I'm in my sixties and I remember seeing this commercial when I was a kid and the effect it had on me. Ez was a great Heavyweight Champion and pound-for-pound in the Top Ten Fighters of All Time. So sorry that his life ended this way. RIP Champ.
I'm in my '60s as well, I remember seeing it back in the '70s. I just googled it now after watching the first Marciano/ Charles fight it's the first time I've seen this commercial since 1974. Charles died in 1975.
Its hilarious when some people say Rocky "didnt fight anyone worth mentioning." When Charles is literally ranked by most experts as the greatest light heavyweight of all time.
@@BillyBob-wg8gr rocky happened to fight legends all past their best. Despite his close age with ezzard, ezzard was fighting HOFers in his 20s whereas rocky was italian mob protected and fighting cans. Ezzard had also sharted showing signs of als. Jersey joe was old. Moore was old. Louis was old.
@@cheetoyeeto1232 marciano's first amateur fight was 15 April 1946 he was 23 years old , he had 12 amateur fights , he had his first pro fight in march 1947 he was 24 , so rocky was a very late starter , but a fast learner ! Compare that to plenty of other boxers , can crusher no , devastating yes ! ....
I remember hearing a radio broadcast which said that Ezzard Charles was a deeply religious man and was so upset at the death of Sam Baroudi who he knocked out, that Charles wanted to give up boxing. He was obviously a very honest man and it is so sad that he contracted this awful disease. RIP.
Great legend. So sad. One of the saddest things I heard about him is that the media didn't care about him because he was a good guy that showed class. No controversies..
Ezzard was still in his 40s when he contracted this illness. Greatest light heavyweight boxer that ever lived. Why in the world is life like this? Terrible afflictions like ALS. I remember watching this and learning about Ezzard Charles as a kid. For some reason, I felt so badly for this man. Still do. Saw him in interviews always speaking kindly about other boxers. No need to badmouth others when you are so damn good.
@@hammad9091 Ezzard Charles, along with Duran, Louis, Saad Muhammad, and Robinson have been my favorite boxers ever since I got into boxing when I was a kid in the late 1970s. I had Ring magazines and other boxing magazines with stories about, fight coverage about and interviews with these boxers in my home. Ezzard was a religious fellow, believed in God and doing the right thing for people and helping others. ****On youtube, listen to the interview in the ring after he beat Joe Louis. Ray Arcel trained something like 10 of Joe Louis's opponents. Louis always beat Ray's boxers until he boxed Ezzard Charles. Ray Arcel, who also trained Roberto Duran, was actually an admirer of Joe Louis. He and Joe liked each other and respected each other. Ezzard and Ray are interviewed. You can spot the classy nature of the man who is Ezzard Charles. Life is not always fair. That is for sure. ALS is like a real life non stop nightmare. The symptoms get worse and worse until you can't walk, can't control the muscles in body, etc.
@@Theking-es9ie Doctors dont know for sure why certain people get ALS. The cause is unknown and it is very sad because the serious problems one gets from ALS progressively get worse and worse and cant be stopped. It leads to death. The scientist Stephen Hawking had it and lived for 50 years with it which is unusual. It can progress much faster than that and lead to death. Yet, you can see what ALS did to him, and it eventually killed him. Nobody should have to live the way he did. Unable to move his muscles, his body at all, really. He couldnt even use his vocal chords to talk. ALS is like a nightmare.
Ezzard Charles was a great fighter, who never fully received his due. He was somewhat unpopular after he followed Joe louis as champ, and then defeated Louis in comeback. Charles idolized Louis as many did and did not want to KO him. Criticized for prolonging the fight. Overshadowed by Marciano, and then battles ALS his last few years. I heard that he held back a little on hos power punches after one of his opponents died. RIP Ezzard
This commercial is superb--an all-time great like the Cincinnati Cobra being reduced to this, all alone and helpless in a gloomy arena with nobody to cheer him on. Absolutely horrifying.
