On This Day In Boxing History!

1921: Ezzard Charles Was Born!

Ezzard Charles, an African-American professional boxer and former world heavyweight champion was born Ezzard Mack Charles in Lawrenceville, Georgia, July 7, 1921.

Charles holds wins over numerous Hall of Fame fighters in three different weight classes. Charles retired with a record of 93 wins, 25 losses and 1 draw.

Although he was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia, but is commonly thought of as a Cincinnatian. Charles graduated from Woodward High School in Cincinnati where he was already becoming a well-known fighter. Known as "The Cincinnati Cobra," Charles is best remembered for his wins as a heavyweight, but most experts feel he was in his prime as a light heavyweight. Although he never won the championship at that weight, Ring magazine has rated him as the greatest light heavyweight of all time.

Ezzard Charles started his career as a featherweight in the amateurs, where he had a record of 42-0. In 1938, he won the Diamond Belt Middleweight Champion. He followed this up in 1939 by winning the Chicago Golden Gloves tournament of champions. He won the national AAU Middleweight Championship in 1939. He turned pro in 1940, knocking out Melody Johnson in the 4th round. Charles won all of his first 15 fights before being defeated by veteran Ken Overlin. Victories over future Hall of Famers Teddy Yarosz and the much avoided Charley Burley had started to solidify Charles as a top contender in the Middleweight division. However, he served in the U.S. military during World War II and was unable to fight professionally in 1945.

He returned to boxing after the war as a light heavyweight, picking up many notable wins over leading light heavyweight as well as heavyweight contenders Archie Moore, Jimmy Bivins, Lloyd Marshall, and Elmer Ray. Shortly after his knock-out of Moore in their third and final meeting, tragedy struck. Charles fought a young contender named Sam Baroudi, knocking him out in Round 10. Baroudi died of the injuries he sustained in this bout. Charles was so devastated he almost gave up fighting. Charles was unable to secure a title shot at light heavyweight, and moved up to heavyweight. After knocking out Joe Baksi and Johnny Haynes, Charles won the vacant National Boxing Association world heavyweight title when he outpointed Jersey Joe Walcott over 15 rounds on June 22, 1949. The following year, he outpointed his idol and former world heavyweight champion Joe Louis to become the recognized lineal champion. Successful defenses against Walcott, Lee Oma and Joey Maxim would follow.

In 1951, Charles fought Walcott a third time and lost the title by knockout in the seventh round. Charles lost a controversial decision in the fourth and final bout. If Charles had won this fight he would have become the first man in history to regain the heavyweight championship. Remaining a top contender with wins over Rex Layne, Tommy Harrison, and Coley Wallace, Charles knocked out Bob Satterfield in an eliminator bout for the right to challenge Heavyweight Champion Rocky Marciano. His two stirring battles with Marciano are regarded as ring classics. In the first bout, held in June 1954, he valiantly took Rocky the distance, going down on points in a vintage heavyweight bout. In their September rematch, a severely cut Marciano rallied to KO Charles in the 8th round, in a bout that was named Ring Magazine's "Fight of the Year." Financial problems forced Charles to continue fighting, losing 12 of his final 23 fights. He retired with a record of 96-25-1 (58 KOs).

Charles was also a respected double bass player who played with some of the jazz greats in the 40s and 50s at such notable places as Birdland. He was very close with Rocky Marciano and a neighbor and friend of Muhammed Ali when they both lived on 85th street in Chicago. 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.

Ezzard Charles died May 28, 1975, in Chicago from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, aged 53, and was interred in the historic Burr Oak Cemetery, in Alsip, Illinois. In 1976 Cincinnati honored Charles by changing the name of Lincoln Park Drive to Ezzard Charles Drive. This was the street of his residence during the height of his career.

He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.

In 2002, Charles was ranked #13 on Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years.

In 2006, Ezzard Charles was named the 11th greatest fighter of all time by the IBRO (International Boxing Research Organisation).

The “Cincinnati Cobra” was a master boxer of extraordinary skill and ability. He had speed, agility, fast hands and excellent footwork. Charles possessed a masterful jab and was a superb combination puncher. He was at his peak as a light-heavyweight. His record is quite impressive. Against top rate opposition like Archie Moore, Charley Burley, Lloyd Marshall, Jimmy Bivins, and Joey Maxim he was an impressive 16-2 combined. Despite being a natural light-heavy he won the heavyweight title and made 9 successful title defenses. Nearly 25% of voters had Charles in the top 10. Half of the voters had him in the top 15. Two thirds of voters had him inside the top 20.

