The Champion as he originally was in his first appearance was vastly more powerful than he has been shown since. The Contemplator who opposed Galactus and went after the Infinity Gems was a skrull imposter. I think that it will eventually be revealed that the Champion who has been seen since the first appearance is also a Skrull imposter. Since the "first" Champion displayed vastly greater competence and also displayed a power of teleportation that the other versions obviously didn't have this seems reasonable. The Champion in his first appearance had a massive starship and a retinue. Where was this when Thanos stranded his opponent in space? If he was actually the Champion then he would have summoned his ship or simply teleported himself.