What a terrible disease ALS is. Although born in Georgia, Charles was easily the greatest fighter out of Cincinnati his adopted home town and although he's remembered as a former World Heavyweight Champion its a shame he didn't pick up the Light Heavyweight title which is the division he did best, beating a who's who at 175lbs such as, of the top of my head Archie Moore, Joey Maxim, Jimmy Bivins and Lloyd Marshall amongst others. Its funny that I have came across this video only a few weeks after another great Cincinnati fighter just died Aaron Pryor.
Wow! This is my first time seeing this. Seeing the great Ezzard Charles like this is just as sad as seeing the last footage of Joe Louis a day before he died.
Its pretty obvious he was The P 4 P fighter of that era. Someone with type of skills could only lose because it was a business or career "decision"...post-war, fairly segregated u.s.a. and boxing was always corrupt...I saw the mural of him in Cincinnati and didn't even look like him, more of a caricaturization because, your eyes and, correspondingly logic, clearly show that he was fine-featured: he didn't have a bulge to his eyes or lips bulging
I feel sad for this man,his style is what probably caused this als,because he's all about getting hit or hit,and his counters are the most smartest and most dangerous to do,i wish his family good things❤❤❤
Greatest light heavyweight ever. Losing to Marciano takes nothing away from his prime years at light heavyweight. Beat a who's who of boxing hall of famers at lightheavyweight. Including the 2 greatest lt heavyweight champions of his era, Archie Moore and Joey Maxim, everytime he fought them. Moore 3 times, Maxim 5 times.
@@STEVEREEVES4444 I don't know about Archie Moore or Jersey Joe taking dives. Only Ezzard Charles I know about. His grandson Ezzard Charles 3rd gave me the inside scoop of what happened behind the scenes. I'm not here to try and force you to believe anything.
i'm sorry to say this because ezz was one of my favorites of all time, but if you make your career out of being punched around the head , this is what's going to happen and that applies to everyone who boxes.I love boxing but sometimes I wonder whether it is justified.By the way I am 47 and have had parkinsons for 10 years.When I had an m.r..i scan on my head the report said I had something called post watershed lesions and the neurologist asked me whether I had ever done boxing or been knocked unconscious and the answer is no.I saw an interview with a newly retired boxer who said he had retired with all his faculties intact.I thought 'i'ts not now you have to worry about,it's when you get old, that you better keep your fingers crossed.I am ok most of the time but sometimes I shuffle around like a 90yr old with a frozen facial expression so I say again to all those boxers. Keep your fingers crossed. Though being honest I think if you box, some kind of brain damage is inevitable
I agree and disagree with you in some sense. Yes, if you box and are bounced around in the head a lot, if the probabilities aren't great for brain damage, they are certainly better than someone who DOESN'T box. On the other hand, Jake LaMotta is still alive and in his mid-90's. Carmen Basilio died a few years back but he was in his mid-80's. Make know mistake about these two; they were some of the most physical fighters around. They both were in straight up WARS (Basilio fought Ray Robinson twice and LaMotta fought him 6 times). Both had been in several wars and fought well over what the fighters of today fought yet they managed to stay alive until their 80's and 90's
While yes it's possible you could be killed or suffer brain damage but others use boxing to make a better life for themselves. Also I doubt somebody like Mike Tyson could have lasted long in a 9 till 5 job.
Another thing is what options did poor black men have in that period. He wanted to stop boxing so many times but had to return for his financial security.
Douglas Miller Hey man, if you're referring to my response, I was just talking about black boxers of the time. I wasn't discussing Jewish boxers like Benny Leonard, Max Baer, Barney Ross etc. who also had few options besides boxing and were some of the finest men to lace gloves up. On that we can definitely agree. But my response was focused on Charles and other black boxers
+Hammering Hank Whiteboy ezzard charles had over 119 fights ,Fuck rocky marciano, joe louis fought that wop and he did not get it. Ezzard has only his self to blame for fighting so much...
