Earnie Shavers

[Sergio Martinez]

Pretty scary how hard this man punched. Was he the hardest puncher of all time? Did he hit harder than Joe Louis.

Would of Earnie been champ in most other era's? Shavers Heavyweights era is considered the best ever by some.

He was so close to winning the title, when he nearly knocked out Larry Holmes, how Holmes got up I will never know. He took Ali to a close fight and also knocked out former Champion Ken Norton in 1, and also knocked out Jimmy Young.

Earnie Shavers
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Discuss...........

[sonnyboyx2]

Shavers in his Prime... was brutally beaten and KOd in the opening round by Jerry Quarry.. Shavers lost to an old Muhammad Ali.. Shavers dropped Holmes with a good punch but Holmes won almost every minute of their 2 fights... Shavers was not one of the Top Golden era fighters of the 70/80s he was a fringe contender.. IMO he could not punch as hard as Foreman, Frazier or Tyson... Don King fed Shavers a load of tomato cans.. IMO Shavers would not be a champion today as the Klitschkos i feel would both beat him badly.

[merjohn32]

Earnie Shavers is considered as ne of the hardest hitters of all time. However, you need more than power to suceed at th e highest level. Shavers has tons of power but he was also limited. He has poor chin, poor stamina, limited boxing skills and a leaky defense. He might be a champion in other eras but I doubt he'l hold a title for long.

[JAB5239]

Shavers in his Prime... was brutally beaten and KOd in the opening round by Jerry Quarry..

Yes, but Quarry is known as one of the greatest fighters ever to not win the heavyweight championship.

Shavers lost to an old Muhammad Ali.. Shavers dropped Holmes with a good punch but Holmes won almost every minute of their 2 fights...

Earnie in my opinion was not one of the upper echelon fighters of his era. But his punch made him a threat at all times, and both Ali and Holmes have attested to that.

Shavers was not one of the Top Golden era fighters of the 70/80s he was a fringe contender.. IMO he could not punch as hard as Foreman, Frazier or Tyson... Don King fed Shavers a load of tomato cans..

No, shavers was much more than a fringe contender. Maybe not asa well rounded as the best, but his punch made up for it. In my opinion the best one punch hitter of all time. Both Ali and Holmes said he was the hardest puncher they ever faced. That includes the names you've listed.

IMO Shavers would not be a champion today as the Klitschkos i feel would both beat him badly.

His chin would be a question mark, yes. But the lack of pressure would allow him a chance at either, especially Wlad.

[TheGreatA]

No way Frazier punched as hard as Shavers. Can you ever see Frazier KO'ing Ken Norton in one round? I certainly don't.

Lets not forget that Shavers nearly KO'd two of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali. Any lack of success he may have had was certainly not down to his punching power, he had plenty of it in both hands.

If he is allowed numerous title shot like most of today's contenders, he would surely win the title atleast once because of his power. Think of all the title shots Ruiz has gotten even with his dull style.

[RightCross94]

Yeah, Earnie was limited, but he had a ferocious ****, think Julian Jackson type power but 50 odd lbs heavier.....


Such a dangerous guy to fight, I think today he would win a title relatively easily. I think Wlad could outbox Earnie, but really, Earnie would always be in the fight, and I don't think Wlad would even try to open up and knockout a guy like Shavers, too dangerous. I think Wlad would sit back and stay behind the jab the whole fight...If he does that for 12 without getting nailed he wins, but if he gets hit flush, lights out.

Against Vitali, again, Shavers could get picked off and stopped, but Vitali is more aggressive than Wlad and no matter how good your chin is, you are going to get hurt when Shavers hits you.

Shavers would annihilate guys like Ruiz, Barrett, etc. Shavers-Haye would be quite interesting, as both can whack (Shavers power is far more proven though) and both have dodgy chins. In fights like that it's whoever takes the initiative and lands flush first.

[GJC]

His chin would be a question mark, yes. But the lack of pressure would allow him a chance at either, especially Wlad.

This is a very good point, Shavers main 2 weaknesses were chin and stamina but in a slow fight he might not gas as badly as he did in busy fights. As for chin it might well be a toss up between him and Wlad, Wlad has certainly never faced anyone who hits as hard as Shavers. Think it would stink as a fight though.

[GJC]

In answer to the question I wouldn't rank Shavers below the likes of Burns, Carnera, Johansson, Ruiz etc so iof he would have hit the right era he would have picked up a belt IMO

[Princemanspopa]

Shavers did improve his conditioning somewhat later on in his career,perhaps this was due to him simply timing himself better or just a more dedicated conditioning programme,but it was without question alot better than it had been earlier on in his career.

IMO he could not punch as hard as Frazier.

Well, both Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis,who fought both Joe Frazier and Earnie Shavers were perhaps in a much greater position to compare the punching power between Joe Frazier and Earnie Shavers than either myself or yourself.

It would have been nice if Ron Lyle had been able to make such a comparison between the two's punching power also,but of course,only one of the two in discussion actually stepped in the ring with Ron Lyle.

In answer to the question I wouldn't rank Shavers below the likes of Burns, Carnera, Johansson, Ruiz etc so iof he would have hit the right era he would have picked up a belt IMO

No disrespect intended here towards Mr.Shavers,but can Earnie claim to have knocked out a prime Eddie Machen or a prime Floyd Patterson?

Can Earnie claim that he was once the heavyweight champion of the world?

[GJC]

No disrespect intended here towards Mr.Shavers,but can Earnie claim to have knocked out a prime Eddie Machen or a prime Floyd Patterson?

No disrespect to Mr Johansson but can he claim to have knocked out Norton etc

Can Earnie claim that he was once the heavyweight champion of the world?

Kind of misses the point of the thread,but to remind you, no he can't because he never was but could he have been in another era?
You think that if Shavers caught Patterson like Johansson did that Floyd would have seen out the fight? Shavers always had a punchers chance like Johansson, difference is Johannson managed to land his punch on someone who didn't have as good a chin as Ali or Holmes is the difference.