Originally posted by Blue Öyster
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Before Walcott caught him with the mother of all sneaky counters, Charles had a fairly dominating lead on two cards; winning all but one round. Charles squeezed three fights inbetween the 4th fight with Walcott; stopping tough contender Rex Layne and beating Joe Maxim. Their 4th fight was also said to be very close with a disputed decision. Even though he was not going to get another title shot against Walcott, he fought an incredible 14 times against topcompetition in a year in a half time, winning all but three fights; one loss being a close SD with Harold Johnson.
Most expected Marciano to destroy Charles in their first meeting. Instead he showed up at his best weight as heavy and did this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4_qP...watch_response
Charles vs. Marciano I early rounds. He looks pretty sharp to me.
http://mefeedia.com/entry/ezzard-cha...-1951/9793489/
To compare, Heavyweight Champion Charles spoiling Joe Louis' comeback.
Charles didn't look so good in the second Rocky fight, he looked intimidated and didn't insert himself enough to stop the swarming. The fight really wasn't nearly as competitive as myth has made it. Sorry but outside of this fight, I'm not convinced Charles was "past it" during their first fight and most sports writers and fans at the time would agree that he was greatly underestimated.
"In their first fight, last June 17, Rocky was expected to dispose of Ez by a knockout, but the latter surprised the boxing world by waging a willing, game fight that went the limit before Rocky got the unanimous decision."
-Ny Times
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