Thread: Earnie Shavers: You Would Not Have Heard Of The Klits In My Day

Earnie’s top-three heavyweight KO artists:

“The three hardest punching heavyweights ever are: me, Ron Lyle and George Foreman. We were the three hardest ever.”

How Shavers would have done Vs. Iron Mike:

“I believe I would have KO’d Tyson. But Tyson, he would never have wanted any part of me. Because of Cus [D’Amato] – he warned Tyson about hard hitters like myself. He [Cus] wouldn’t have let him take such a fight.”

How Shavers would have done Vs. Foreman and Liston:

“Foreman, he never wanted to fight me either. I’d have stopped him in around four-rounds. And I believe I’d have KO’d Liston as well, he was too old and slow.”

Shavers Vs. the Klitschkos:

“I’ve seen a lot of their fights, and they’re okay. But in my opinion, if they had been around in my day, you would not have even heard of them. Myself, I’d have worked inside, then attacked the body first, to bring the hands down, and then I’d have gone to the head. I’d have landed shots to the heart, a left hook to the kidney, and then shot a right hand to the head. Then you’d have heard ‘Timbeeerrr!! I loved facing big, slow guys like that. I wouldn’t have had any problems with them. In fact, it’s not just me [who would have beaten the Klitschkos], guys like Ali, Holmes and Foreman, along with myself, we’d all have been way too much for the Klitschkos.”

Shavers’ own favourite KO:

“My personal favourite KO that I scored is the one I got over Jimmy Young in 1973. He was a real slick fighter, but I hit Jimmy clean and stopped him in the 3rd-round. That was the first time I fought him. The KO win of mine that really got me into the big time was my KO of Jimmy Ellis (also in 1973).”

Shavers on the best fighter he ever went in with:

“Ali was the best fighter I faced, hands down. He was better than Holmes and all the other guys. I’m grateful that I had the chance to fight great guys like Ali and Holmes. I realise I was part of a golden era.”

Shavers on his toughest pro fight:

“Roy Tiger Williams was a real tough guy. He was so durable, and he was a mean guy. He was so tough and relentless. I was down and hurt in the tenth-round of that fight but I stopped him that same round. That was such a hard fight for me.”

Shavers’ biggest career regret:

“I wish I could fight the second Larry Holmes fight all over again. In the 7th-round when I had him down and hurt, I wasted too many punches trying to finish him. I got excited and I got tired and he recovered. If I could do that fight over again I’d have been more patient and not gotten excited. I know I had him!”

Shavers on the hardest-ever puncher Pound-for-Pound (aside from himself):

“I’d say Tommy Hearns, he had brutal punching power! Then my old trainer, Archie Moore; he was so smart, and such a dangerous puncher. Archie really knew how to place his punches.”

He has a very high opinion of himself , for someone who was KOED by Jerry Quarry, he was a BIG puncher in his day.
Are you trying to tell me Wlad doesn't hit with as much power ? of course he does , he is massive in comparison to someone like Shavers , I think Earnie has taken to many shots to the chin.

Jerry Quarry was a fantastic fighter.
He could stand in there with anybody in the world. Perennial Top 4 guy, just missing that little extra something that makes the elite Top 3. He wasn't gonna beat those Top 3, but he got his pound of flesh from every one of them....

Shavers is a fantastic interview. Very well spoken, articulate. Good sense of humor.
He earned that hardest hitter rep the hard way, in the ring, against the best in the world in perhaps the greatest era of Heavyweights, and if all those Great Legends say Earnie was the hardest hitter, ya gotta believe it.

I think he underestimates Tyson's punching power and Tyson's ability to take a punch. Even in the Lewis fight, Tyson should have been gone by round 5, at least. The shots he took in the early portions of that fight would have felled a 30 ft tall Oak with a width of 20 ft around. Tyson took it and then went to the 8th.

I also think he underestimates Vitali's crafitness. I give him a better chance at Wlad than I do Vitali when Vitali first won the crown against Kirk Johnson.

I like Earnie and think he's one of the biggest punchers ever but he has clearly been eating out of aluminum pots to long.

