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- [00:00]
Kevin Grace
I think it takes something away from a fighter when he kills somebody in the ring. And then Ezra, he was a real, real kind guy.
- [00:11]
Ricky Mulvey
Ezzard Charles win over Sam Beruti was not supposed to define his career. It was supposed to be an easy fight for the Cincinnati Cobra to gain an audience in Chicago. But Ezzard knocked Sam Baroody out with a sharp right hand in the 10th round and Baroody died later that night. This is episode three of Total Fighter limited series about Ezzard Charles. I'm Ricky Mulvey. In this episode we're going to explore how the guilt of a killer knockout blow changed Ezzard. We'll answer some questions including how did the Mafia pluck a nice guy out of Cincinnati? How did Ezzard make us through the baddest menu fighting black Murderer's Roe? How did he stay clean the whole time? The moments after Ezzard's victory over Sam Beruti were qu. Ezzard watched the medics bring a stretcher to the boxing ring. Chicago fans quickly filed out of the triple tiered arena and the crowd didn't need to listen to the high pitched ring announcer's voice to hear who won. Baroody rode a stretcher to his locker room and he briefly regained consciousness around around midnight. But those around him knew that Sam Baroody had fought his last round. And that's when Baroody's manager, Mike Spinelli, grabbed the dying fighter's money and ran out of the arena.
- [01:38]
William Dettlaff
He didn't go to the hospital to see ber Rudy. He just wanted to get out of there because he knew some bad stuff was gonna go down if Beirudi died, which he did.
- [01:45]
Ricky Mulvey
That's William Dettlaff, author of Ezzard A Boxing Life. Newspaper reporters caught Spinelli at the Chicago airport. The manager had tried to jump in a taxi, but the reporters barricaded Spinelli and prevented his departure. Those reporters found the manager carrying a briefcase with $4,000 inside the purse that had belonged to his brain dead fighter. And when Spinelli was asked why he had that money, he replied, the kid is dead. So what? I can't help him now. Mike Spinelli eventually paid, though it was because he squeezed his fighter the wrong way, which was too quickly. Mike Spinelli primarily worked as a truck driver and he was just as greedy as the professional boxing managers. But he was not nearly as slick. The real pros slowly made millions by taking complete control of fighters finances and careers. Chicago police had also booked Ezzard on a manslaughter charge. But he was quickly released. They wanted to make sure there weren't horseshoes in his gloves, that there wasn't any foul play that they could find. But 11,000 people could have attested that Ezzard was not guilty. And despite his legal innocence, Ezzard Charles never wanted to fight again. Baroody's father, Sam Crandall Sr. Though, was quick to forgive. He said that his son had also killed a man in the ring. Crandall later told the Cincinnati Post, this was a terrible accident, but our family bears no bitterness at all toward you. Don't give up your career. Keep on and win the championship. But that forgiveness that Baroody's father showed, it wouldn't last forever.
- [03:27]
William Dettlaff
Yeah, and he tried to. He sued Ezzard, tried to get money out of him. Yeah, but that. You know what? That struck me as really unfortunate. But wow, really typical too. Isn't that a typical thing for a person to do? Doesn't it seem that way to you? Like a typical American move?
- [03:44]
Ricky Mulvey
Again, that's William Dettlaff.
- [03:46]
William Dettlaff
Somebody got in his ear and said, hey, you know what he hit? He hit your son a lot of times low. And he hit him a lot of times in the back of the head. And the referee didn't do anything about it. So that's really not right. Somebody should. You should try to sue him. And he started listening. He said, you know what? Yeah, I could use a few bucks. That's the way it happens.
- [04:02]
Ricky Mulvey
Ezrid said that he would fight one more time and give the purse to Baroody's family. Then he was done for good. But why did Ezzard keep fighting? Maybe it was because he had some conversations with the only person who he could open up to, his future wife, Gladys. A few years before Ezzard Charles met Sam Baroody in the boxing ring. He met the love of his life outside of Woodward High School in Cincinnati, Gladys Gartrell.
