R1- The size difference is apparent, and Charles is notably outweighed by nearly 35 pounds. Charles is moving and feinting more between the two, all the while being busier. The way Charles shifts his head allows him to see and defend himself from Louis’ forthcoming punches easier and land his jab at various angles. Charles is also landing wide body shots and showing good defense up close.

R2- They both are looking to find a home for the left hook early on and do so at times. However, a check hook from Louis that snaps back the head of Charles is what sticks out. They are doing pretty even work with the jab at long range and body work on the inside, but I feel as if the aforementioned check hook, superior work with the right hand, and ability to dictate the pace won this round for Louis.

R3- Charles spends the first minute popping the face of Louis with the jab. The slickness of Charles allows him to get in and out with ease in order to land hooks to the body and he is really cranking that lead left hook to the head when he throws it.

R4- While he could not avoid it in the previous round, Louis is now showing a strong defense against Charles’ jab. A quick 3-2 combination seems to buzz Charles a bit, as his lateral movement increases and his punch output decreases. Louis starts stalking his man, landing crosses from the outside and combinations to the body whenever the fight takes place in the clinch. Good round for Louis.

R5- The right uppercut to the body and left hook to the head have been landing in rhythm for Charles. The Cincinnati Cobra is controlling the action in the pocket, but his upper body movement is also too good for Louis to have much success on the outside.

R6- Some good back and forth action takes place here, but the edge in volume and pressure allows Louis to have more success between the two. It is impressive that the obviously smaller Charles is standing up so firmly to the right hand of Louis over and over again. Seeing Louis catches as many shots on his gloves and shoulders from an offensive wizard like Charles this late in his career is a testament to how sound he was defensively.

R7- Wisely, Charles starts to target the closing left eye of Louis, staying in position to tag it with quick rights, uppercuts, and jabs. Louis is the aggressor and has some success with his lead hand overall, but Charles is dodging more than he is being hit with.

R8- With Louis tiring (visibly breathing from the mouth) and loading up shots more, Charles is able to have an easier time picking him apart. The right of Charles is landing with authority, even though Louis is walking through it. The double and triple jab is landing well for Charles, who is pushing back the bigger man with ease.

R9- A cross-left uppercut-cross-left hook combination to the head scores beautifully for Charles. From there, Charles starts to pump the jab and slip an impressive amount of shots from Louis. A left uppercut in an exchange draws blood from the nose of Charles, but this shot is far too little too late.

R10- A right uppercut gets the attention of Charles. From there, Louis starts to stalk him profusely and throw with impressive volume. Louis is outjabbing Charles while walking him down and doing well at picking his shots off, especially with the right hand. A 2-3 combination hurts Charles, who quickly spins his way out of danger. Exciting round, and Louis’ best. With it being a close fight this far in, Charles would take over the remainder of it.

R11- Charles must haven taken notes from rival Jersey Joe Walcott, as he has been catching Louis with the pull counter at times. Other times, Charles is looping his right over Louis’ jab. When they both let off rights subsequently, Charles gets to the target first. Louis is able to land offense of his own in the round, but Charles is doubling and tripling his numbers.

R12- Both are dealing with nearly shut left eyes, but Charles is the one taking advantage of this injury on the other more. The pace has calmed, but Charles is still outworking and outscoring Louis with ease. A straight right snaps back the head of Louis, and Charles does it again moments later with a right uppercut.

R13- Both are defufading, but Charles is still scoring plentifully with his one’s and two’s. Louis is not going anywhere from these punches, but does not appear to have enough in the tank to do anything drastic at this stage.

R14- Charles is keeping the jab in Louis’ face along with some rights, and he uses this hand to loop wide body shots on Louis as well. With his nose already being bloodied further in the round, Charles then dazes him with a flush right uppercut. Charles traps Louis in the corner after this moment, but is unable to put together a great follow up. Nonetheless, this is a great round for him. Louis strikes Charles with a right after the bell, only to receive one in return.

R15- Hardly anything is coming from Louis at all until the last 30 seconds. Meanwhile, Charles is still bringing the fight to Louis, scoring with rights from the outside and body shots up close. After a thrilling encounter and certainly not without a fight, Charles wins a landslide unanimous decision. Even with Louis being past it, he was certainly not shot and he proved it, and Charles deserves plenty of credit for this win. Louis showed shades of his old self at times, but the volume and creativity in Charles’ combinations and counterpunching alike were too much. This underrated classic no doubt deserves to be recognized as one of the best fights asthetically in either’s career. Even if Louis failed at his only attempt to regain the heavyweight crown, neither has anything to be ashamed of in this contest, and each certainly showed as to why they were champions at the time or previously as well as hall of famers.