It's sad light heavyweight Charles was afflicted with this terrible disease when he fought Marciano. Otherwise he would have beat that overrated bum Rocco Francis.
@@Bobby.D.1776 Really? He fought Marciano 1954 & he got diagnosed 1968. You think it took 14 years for a professional athlete to realize that something was off or that it took 14 years for this disease to manifest itself so clearly that doctors could find out about it?
@@vanderful2397 Ezzard said he first noticed the ailment in 1951, *"after a guy hit me, I didn't seem to be able to get away,"* he recalled, *"I didn't have the same coordination."* Ezzard himself, his family, Lou Duva, Burt Sugar, Ezzard's trainer's Ray Arcel, Jimmy Brown, Chickie Ferrera and Bill Gore all said they noticed signs of ALS in 1951. *--William Dettloff’s book 'Ezzard Charles: A Boxing Life'* There's no room for debate, too many reputable witnesses. Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking lived with ALS for *55* years. *Any questions about the validity then I'd suggest filing defamation lawsuits against Ezzard, his family, all his trainers, Duva, Sugar and Dettloff.*
@@vanderful2397 Read *Ezzard Charles: A Boxing Life by William Dettloff.* Charles already had symptoms of ALS (1951) long before he fought Rocky in 1954. How can anyone say he didn't if you have never read his biography? If a Rocky fan were to read a Rocky biography they'd hang on to every single word as if it were the holy grail.
*EZZARD CHARLES WAS 100% FACTUALLY HANDICAPPED WITH LOU GEHRIG'S DISEASE WHEN HE FOUGHT ROCKY MARCIANO!!!* William Dettloff’s biography *'Ezzard Charles: A Boxing Life'* documents that Charles first felt weakness in his limbs, and some numbness, as early as 1951. This was 3 years before the Marciano fights, and it was also the same year he lost his title. Ezzard, his family, Ezzard's trainer's Ray Arcel, Jimmy Brown, Chickie Ferrera and Bill Gore all said they noticed signs of ALS in 1951. Bert Sugar said, *"His trainer, Ray Arcel said, that even now, at this stage in 51, and then on into the middle 50's, you could see the beginning, the traces of the disease, that would later claim his life, Lou Gehrig's disease in Charles."* --@ 35:01 ESPN Ringside - Rocky Marciano
It's unfear that sports journalists hadn't talked about Ezzard Charles as much as he deserves. I've known him by chance when I looked for the Rocky Marciano fights in RU-vid. And just by seeing the first round I noticed that Ezzard Charles was a very great boxer. Rest in Peace.
One of my friends had ALS and passed away from it in 2014, had it for 6 years. This ad with Ezzard is sad and may he rest in peace, my friend Brandon looked the same way during his fight and he smiled during his fight and he was once vibrant, active and played football at our high school. I still miss him and I do talk to his family.
Son of a b*****! This guy was a killer in the ring. My father was a fighter and I found a old trunk in the basement I opened it and found hundreds of ring magazines I would look and read all I could and ezzard Charles was always there. He should be in hall of fame if he isn’t already lord have mercy. He died so young but what’s the sense of living when you can’t enjoy anything. RIP champ
He always intrigued me when he fought Marciano. He probably gave Marciano his toughest fights when Marciano was heavyweight champion. In retrospect he seemed to be as tough as anyone - pound for pound. Marciano probably had a stronger knock out punch which made the difference in the second fight with Charles.
Ezzard was one of the greatest ever. I remember seeing this commercial.... Saddest I ever saw. 50 years later and no cure. Where'd all the money go? The research has led to pharmaceutical drugs for the symptoms and no prevention or cure. What a surprise.
One of the best and in my top ten. It was beautiful to see him split Rockys nose in half. Win. Lose or draw, Charles and Walcott both gave Rocky wonderful beatings.
A true warrior, all the way until the end. An all time great, and a legend. Thank you Champ, for creating a legacy that will continue to inspire people long after we're all gone.