ESPN online ranks Ezzard Charles as the 27th greatest boxer of all time, ahead of such notable fighters as Mike Tyson, Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Larry Holmes and Jake LaMotta.

In 2009, Boxing Magazine listed Ezzard Charles as the greatest Light Heavyweight fighter ever, beating the likes of Archie Moore, Bob Foster, Gene Tunney.

Prominent Boxing historian, Bert Sugar, listed Charles as the 7th greatest Heavyweight of all time.

Ezzard Charles   

Born: July 7th, 1921

Birth Name: Ezzard Mack Charles

Birth Place: Lawrenceville, Georgia

Residence: Cincinnati, Ohio

Pro-Debut: March 12th, 1940

Alias:  The Cincinnati Cobra

Division: Heavyweight

Stance: Orthodox

Height: 6′ 0″ 

Reach: 73″

Record: 95-25-1, 52Ko’s

Bouts: 121

Rounds: 967

Ko’s: 43%

Died: Age 53, May 28th, 1975 

Career

World Heavyweight Champion

NBA World Heavyweight Champion

1949 Jun 22 – 1951 Jul 18          

NYSAC World Heavyweight Champion

1950 Sep 27 – 1951 Jul 18          

International Boxing Hall of Fame - Class of 1990

1944: Emanuel Steward Was Born!

Emanuel Steward was born in Bottom Creek, West Virginia, on July 7, 1944. He was the first child of Manuel, a coal miner, and Catherine Steward.

He became interested in boxing at age 8 after he was given a pair of boxing gloves as a Christmas gift.

Steward's parents divorced when he was 11, and he moved to Detroit with his mother and two younger sisters when he was 12.

He started boxing at the local Catholic Youth Organization (C.Y.O.) in Detroit, but the C.Y.O. boxing program was shut down when he was 13. He then started training at the Brewster Recreation Center, the famed gym that produced the great Joe Louis. Steward would later train at the Lasky Recreation Center and the Big D Gym.

In 1963, Steward won the National Golden Gloves Bantamweight Championship. His final amateur record was 94-3.

Steward planned to turn professional, but he had difficulty finding a manager to handle his career. His best managerial offer came from a California group that included Eddie Futch. The offer required Steward to relocate to California, but he was still closely attached to his mother and his two younger sisters, who still lived in Detroit. Subsequently, he decided to turn down the offer to remain close to his family.

In 1964, Steward married Marie Steele, who would remain his wife until his passing, and he began working at Detroit Edison Company as a construction laborer. He eventually progressed to journeyman electrician and later a master electrician.

During the summer of 1969, Steward's 15-year-old half-brother, James Steward, left West Virginia and moved to Detroit to live with him. Shortly after his arrival, James asked Emmanuel to teach him how to box. Emanuel had been out of boxing for some time, but he agreed to coach James. The two headed to the closest boxing gym, the Kronk Recreation Center. After only five months of training, James won a Detroit Golden Gloves title.

Steward became the head coach of the Kronk boxing program in 1971. Later that year, the Kronk boxers won the team title at the Detroit Golden Gloves Tournament.

In 1972, Steward decided to leave Detroit Edison and fully devote his time to training and developing his rapidly growing stable of young boxers. By the mid-1970s, Steward had built Kronk into a national power in amateur boxing.

Hilmer Kenty became Steward's first professional world champion when he knocked out Ernesto Espana in nine rounds to win the the WBA Lightweight Championship in March 1980. Five months later, Thomas Hearns, the boxer with whom Steward is most closely associated, knocked out Pipino Cuevas in two rounds to win the WBA Welterweight Championship.

For the next 30-plus years, Steward had a constant stable of champions, some of whom he was with from the early days of their careers and some more established fighters who sought him out because of his excellent reputation.

Steward also worked as a television boxing analyst, joining HBO in 2001.

On October 25, 2012, Steward passed away at a Chicago hospital. He had been hospitalized since September and had undergone surgery for diverticulitis, a stomach disorder. There were also various reports that he had stage 4 colon cancer as well.

His funeral in Detroit was attended by many people from the world of boxing, as well as politicians and celebrities. Singer and friend Aretha Franklin sang "I'll Fly Away" as a tribute.