- [04:29]
Ezzard Charles II
Now, she told me, and he was sitting there, she said, that's the girl I'm going to marry. So he knew he wanted to have a family and start a relationship like that with her.
- [04:38]
Ricky Mulvey
That's Ezzard Charles ii, who is now a minister in the Chicago area. Ezra was on a roll as a boxer and a star in Cincinnati. He had just defeated Archie Moore, the second greatest light heavyweight ever, at Music Hall Arena. But Gladys was not sold. And one afternoon after the dismissal bell, Ezra spotted Gladys walking out of the five story brick high school.
- [05:01]
William Dettlaff
A recollection is that she came from a very well to do family, and Ezra did not. So that might have had something to do with that. That she declined him, initially declined his advances.
- [05:11]
Ricky Mulvey
He took his varsity jacket out of the dry cleaner's plastic and left his car. Ezra jogged along Reading Road to catch up with Gladys. And he invited her to his fight at Music hall arena against Oakland Billy Smith. But she politely declined. And that defeat stung ez. He wasn't used to losing. He tried to invite her one more time, but took the hint and went back to his Cadillac, dejected. But if Gladys went to that fight against Oakland Billy Smith, she went to Music Hall Arena. She would have witnessed one of the most exciting boxing matches that Cincinnati ever saw. Certainly one of the rowdiest. Oakland Billy Smith was an erratic and dangerous light heavyweight. He worked as a prison guard to pay the bills. And often traveled cross country to fight in Cincinnati from his hometown, which I hope you can figure out. And 4800 fans packed the Spartan arena at Music Hall. A sold out sign greeted the hundreds who wanted to buy tickets at the gate.
- [06:12]
Kevin Grace
It was a smaller arena when you compare it to something like the Gardens, but it was smoke filled, a lot of cigars. The people who attended were generally a mix of, you know, probably 90% men who were wearing their fedoras and their suits and everything else.
- [06:32]
Ricky Mulvey
That's Kevin Grace. He is an archivist at the University of Cincinnati. Also wrote Cincinnati Boxing. Oakland. Billy Smith was known as a gatekeeper fighter. That meant that only great fighters beat him. Anyone less was not that talented.
- [06:48]
Kevin Grace
Yeah, I think the audience gets into the fight. If you sit there and watch it, they're throwing punches at the same time.
- [06:56]
Ezzard Charles II
A lot of them.
- [06:57]
Ricky Mulvey
That's Frank Wettenkamp, who was a high school friend of Ezzard Charles. Those who made it in saw a brutal fight. Smith landed the harder punches, but Ezzard landed more. Charles even downed Oakland Billy in the sixth round. But the drowning fighter wrapped his arms around Charles and took him to the floor with him. Who actually won that fight remains an open question. The Cincinnati Inquirer gave five rounds to Charles, three to Smith, and called two. Even the Cincinnati Post wrote that there was no disagreement from the crowd when Ezzard was announced as the winner by a decision. But here's the thing. Sometimes boxing writers were encouraged to write a particular angle on the outcome of a fight. Sam Becker promoted the fight. He also owned a piece of Ezzard's contract. That's usually a no no, he said some 50 years later. I not only promoted the fight and had a piece of the fighter. But I was judging the fight. I cast the vote that gave him a decision.
- [07:52]
William Dettlaff
I don't want to scapegoat every one of Ezzard's losses because I think it might have gotten some things went in his favor too at some times.
- [07:59]
Ricky Mulvey
Bad decisions in boxing have been around since the game started, and the fight game will continue to be slightly slanted, corrupt, if you will, as long as its line between promoters and administrators is blurred. Combat sports are the only athletic competition with scores are hidden until the end. I think the famous boxing trainer Teddy Atlas best described the problem with boxing judges after he watched a bad decision on ESPN's Friday Night Fights.
- [08:24]
Kevin Grace
They're pompous asses that they are with their pencils in their hands. Some of them never sweated, never bled in their life, never took a risk in their life, and they're just going to rip a decision away from a fighter. When a fighter goes in the ring, he doesn't always come out of the ring whole.
