By Troy Ondrizek
For as long as there have been champions, there have been contenders who could beat most but weren’t good enough to be the best. There is a long line of these contenders, but most are forgotten with time. Time though can’t forget all, some fighters no matter their pedigree can become legendary without a world title moniker. Two of the most famous - came out of the heavyweight ranks, and while they are a few decades apart, there is little to separate their careers and their accomplishments.
In the epic days of Ali, Frazier, and Foreman, there were contenders like Ron Lyle, Jimmy Ellis, and most famously, Earnie Shavers. Much has been said about the hard-hitting (some say the hardest punching heavyweight of all-time) fighter from Warren Ohio. Not much of a refined fighter, Shavers was not an amateur standout or a highly regarded prospect.
He walked into a gym one day and a trainer noticed he could punch so Shavers came back and started to learn the basics. He never really evolved past that point, but with a punch like the one possessed by the “Black Destroyer” (later called “The Acorn” by Muhammad Ali due to the likeness of Shavers’ bald head) he found immense success without much boxing prowess. Earnie amassed a record of 74-14-1 with an astounding 68KOs over his career that started in 1970 and drug out over a few retirements to 1995.
Just like today’s heavyweights, Shavers’ first several bouts was against less than modest opposition and built his record up to an impressive 32-0 with all but one victory ending by knockout when he finally met another contender, the slick and cagey Jimmy Ellis. Shavers caught Ellis midway through the first with a looping right and Ellis was all but done. After another flurry he finished the night slumped on the mat face-first like he was worshipping Shavers’ power. Earnie rode the momentum of that fight for all of, well, none to be honest, because the ultimate bar-fighter Jerry Quarry stopped Shavers in the first round in his Earnie’s next fight.
For as powerful as was Shavers’ vaunted right hand, his chin was as brittle as the American dollar. You add that shaky chin to his leaky defense and you found out why exactly The Acorn never cracked the ranks as heavyweight champion.
Following his loss to Quarry he lumbered along with a couple wins and a decision loss until he met another perennial contender in Ron Lyle. Lyle was a former inmate who turned his rough lifestyle into a paying gig inside the squared circle. Lyle had a powerful punch and glass chin and his career consisted of epic brawls in which he would electrify fans and turn out opponents' lights. As it turned out Lyle went down, but Shavers consciousness went out as Ron stopped Earnie in the 6th round. Shavers was never deterred by these losses, he kept destroying fighters until his epic bout with Ali. It was to be Ali’s last great performance and possibly Shavers’ finest 45-minutes.
Ali easily danced around Shavers early, peppering him with jabs and left hooks. Then late in the 2nd round, Shavers landed an overhand right that would’ve killed a yeti, but Ali took it and held on. Ali would later say that he didn’t remember anything about the fight after that point. However, he managed to control the fight from the outside and Shavers lunged in looking to land bombs. The pressure never relented from Earnie as he kept trying and landing, the 15th round was one of the greatest of all time as both men landed mind-rattling shots and the ebb and flow was majestic. Ali got the unanimous win and it was well earned. And Shavers wasn’t done threatening a great heavyweight.
After the battle with Ali at Madison Square Garden, Shavers fought up and coming Larry Holmes next, Holmes schooled Shavers badly and won by a wide uananimous decision. It seemed that for all relevance the Ohio slugger was done. But a first round demolition of the teak-tough Ken Norton put Earnie back in the mix and what would follow would be the scariest moment in the young career of Larry Holmes. Few had any doubt that the rematch would be different from the original meeting, and from the onset that seemed the case. But around the fourth round Shavers started to close the distance a little but failed to land anything really meaningful. Holmes continued to control distance and pace and kept Shavers at bay.
The seventh round arrived and behind it came a thunderous right and Holmes dropped faster than Carter’s approval rating. Like a dead man falling off of a stretcher, Larry hit the canvas with a lifeless thud. Then, to the amazement of all (probably Homes included) he got up. And unlike most of his career up until that point, Larry had to fight back, well after he held on for life until the bell came. The action heated up and both landed shots until the accuracy of the future great found that flimsy chin of Shavers and Earnie was felled in the 11th round. This fight proved the fighting heart of Larry Holmes and was Shavers’ last chance at glory.
Earnie would go on to win and lose against modest opposition until he retired for the first time in 1982, then came back in 87’ and 95’ looking for a fight with George Foreman whom Shavers claimed had admittedly avoided him throughout Foreman’s career. The fight never happened and now as a bouncer in England Shavers is living happily in retirement and relishes in his moniker as the hardest punching heavyweight of all-time.