Boxers with whom Steward is most closely associated:

Johnathon Banks, Leeonzer Barber, Jesse Benavides, Gaby Canizales, Thomas Hearns, John David Jackson, Anthony Jones, Hilmer Kenty, Wladimir Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, Gerald McClellan, Milton McCrory, Michael Moorer, Jimmy Paul, Duane Thomas

'Boxers trained briefly by Steward:'

Henry Akinwande, Dennis Andries, Vincent Boulware, David Braxton, Mark Breland, Julio Cesar Chavez, Kermit Cintron, Miguel Cotto, Chad Dawson, Oscar De La Hoya, Jeff Fenech, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Naseem Hamed, Vivian Harris, Carlos Alberto Hernandez,Lindell Holmes, Evander Holyfield (for second fight against Riddick Bowe), Vitali Klitschko, Andy Lee, Oliver McCall (for first fight against Lennox Lewis), Mike McCallum, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Andrew Murray, Welcome Ncita, Aaron Pryor, Lucia Rijker, Graciano Rocchigiani, Leon Spinks, Jermain Taylor, Tony Tucker

Awards & Recognition

BWAA Manager of the Year -1980 and 1989.

BWAA Trainer of the Year - 1993 and 1997.

Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (Non-Participant Category) in 1996.

Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame (Expanded Category) in 2000.

July 7th

1914: Freddie Welsh W20 Willie Ritchie - Legend has it that Welsh, upon learning that his $7000 guarantee was lost in the promotion, attacked his manager and bit off part of his ear.

1921: Ezzard Charles born in Lawrenceville, Georgia

1944: Willie Pep W10 Willie Joyce

Emanuel “Manny” Steward born in Bottom Creek, West Virginia

1951: Archie Moore KO1 Alberto Santiago Lovell

1952: Kid Gavilan KO11 Gil Turner

1970: Wayne McCullough born.

1980: Larry Holmes KO7 Scott LeDoux

Saoul Mamby KO13 Esteban DeJesus

1982: Katsuo Tokashiki KO8 Masaharu Inami

The “Phantom of Philly” Tommy Loughran Passes.

1983: Bruce Curry KO 7 Hidekazu Akai

1985: Julio Cesar Chavez KO2 Roger Mayweather

1989: Daniela Romina Bermúdez is born in Villa Gobernador Gálvez, Santa Fe Province, Argentina.

1990: Virgil Hill W12 Tyrone Frazier

1994: Wilfredo Vázquez TKO2 Jae-Won Choi

1995: James Hughes TKO7 Nick Rupa

Steve Robinson TKO9 Pedro Ferradas

2000: Jose Aguirre KO5 Jose Luis Zepeda

Kali Meehan TKO2 James Grima

2001: Ricky Hatton KO4 Jason Rowland

Jesse James Leija NC5 Hector Camacho Jr. Coney Island, NY - Fight is stopped when Camacho is not able to see out of his eye due to a cut caused by an accidental headbutt. Originally ruled as a technical decision for Camacho. On 7/26/01, following a protest by the Leija camp, the NY State Athletic Commission changed the result to a No Contest. It ruled the bell to start the 6th round had not officially been rung, therefore the fight did not go the required distance in which to render a technical decision. Ironically, Leija won a 5-round technical split decision over Micky Ward in his next bout. The bout was held in Leija's home state of Texas. Like the Camacho-Leija fight, Leija-Ward was scheduled for 10 rounds and the bout was stopped before the 6th round. However, Texas' rules differed from New York's. Had Camacho-Leija been held in Texas, the original ruling would not have been overturned.

Takaloo TKO1 Anthony Farnell

2007: Wladimir Klitschko KO6 Lamon Brewster

Joachim Alcine W12 Travis Simms

Luis Alberto Perez K 7 Genaro Garcia

Nonito Donaire KO5 Vic Darchinyan

Florante Condes W12 Muhammad Rachman

2012: Wladimir Klitschko TKO6 Tony Thompson

Nonito Donaire W12 Jeffrey Mathebula  

Aniya Seki W10 Eva Marcu

Hugo Ruiz KO9 Jean Sampson

2014: Naoko Fujioka W10 Tomoko Kawanishi

2018: Beibut Shumenov RTD9 Hizni Altunkaya

2023: Jaron “Boots” Ennis KO10 Roiman Villa

2024: Fernando Martinez W12 Kazuto Ioka