- [08:39]
Ricky Mulvey
And yes, Ezzard got his share of lucky breaks. In Cincinnati, for example, EZ was the only fighter who had Archie Moore's number. But a hometown advantage may have helped him eke out a win over that old mongoose in Music Hall Arena. Another example, the Irish blockbuster Fitzy Fitzpatrick downed EZ at Crosley Field in the second round of their 1947 match. After the referee allowed the Cincinnati Cobra to hug on to fitze for 2 minutes and 30 seconds to clear his head and finish the round. Most refs, most fair referees, would have broken the fighters up and allowed Fitze to land clean shots and possibly finish the fight. When EZ ko'd Fitze in the fifth round, the ref stood behind the knockdown fighter who was was hard of hearing, so he couldn't see the count and then quickly counted him out of the fight. EZ was like the majority of boxing prospects, but he didn't only win because he had a hometown advantage.
- [09:36]
Hamad Youssef
It's a toss up between him and Sugar Ray Robinson. As to the most complete fighter ever,
- [09:40]
Ricky Mulvey
that's Hamad Youssef, an amateur boxer and a scholar of the sweet science.
- [09:45]
Hamad Youssef
Complete as in, like, he can fight on the inside, he can fight mid range, he can fight, he can fight on the outside, he can use different angles, you know what I mean? All that stuff.
- [09:57]
Ricky Mulvey
After World War II, EZ grew closer with the people who would make him champion. That includes the boxing trainer Jimmy Brown. Cincinnati boxing coach Darrell P. Man Jones remembers being in the gym with him.
- [10:08]
Kevin Grace
Henry Brown didn't take no meds. I mean, he used to smack me around in the gym.
- [10:12]
Ricky Mulvey
Buddy LaRosa later brought Jimmy Brown on to train Aaron the Hawk Prior, one of Cincinnati's great boxers in the 1970s and 80s.
- [10:20]
Kevin Grace
Jimmy always liked to get in the ring with the fighter. And he'll hold the pads. And then when he threw a one, two, if he didn't finish with a hook, then Jimmy would say, hey, now see here, I'm hitting you, Jimmy Brown.
- [10:36]
Ricky Mulvey
And Ezzard understood that prize fighting was a dangerous and sometimes deadly business.
- [10:41]
Kevin Grace
Women would try to come in to the gym to, you know, take autographs. But Ezra wasn't on that. He said he was fully pledged about his fight.
- [10:53]
Ricky Mulvey
Many of those involved with boxing are good people, particularly the athletes and the trainers. But boxing is an inherently corruptible sport. Scores are hidden until the end. Promoters pay the referees and the judges. The Mafia did not make boxing a dirty game. But mobsters were well suited to run the sport. Madison Square Garden was boxing's capital. And at best, MSG's administrators were yes men to crooks. At worst, they were the gunmen for Murder, Inc. They were the gangsters who were hired to kill other gangsters. Those mafiosos were the people keeping Ezzard from getting a shot at the current light heavyweight title holder, Gus Lesnevich.
- [11:35]
William Dettlaff
And that shows the mob's influence. By the way, he could not get a shot at Gus Lesnevich throughout his light heavyweight career because the mob knew that he was gonna kick Gus's ass again.