Yyyyyyyeah I'm going to have to disagree with ol' Earnie here. 6'7 and 6'8 240+ pounds and Shavers was one of the smaller heavyweights even in the 70's. Earnie would never even touch Vitali and unless he got extremely lucky he would get battered by Wladimir. For fucks sake, Tex Cobb beat Shavers....granted Tex took a lot of punishment and wore Earnie down, but The Acorn didn't have much of a chin himself and he just wouldn't be able to take the punches from the Klitschko's.


This is par for the course I guess. You hear this kind of mess from many past fighters. Shavers was a puncher...not a champion....just a puncher. Wladimir and Vitali are CHAMPIONS. If Earnie Shavers was around today he might could earn a title shot but I think a lot of heavyweights would beat him. The best heavyweights Shavers would have a chance at are: Tyson Fury, Alexander Dimitrenko, Seth Mitchell, and maybe he'd have a shot at Povetkin or Adamek.

*he would've worked the inside...u can't touch either Klit, they kill u with the jab and pot shot with the right... basic stuff, but no so basic when the guys doing it r 6 ft 7 250 pounds and never get tired.

He is dead right. Lamont Brewster knocked out Wlad. Before emmanuel got a hold of him, he was just a big tall guy with suspect stamina and chin. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a definite bias against guys as big as the Ks. They were considered too awkward and uncoordinated to be good fighters. Vitali would have been Buddy Baer; they were about the same size, liked to mix it up, though I would guess that Baer hit harder.
there is an idea that seems to be very popular that just because a guy is big, he hits hard, that because he is larger he necessarily hits harder than other less large guys. This is not true. This has been demonstrated many times. And when you are fighting smarter guys, like Shavers did, you are less likely to hit them. It is very easy to keep a guy at the end of your jab when his whole idea of how to close distance is to put his gloves in front of his face and walk forward.
I think Shavers would beat Vitali; he would kill the version that engaged in that 2nd rate amateur bout with Lennox Lewis. He would beat the pre-Stewart version of Wlad. The 'new and improved' version would be able, more than likely, to keep distance, keep Shavers at the end of his punches. And earnie would tire and get stopped.

Originally Posted by greynotsoold

He is dead right. Lamont Brewster knocked out Wlad. Before emmanuel got a hold of him, he was just a big tall guy with suspect stamina and chin. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a definite bias against guys as big as the Ks. They were considered too awkward and uncoordinated to be good fighters. Vitali would have been Buddy Baer; they were about the same size, liked to mix it up, though I would guess that Baer hit harder.
there is an idea that seems to be very popular that just because a guy is big, he hits hard, that because he is larger he necessarily hits harder than other less large guys. This is not true. This has been demonstrated many times. And when you are fighting smarter guys, like Shavers did, you are less likely to hit them. It is very easy to keep a guy at the end of your jab when his whole idea of how to close distance is to put his gloves in front of his face and walk forward.
I think Shavers would beat Vitali; he would kill the version that engaged in that 2nd rate amateur bout with Lennox Lewis. He would beat the pre-Stewart version of Wlad. The 'new and improved' version would be able, more than likely, to keep distance, keep Shavers at the end of his punches. And earnie would tire and get stopped.

I don't buy it ,sorry chief , so you found a guy as big from the past , so fucking what.
Shavers was a big puncher , from an era where BIG George Foreman was 220 lb and 6'3
Fighters get bigger / stronger as do sprinters etc.
I personally think Wlad would have beaten any version of Clay you want to wheel out.
Just because it was a good era , doesn't mean you can put them at the top today.

Shavers could punch....that's it....do you understand the fucking punishment Lamon Brewster took from Wladimir? Brewster was getting HAMMERED by Wladimir before Wlad gassed out. Lamon Brewster, even the one that lost to Wlad in the rematch, would beat Earnie Shavers.

Shavers is 6'0, Lennox Lewis a guy who is 6'6 around 250 had to REACH to catch Vitali flush and he had trouble with it....how the fuck is Shavers going to connect with Vitali? Plus Vitali can take a punch too.

