Who is Ezzard Charles?
Born in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 1921, Ezzard Charles grew up to become a heavyweight boxing champion. Charles moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to live with his grandmother and great-grandmother at the age of 9. There he boxed successfully as an amateur in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions. His professional career began in 1940, two years before he graduated from high school. Many of Ezzard Charles’s first 38 professional matches were won by knockouts. In 1944-45, his boxing career took a back seat as he served in the military. When he returned from the service, he boxed in the light heavyweight division. Charles never weighed more than 200 pounds (91 kg). He fought many famous middleweight and light heavyweights, including Archie Moore, Ken Overlin, Charley Burley, Joey Maxim and Teddy Yarosz. In 1948, Charles knocked out Sam Baroudi in the tenth round of a match. Baroudi later died of injuries sustained in the match. Many believe that Charles became more cautious after tha
Born in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 1921, Ezzard Charles grew up to become a heavyweight boxing champion. Charles moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to live with his grandmother and great-grandmother at the age of 9. There he boxed successfully as an amateur in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions. His professional career began in 1940, two years before he graduated from high school. Many of Ezzard Charles’s first 38 professional matches were won by knockouts. In 1944-45, his boxing career took a back seat as he served in the military. When he returned from the service, he boxed in the light heavyweight division. Charles never weighed more than 200 pounds (91 kg). He fought many famous middleweight and light heavyweights, including Archie Moore, Ken Overlin, Charley Burley, Joey Maxim and Teddy Yarosz. In 1948, Charles knocked out Sam Baroudi in the tenth round of a match. Baroudi later died of injuries sustained in the match. Many believe that Charles became more cautious after t