- [11:46]
Ricky Mulvey
That's William Dettlaff, author of Ezzard A Boxing Life. The mob had sunk its teeth into boxing in a few different ways. They owned fighters contracts, they promoted the fights. They ran bookies taking bets on the fights. And they made sure the outcome went in their favor when it was necessary. Mike Jacobs, the promoter at Madison Square Garden, even slipped checks to the newspaper writers in the Forest Hotel's bar so they'd stay on the message that he wanted. Every boxing writer and boxing manager called Mike Jacobs Uncle Mike. But none of them could dredge up any kind words about him when it came to his obituary. Because Mike Jacobs ruled boxing with an iron fist. And he was in no hurry to put Ezzard on Madison Square Garden's main stage. One reason may have been it was difficult to sell tickets to boxing shows headlined by black fighters. Joe Louis and Ray Robinson were exceptions to the rule. So you could call it a lucky break for EZ that in 1946, a brain hemorrhage Took Mike Jacobs out of commission and paved a way for a gangster promoter who was significantly more receptive to the Cincinnati Cobra. Sam Baroody died of a brain hemorrhage from a blow to the head. Mike Jacobs slowly died from a brain hemorrhage from organizing other people to punch each other in the head. And Jacobs incapacitation opened the door for the savage mobster Frankie Carbo, aka Mr. Grey, to take his place as the unofficial boss of boxing. Carbo was formerly a hired gun for Murder, Inc. That was the enforcement arm of the Italian and Jewish mafia families in New York. Carbo allegedly assassinated the Las Vegas icon Bugsy Siegel and and was arrested for the murder of a taxi driver who refused to pay into his protection racket. In both cases, law enforcement could not find a soul to testify against Frankie Carbo. About five years before Carbo saw Ezzard Charles, one former hitman Abe Kid Twist Rellis threatened to testify against Carbo. Reles hid out in a hotel and was guarded by police. But a testimony against Carbo and La Cosa Nostra was out of the question. So Frankie Carbo helped pay the five police officers $100,000 to toss Abe Rellis out of his hotel room's. Reles immediately died upon impact and became known as the canary who could sing but could never fly. The Cincinnati managers didn't play the game that the Mafia did quite as well. But Jake Mintz, Ezzard's manager, did. It's likely that Jake Mintz and Ezzard Charles knew who they were dealing with when they signed fights
- [14:23]
Ezzard Charles II
and they grabbed Ezra. Cause he was a talent. He was a talent, he was a moneymaker. So, you know, they grabbed him. That was their life. That was their business.
- [14:31]
Ricky Mulvey
Again, that's Ezzard Charles son, the minister Ezzard Charles. When Jake Mintz started receiving a percentage of Ezzard's fights, he received a larger piece. If that event took place outside of Cincinnati. This may have led to his antics. When Ezzard fought in Cincinnati, for example, he told any fan who would listen during that Fitzpatrick fight at Crosley Field that that EZ was never fighting in his hometown again. And Cincinnati promoters Sam and Benny Becker claimed that Jakeman screwed them over. The crafty manager had put one of Ez's fights against Jimmy Bivens in Cleveland when he promised Cincinnati. Therefore, the Becker brothers didn't promote the fight and didn't make any money on it. But through Jake Mintz, EZ received his first chance to fight in New York City at Madison Square Garden EZ knew that that's where the real.
- [15:18]
Kevin Grace
What else contributed to your getting started
- [15:20]
Ezzard Charles II
in this fight game?
- [15:22]
Kevin Grace
Well, like, like everyone else, I thought, you know, that I could win some money from it. And it has proven that you can win some money out of fighting.
- [15:32]
Ricky Mulvey
And you could win a lot of money by boxing in New York City. But Ezzard's grandmother knew about the dangers of the Big Apple. That's where his mother lived. And she only allowed the number one light heavyweight contender in the world to. To go if he brought his friend, his backup. That's Richard Christmas.
- [15:49]
Ezzard Charles II
She thought he should be with him, you know, because he was a tall guy too. You know, he had a little weight on him. You know, he thought Richard should be with him when he goes to New York, shouldn't be by himself. But no, he wasn't protecting my dad. My dad more than likely was protecting Richard.
- [16:05]
Ricky Mulvey
Boxing coach Darrell P. Man Jones remembers traveling with Richard Christmas years later.
- [16:10]
Kevin Grace
He kept notes of everything. He used to show me how to keep my taxes together when we go out of town. He showed me how to keep all gas receipts, all grocery receipts, anything that I spent money on. He said, keep them receipt because you can file taxes off anything that you buy. You know, I didn't, I didn't know
- [16:31]
Ricky Mulvey
that Joe Louis only had business partners like Frankie Carbo and Mike Jacobs. Ezra Charles at least had Richard Christmas on his side. And that made a huge difference.