Much like Earnie Shavers, David Tua fought in a time where talented heavyweights roamed the landscape like prehistoric mammoths. Just like the mammoth, those types of heavyweights seem extinct. David Tua though stills fights on past his relevance, but his career now, will not diminish what he was, the best contender of his time to never become the heavyweight champion.
Unlike Shavers, Tua actually was an accomplished amateur who capped his career with a bronze medal for New Zealand in the 92’ Barcelona games. With a style that was tailored for the pro game, Tua came out with that left hook flying and immediately leveled the tomato cans he was put up against.
It took three years for Tua to fight someone with a pulse and at that point his record was a fat 22-0 with 18KOs. John Ruiz was the man he faced that evening, and in what would be the biggest highlight of Ruiz’ long career, Tua demolished him in 19-seconds. I thought Ruiz’ head was going to fly off as his body was trying to fall in the corner, but David’s uppercuts weren’t letting it descend. Those 19-seconds will be replayed for eternity, or as long as I’m alive.
Tua quickly moved on and beat then contender Darroll Wilson in less than a round, Wilson was coming off of an upset of Shannon Briggs and was undefeated. Three months later Tua conquered the 92’ heavyweight silver medalist David Izon. Izon somehow made it to the 12th round in that fight, but he never made it out. Oleg Maskaev next tried to be the one to beat the streaking Tua; Oleg gave David trouble and the bout was even when Tua struck down the “Big O” in the 11th.
At this point Tua looked like Zeus with his stout powerful style and deadly left hook. Many saw greatness coming in “The Tuaman” (not that original of a nickname though) and his next fight would be possibly his greatest performance. The crowd in Arco Arena that night had no clue they were about to see one of the best heavyweight fights of the decade when little known Ike Ibeabuchi (16-0 12KOs) walked into the ring to fight the unstoppable force in David Tua. From the beginning it was Ibeabuchi who set a very fast pace and went blow for blow with Tua on the inside (in what was considered suicide at the time) and the only thing separating them was the fact that Ike was willing to jab.
It didn’t take long for David to lure Ike into a slugfest on the inside and the Nigerian abandoned the jab momentarily and Tua started catching up with winning a few of the rounds. As the fight progressed Ibeabuchi kept throwing combinations as Tua resorted to looking for the one punch KO. That night, David and the rest of us found out exactly how good Ike was and how solid his chin was because even though that left hook of Tua’s found it, punches never stopped coming in return from Ibeabuchi and “The President” (of crazy) walked away with the victory in a tight, competitive bout that set punch-count records for heavyweights that still stand today.
With the first loss of his career, Tua took a step back in competition until he met solid contender Hasim Rahman. Rahman boxed circles around the powerful but limited Tua. Hasim jabbed himself to a comfortable lead until at the end of the 9th round Tua kept throwing punches, well after the bell sounded. Astonishingly Tua wasn’t disqualified and we got to see exactly how unstable Rahman is once he is hurt, for he never regained his legs and David took full advantage and stopped him in the next round. With that gift victory in his pocket, Tua went on to beat my neighbor, his mailman, the local fire chief and Obed Sullivan to “earn” what would be his only shot at the heavyweight crown.
David Tua and Lennox Lewis meet in the Mandalay Bay conference center to vie for the heavyweight title. Only one man showed up that November night and he didn’t call himself the “Tuaman” (nickname is still bad). Lewis used his reach superbly as he jabbed, jabbed, jabbed, held, right hand, and jabbed his way to an easy victory. We all were waiting to see Tua explode and take down Lewis, all he did was implode as he never gave an earnest effort.
Two fights later Tua would receive another boxing lesson, this time by Chris Byrd. So when Tua came upon his fight with Michael Moorer, it was win or retire. Well Tua put on another “Ruiz” performance and blasted Moorer almost out of the ring with devastating body shots and after 30 seconds Tua was ready to contend for a title again. Then came another fight Rahman, this time Rahman stayed on his feet and once again dominated Tua. Hasim utilized his jab and movement and David couldn’t get anything going. But another gift was given to Tua and the fight was declared a draw.
After the Rahman fight, managerial issues kept David out of the ring for two years, and once he came back, those same mailmen and trash collectors gave him a lot of trouble and Tua hasn’t looked good in years. Its hard to believe he is only 35-years-old, but Tua is done. He is about to get a high profile bout against the winner of Arreola/Witherspoon and a victory could get his career going again, but I don’t expect much from David Tua.
Neither man was the greatest pugilist, their power was almost unmatched in their eras. Sure Shaver’s chin failed him a few times as did Tua’s weight. However, their power and willingness made them two of the best, of their eras, and even though they were never the best, we will remember them more than most of the fighters they fought. You don’t have to be a champion to be revered, just willing to fight like one.