Ezzard Charles

A Boxing Life
Ezzard Charles: A Boxing Life traces Charles’ early life in a small country town all the way to his fights with Jersey Joe Walcott, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano during the wild, glamorous and wonderfully dirty business of boxing in the 1950s, one of the sport’s last Golden Ages.

Greatness is often overlooked in its own time. For Ezzard Charles–one of boxing’s most skilled practitioners, with a record of 93-25-1 (52 KO)–recognition took decades. Named by The Ring magazine as the greatest light heavyweight of all time, Charles was frustrated in his attempts to get a shot at the 175-pound title, and as World Heavyweight Champion (1949-1951) struggled to win the respect of boxing fans captivated by Joe Louis’ power and charisma. This first-ever biography of “The Cincinnati Cobra” covers his early life in a small country town and his career in the glamorously dirty business of prizefighting in the 1950s, one of th