- [16:42]
Kevin Grace
Nobody could steal from him. They had to go through Richard to get in parts of Ezra's money.
- [16:50]
Ricky Mulvey
Ezzard matched up in Madison Square Garden against Elmer Ray. Nicknamed Violent, Elmer Ray was a member of Black Murderers Row, a group of middleweight and light heavyweight black boxers who were so feared by white fighters that they almost never received title shots. They existed in a catch 22. Fighters like Elmer Ray, Charlie Burley and almost Ezra Charles were too good to fight for a title. Jersey Joe Walcott fought Ray a number of times and later said about him, I recognized Ray as a kindred soul as soon as I threw a right to the body. The spirit was willing, but the stomach was empty. Rey was 20 pounds heavier than EZ but a 2 to 1 underdog. And the powers at Madison Square Garden promised that it's safe. Decisive win by either fighter would line them up for a match against Joe Louis. And while you know Madison Square Garden is a beautiful and expensive arena, Ezra fought in a previous iteration that was more like an office building joined to a sports arena. And above that was unrented retail space and a skating rink. Ezzard and Elmer fought viciously for that Joe Louis shot. The Ring magazine said, quote, Ray was the aggressor most of the way. But Charles was faster, the better boxer and the sharper hitter. In most cases, that would mean that Ezzard Charles won the fight. Because boxing is not just about punching power. It's about landing effective punches, controlling your opponent and ring generalship. The judges at ringside gave Elmer Ray the decision.
- [18:17]
William Dettlaff
But I think that was probably a case where the mob's hand was almost visible.
- [18:22]
Ricky Mulvey
But in retrospect, it's obvious that the fight was slanted. Before the bout, Elmer Ray's manager advised boxing writers. I wouldn't bet a nickel on this fight. I don't know how Ray's right shoulder will hold up. He heard it in his first fight against Jersey Joe Walcott last winter. He's liable to throw the shoulder out at any time. Now. It's obvious that the manager was just trying to build the public's pool of money on Ezzard Charles. And get better odds for his money. And after the fight, Joe Louis said he had no interest in facing Elmer Ray in the ring. He thought Elmer Ray was a vicious fighter, but not a true boxer. And Lewis would be liable to be hurt by a headbutt. The Madison Square Garden administrators also said that the win was not decisive enough. To earn a shot at Lewis for the title. There's also the possibility that Lewis rarely fought other black boxers for the heavyweight title. Less his decision and more that of the mobs. So Rey was out of the picture. And Ezzard Charles took just another step backward. In becoming the heavyweight champion of the world. No film of that Elmer Ray, Ezzard Charles fight survives. And I really wish there were more of Ezzard's films that light, heavy. Instead, there's only one.
- [19:32]
Hamad Youssef
There's only one. One fight of his available on light heavyweight. It's against Lord Marshall. And over there, you can really see he's much more aggressive than the other films of his. So he stops Lloyd Marshall with a body shot in that film. A very well timed body shot. Then the rest of the fight films, they're at heavyweight. And over there, you can see. You can see a difference. He's much more cautious, in a sense.
- [19:52]
Ezzard Charles II
Yeah.
- [19:52]
Ricky Mulvey
Again, that's Hamad Youssef. But one thing was going right in Ezzard's life, his relationship with Gladys. Gladys saw that the star athlete wasn't going for a quick fling.
- [20:03]
Ezzard Charles II
And some would say the Lord told him, that's your wife, you know, you're gonna have children with her.
- [20:08]
William Dettlaff
She declined him initially, declined his advances, but he stuck in there. And if I recall right, she was selling something for schoolers for some reason, and he bought a whole bunch of it to get on her good side. And it worked.
- [20:22]
Ricky Mulvey
The two got married in a private ceremony, though they lived in separate houses so Ezzard could continue to focus on training. Ezzard's career was fighting and clobbering people over the head. He was quiet and reserved outside of the ring. Gladys proved to be a perfect opposite for him.
