It would have been a bitter sweet ending to an outstanding career had he choose retirement and literally hung up the gloves as they did in his era.

The warrior within had mouths to feed and bills to pay having gotten used to fighting eight times a year and decided to continue his profession with everything he had left . Sadly the scribes and gym rats of the day noted that it appeared Ezzard become consciously gun shy and lost some of the bravado he had demonstrated when in ruling the pocket over the last decade. A quick rebound three months later had him take out Rex Layne by TKO in 11, and once again besting Joey Maxim by UD in 15. A final tune up against Joe Kahut had the referee counting ten over his opponent in eighth round and the world was ready to usher in the rubber match with Walcott.

Defying logic and father time Joe turned back the spirited challenge of Charles by UD in May of 1952, and rematched Layne in his next fight losing a ten rounder by UD. With nothing to be ashamed in a sterling career some of the exploiting media hounds had written Ezzard off as an improbable resurrection on the heavyweight landscape when the negativity fueled a ten bout comeback which included wining the rubber match with Layne and handing old friend Jimmy Bivins another loss before dropping a decision to the great Harold Johnson.

The tail end of his career he still teeter tottered on the brink of greatness while winning and losing in tandem on a regular basis. He would down the huge Coley Wallace by KO in ten, and stopped top five contender Bob Satterfield in two brutal rounds. This lead to epic battles against immortal heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano giving him perhaps his best test through his legendary career but dropped a UD loss to the immensely popular bruiser. Think about that for a moment in reflection.

A supposedly over the hill Charles who had a decade in age and twice as many fights as the Rock gave him the fight of his life. No living biographer, historian or fan will ever convince this reporter that Marciano would have beat Charles in his prime on an equal playing field. The contest was such a rousing success in terms of action and pace that Charles was granted a rematch months later but regrettably was stopped in eight rounds. It was his final shot at glory but fought on one more year throughout 1955 signing the contracts 9 more times going 5-4 and capping off his illustrious career with a ten round UD over Toxie Hall in Rochester New York. He finished off his ledger at 95-25-1-1, 52 KO’s.

Family and friends can always attest to where they were when tragedies struck like 9/11, the Shuttle disaster or Kennedy assignation and on May 28, 1975 it was no different for me hearing I was accepted into college of my choice when I heard Charles succumbed to a seven year battle with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) which had left him totally handicapped and wheelchair bound. The incurable disease robbed the world of the vibrant wonderful human being at the tender age of fifty three. Among the hundreds of names that grace the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Charles was one in a million.

The Vinny Factor:

You can summarize a career with insight and perspective within confines of an article but it’s impossible to regale a life story with significance inside equal margins and paragraphs. Ringside Report highly recommends “Ezzard Charles: A Boxer’s Life” By William Dettloff who scores a knockout of journalism in 2015 with first ever biography on Ezzard Charles capturing the soul of the man behind the boxer along with the trials and tribulations of fighting in Joe Louis’ shadow. The book shares insight into the racketeering influences behind the scenes during the 1950’s.

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