A CHARR-MED LIFE
IT could be argued there is no better embodiment of the current state of the heavyweight division than Lebanon-born, Germany-based WBA ‘regular champion-in-recess’ Mahmoud (Manuel) Charr.
At 36, and with almost two decades of fighting experience behind him, he has done it all. He has won fights and he has lost fights. He has taken fights for noble reasons and he has taken fights for money. He has come up short in title shots and he has won a title that most feel is not a title. He has fought boxing politics and fought inactivity. He has fought drug cheats and has failed a drug test of his own. He has thrived in Germany, his adopted home, and is now hoping to one day do the same in the Middle East.
“My inactivity was a very big problem,” Charr said of his recent three-and-a-half-year absence from the ring. “I had depression; I was sick in my head. “Don King has destroyed the careers of many fighters. He would always say, ‘We make the fight,’ and every time I was in training and sparring but the fights never happened.
“My inactivity was a very big problem,” Charr said of his recent three-and-a-half-year absence from