- [20:39]
Ezzard Charles II
He didn't want to hit us, you know, he's a fighter. He was a boxer.
- [20:42]
Kevin Grace
He knew it were kids.
- [20:44]
Ezzard Charles II
He let mom handle that.
- [20:46]
Ricky Mulvey
Ezra Charles II grew up in a different time. Parenting methods were not the same as they are in 2020.
- [20:54]
Ezzard Charles II
And he never spanked me. My mother spanked me. My mother spanked all of us when we had a spanking. My sisters didn't do as much as me. But I brought a note home from my third grade teacher. I had to take those BO jeans off. She got me right there on the bed with them boxer shorts on with those briefs on and tore me up with that belt, man.
- [21:14]
Ricky Mulvey
And while EZ waited for his next opportunity, he fought anyone who Jake Mintz put in front of him. He beat Archie Moore in a decision in front of 10,000 people in Cleveland's massive sports arena. He also knocked around a seven win, 20 loss heavyweight in a dusty armory in Akron. And during this stretch of fights, Ezzard had his tragic meeting with Sam Baroody in the ring. And while some say that Baroody's death led Ezzard to lose his knockout punch, the truth is more complex. And Ezzard wasn't willing to talk about the difficulties he was going through with the world.
- [21:47]
Ezzard Charles II
But, you know, intimacy. I don't know what he told my mother because I know they ran to me. She knew just about everything. And that's what intimacy is. People think that's having sex. Intimacy is when you share inner things with somebody that you trust.
- [22:02]
Ricky Mulvey
Again, that's Ezzard Charles ii, the Minister Ezzard.
- [22:05]
William Dettlaff
Charles
- [22:08]
Ricky Mulvey
Ezzard asked for a soft entrance back into the boxing game after the tragic death of Sam Barudi. His manager, Jake Mintz, used the increased publicity to draw attention to Gus Lesnevich and call out that false light heavyweight champion to see if Ezzard could fight him in the wake of Baroodi's death. But the powers that be that ran boxing knew that a benefit match that Ezzard Wanted wasn't going to generate any money. So that idea was nixed. And Gus Lesnevich's manager said they still weren't interested in fighting the Cincinnati Cobra. So that idea was out the window, too. The next opponent who was brought in was Elmer Ray, the alligator wrestler who Ezzard lost to at Madison Square Garden. And to twist the knife further, Ezzard had to fight at Chicago Stadium, which was the venue where he killed Sam Beruti. It might be more entertaining to say that when Ezzard stepped through the ropes at Chicago Stadium, he was haunted by the ghost of Sam Baroody. But Ezzard focused on the task at hand, beating the hard punching Elmer Ray. And in this fight, he didn't leave it to the judge's decision. He knocked violent Elmer Ray out in the ninth round.
- [23:16]
Kevin Grace
I say, when you're in that ring, what do you think about Ezzard? That's a funny question. I can think of nothing but the man in front of me. It's a bad time to think of
- [23:26]
Ezzard Charles II
anything else, isn't it?
- [23:30]
Ricky Mulvey
After the fight, Ezra publicly called out Gus Lesnevich, saying it was time for them to match up. And he privately gave his purse to Baroody's family. $5,000. After Gus Lestovich slated Ezzard yet again, he finally gave up hope on getting a shot at the light heavyweight title. Ezzard made a more permanent move to the heavyweight division for the financial opportunities. Even though he was significantly undersized in that division. Walking around, he was naturally like 160, 170 pounds. And he was fighting guys with a hell of a lot more power.
- [24:04]
Kevin Grace
And he always fought bigger, heavier, more powerful people. Jersey Joe Walcott, he fought him three or four times in Jersey Joe. I know one punch. I saw a picture of where he hit Ezzard right flat on the chin. Would have knocked out 9 out of 10 heavyweights. Didn't knock Ezra down as a heavyweight.
- [24:25]
Hamad Youssef
He wasn't really the same boxer puncher he was as a heavyweight, as a middleweight.