Earnie Shavers is a guy only known for his punching power and some of you are talking about him like he's A#1 king of the Sweet Science...no, he was a PUNCHER he wasn't Ray Robinson he was just a puncher, a great puncher, but in boxing the Sweet Science usually out matches raw power. Shavers wouldn't last long with either brother because they are smarter boxers AND more physically gifted. Shavers might be a great cruiserweight these days but he wouldn't last in this division.

Shavers was nothing but a puncher, and probably over rated at that. But, beyond size, there is nothing special about either of the brothers. The 'skill' on display in the Lewis/Vitali fight was abysmal. It would have been comedic if it weren't a fight for at least part of the HW world title; that made it disgraceful.

Originally Posted by greynotsoold

Shavers was nothing but a puncher, and probably over rated at that. But, beyond size, there is nothing special about either of the brothers. The 'skill' on display in the Lewis/Vitali fight was abysmal. It would have been comedic if it weren't a fight for at least part of the HW world title; that made it disgraceful.

I don't think you can use the Lennox / Viltali fight as an example of both of their skills , it was a wild fight , but both have lots more than they showed that night.

Originally Posted by El Kabong

Shavers could punch....that's it....do you understand the fucking punishment Lamon Brewster took from Wladimir? Brewster was getting HAMMERED by Wladimir before Wlad gassed out. Lamon Brewster, even the one that lost to Wlad in the rematch, would beat Earnie Shavers.

Shavers is 6'0, Lennox Lewis a guy who is 6'6 around 250 had to REACH to catch Vitali flush and he had trouble with it....how the fuck is Shavers going to connect with Vitali? Plus Vitali can take a punch too.

Earnie Shavers is a guy only known for his punching power and some of you are talking about him like he's A#1 king of the Sweet Science...no, he was a PUNCHER he wasn't Ray Robinson he was just a puncher, a great puncher, but in boxing the Sweet Science usually out matches raw power. Shavers wouldn't last long with either brother because they are smarter boxers AND more physically gifted. Shavers might be a great cruiserweight these days but he wouldn't last in this division.

Agreed. Shavers had the big punch, but not the ring smarts--you can say the same thing about Quarry.

Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al

Originally Posted by greynotsoold

Shavers was nothing but a puncher, and probably over rated at that. But, beyond size, there is nothing special about either of the brothers. The 'skill' on display in the Lewis/Vitali fight was abysmal. It would have been comedic if it weren't a fight for at least part of the HW world title; that made it disgraceful.

I don't think you can use the Lennox / Viltali fight as an example of both of their skills , it was a wild fight , but both have lots more than they showed that night.

That's the problem I have with anyone who bitches about the current heavyweight division.

#1 Argument: "There's no action, they don't punch, they're afraid"

#2 Argument: "There's no skill, there's no talent, they don't know how to box"

When you bring up Vitali vs Lewis here's a few things to remember.

A) They had very little time to prepare to fight each other. Lewis was supposed to fight Kirk Johnson and Vitali was supposed to fight Cedric Boswell.

B ) They both to their credit threw caution to the wind and went out slugging.

Vitali has an awkward style his lower body movement is from his days as a world class kickboxer, his upper body movement is similar to Ali because he doesn't block punches, he just avoids them by leaning out of range. His offense is basic yet powerful and very effective. Every fight he's in he's the only time the opponent across from him will have seen that style so of course it will make for very awkward fights but Vitali vs Lewis was an epic fight to watch it had everything fans wanted but a clear cut decision as to who was better. Yes Lewis won due to the stoppage but he was getting his ass kicked around that ring and he was gassed by the end of the 6th because he knew the only way to win that fight was to keep at that cut.

And for those of you who say "other than size the Klitschko's have no skill", HORSE SHIT Wladimir is as technical a boxer as anyone can possibly be. Vitali has his own style but the effectiveness of his style is in his record every single fight he's been in as a professional he's ended ahead on the cards.

With all due respect to Shavers he would have been stopped by the current version of Wlad. He was a hard hitter and he fought in the best quality heavyweight division ever but he was not up there with Ali, Fraiser, foreman and Holmes.