- [24:31]
Ricky Mulvey
You first heard from Buddy LaRosa, founder of LaRosa's Pizza, longtime Cincinnati boxing icon. After that was Hamad Yousef. He has studied Ezra Charles very closely, particularly his technique. Scholar of the sweet science. Ezra did not wait long to get big fights at heavyweight. His bout against Joey Maxim opened up the Cincinnati Gardens. Joey Maxim wasn't a palooka, a Hammond Egger, someone Ezzard could easily walk over. But he was a single threat fighter.
- [25:01]
Kevin Grace
He jabbed with the left, and that was his most powerful punch. With his right hand. You know what they say when a fighter can't punch with the other hand, what they call it? He couldn't break an egg with the right hand.
- [25:13]
Ricky Mulvey
But what Joey Maxim lacked in punching power, he made up in toughness. He was only knocked out once in his career. He fought Sugar Ray Robinson in hellish heat in New York City. It was so hot that the referee had to stop in the middle of the fight. Sugar Ray collapsed of heat stroke and delirium in the 13th round. Joey Maxim stood standing. Cincinnati fans were hyped for Ezra Charles to face Maxim. They expected their hometown fighter to win. But Maxim was going to be an awfully tough test. The promoter, Sam Becker, said that he was willing to pay $400,000 to bring the heavyweight championship shot to the winner of the Joey Maxim and Ezra Charles fight, should it take place in Cincinnati. It's hard to overstate how excited Cincinnatians were for the opening of the Cincinnati Gardens. Sure, Madison Square Garden held a few thousand more people, but Cincinnati Gardens was significantly more beautiful and awe inspiring. The arena cost $3 million to build and took 2,200 tons of steel. You could fit a 10 story building inside the main room. And in an uncommon move, the Cincinnati Gardens had no interior pillars that blocked the sight lines, making just about every seat in that arena a great one. 14,000 fans had bought tickets to the fight. The New York mob was paying attention. Joe Louis had his people there to see who he may face for the title shot. And Frankie Carbo had started to send some of his goons to explain to the promoter, Sam Becker, what the deal was going to be if he really wanted a heavyweight title in Cincinnati. Fight night came with the trappings and shenanigans that can come with a big time boxing match. The Cincinnati Boxing Commission, for example, gave press passes to their family, their friends, the friends of any friends, and blocked out the press row for all of the sportswriters. The main event didn't start until 10:30pm Much to the chagrin of those blocked out sportswriters. And the Gardens was filled with so much cigarette and cigar smoke that the people in the top rows of the arena couldn't see the main floor. But according to some of those pissed off sports writers, there wasn't much to see in the fight. Ezzard started aggressively and Joey Maxim got his jab working in the middle rounds. Maxim couldn't keep the pressure on Charles though, and any chance that he had of winning was over. After Ezzard knocked him with a hard right in the 13th. One headline after the fight wrote, cincinnati Negro gets Decision, but adds little to Challenger prestige. Joe Louis announced that he was giving up his heavyweight title. He sold it to some businessmen who were associated with the International Boxing Commission, and they formed a promotional company who would decide who would take that title. Ezzard would have to navigate these murky waters in the wake of Joe Louis's retirement to make a name for himself. That's next time on Total Fight. This show is hosted, written, produced, edited by me. My name is Ricky Mulvey. You can find all the music notations@totalfighter.blueberry.net Also special thanks to William Dettlaff, Buddy LaRosa, Hamad Youssef, Ezra Charles II, Daryl P. Man Jones, Kevin Grace, also Carolyn Ayre. Thanks for checking out the show early and for your notes and apologies for the delay. Apologies. It took a little bit to get this show out. I wanted to do it right. Took a few more weeks than I was expecting. If you can, please send the show to a friend. Like it. Subscribe it wherever you're listening. Helps other people find it and really helps me out. Takes you a few seconds to do. All right, see you in about two or three weeks.
- [28:58]
Ezzard Charles II
Bye. Sam.