Was the power of Earnie Shavers overrated?

[THE THIRD MAN]

Muhammad Ali, Joe Bugner, Larry Holmes, Ron Lyle and Ken Norton - all agreed Shavers was the hardest puncher they faced. Ali in interviews has stated without hesitation that Ernie Shavers was the hardest puncher he ever fought. See round two of their fight.

[Max Power]

Hey Max,

You no like Earnie ?

I don't like or dislike Earnie.

He simply is what he is.

His power is obviously and clearly overrated and all the heresay from the boxers he fought flies in the face of actual truth.

They all beat Shavers.

They were mostly all knocked out or hospitalised by obviously harder punchers.

They praise Earnie to pump up their own wins and protect their own legacy.. OF course.

[SlimTrae]

Anyone who doubts Ali, Holmes, Lyle saying Shavers hit hardest of all SHOULD GET THEIR ASS IN THE RING AND SEE or just shut the fuck up.

Exactly, 2nd post is spot on. Fighters testified to his punches. AND as much as i like Mike Tyson AND his explosive shots, his foes dont call him the hardest puncher. Personally P4P i like the KO ratio OF Julian Jackson

[Max Power]

Anyone who doubts Ali, Holmes, Lyle saying Shavers hit hardest of all SHOULD GET THEIR ASS IN THE RING AND SEE or just shut the fuck up.

Exactly, 2nd post is spot on. Fighters testified to his punches. AND as much as i like Mike Tyson AND his explosive shots, his foes dont call him the hardest puncher. Personally P4P i like the KO ratio OF Julian Jackson

No boxers from any other era would be silly enough to make such outrageous claims that's why.

I don't hear ANY boxers saying this guy hit harder than that guy ever these days.

Stands to reason the shots that knock you flat are harder than the ones you can even REMEMBER! It's boxing LOL If these guys can remember the punch, it can't have been that hard period!

There's an obvious reason why they boast the Shavers wins isn't there, because it sounds much better than them saying they got hit or decked by a C grade fighter that usually has trouble landing on a heavy bag.

[Bill Paxtom]

MAX,

I don't think you really believe what you're saying.

[Spicoli]

I'll say this: I'm a huge George Foreman fan, I've seen every fight you can see by the guy from his first career and second career, I've seen every Earnie Shavers fight available, I know they both hit like trucks, but I've NEVER seen either of them throw a punch with the concussive force that a 250lb Samuel Peter hit Jeremy Williams with. Very rarely did you see either of them knock a guy cold where he wasn't prone for several minutes.

Its Jeremy Williams I've always wondered if that was a hill to top for Peter as he went on, relying on power wise.

I think for the large part power tends to be overrated and overstated. Its who are you ko'ing...and can-are you doing it while facing adversity.

[holmcall]

Shavers was one of the first boxers to use weights in his training routine. His upper body was massive but he neglected the legs. His muscularity was reported to have caused him a stamina issue.

[Max Power]

MAX,

I don't think you really believe what you're saying.

Liston up @Bill Paxtom

I don't think you really understand what is going on.

This picture you uploaded of Shavers, for anybody in the street who is a modern boxing fan and has little idea who Shavers is, this image of him is ridiculous.

If you showed them this guy, just a picture and tried to tell them that this guy is one of the all time hardest punchers, you would be lauged in the face at.

You have to admit he LOOKS ridiculous. He doesn't even LOOK like a hard puncher.

Bring up that 2 round fight of Samuel Peter and Jeremy Williams above. Take a look at the quality of Shavers fights and then look at the quality of Peters.

You can SEE clearly the difference in skills. You can SEE clearly the modern fighters are FASTER DESPITE BEING LARGER! And Williams didn't even make it to top level!

You can HEAR and almost FEEL the punches they are so hard.

And then there is the devastating knockout!

There is no comparison between the power of Samuel Peter and Earnie Shavers. They DON'T EVEN PLAY IN THE SAME LEAGUE AS EACH OTHER!

OF course I believe what I am saying. It's utterly unbelievable that a fully grown man like I assume you and your OTNB friends are cannot see it for yourself!

[Max Power]

Its Jeremy Williams I've always wondered if that was a hill to top for Peter as he went on, relying on power wise.

I think for the large part power tends to be overrated and overstated. Its who are you ko'ing...and can-are you doing it while facing adversity.

So you will bummify Jeremy Williams here to try and refute Peters power OR as you've also alluded to, try to DOWNGRADE power as a virtue altogether to cover it up AND make the claim that it matters WHO you are knocking out.

Your first point is off base because Jeremy Williams would have been one of Earnie Shavers best opponents and better than a lot of opponents who beat Earnie. In fact I think Jeremy Williams would have beaten Shavers.

Second point, Power is DEFINITELY a virtue of great magnitude. OF COURSE it is not the only thing relevant but many boxers (George Foreman, Samuel Peter, David Tua, EARNIE SHAVERS) have achieved top level with relatively little more), so obviously it is of importance, especially in the HW division!

Third point is particularly nefarious, considering Peters overall competition is approximately 100x better than the competition of Earnie Shavers was completely objectively. Samuel Peter was HW champ, there's a reason for that and Earnie never was and Earnie NEVER KNOCKED OUT A DECENT OPPONENT! With the single exception of Ken Norton who was a prolific bum buster himself, had no boxing pedigree and had a glass jaw and never even won his own title in the ring!

[Max Power]

Unbelievable what some guys will post around here.

I've never seen such blatant bias!

This Shavers guy could barely even BOX for Christ sake!

[Max Power]

Shavers was one of the first boxers to use weights in his training routine. His upper body was massive but he neglected the legs. His muscularity was reported to have caused him a stamina issue.

The first boxer to use weights PROPERLY for boxing scientifically was in fact Michael Spinks. There were boxers who used weights primatively well before Shavers and all of them sucked badly the same as he did.

Weights ALWAYS affects stamina, it is one of the worst things for ring stamina and is why boxers who lift weights now periodize.

Shavers looked like crap, body and style. Ridiculous figure.

[brocktonblockbust]

Hey Max,

You no like Earnie ?

he momma got "acorned" and now its old man butt hurt.

[Max Power]

Hey Max,

You no like Earnie ?

he momma got "acorned" and now its old man butt hurt.

Yeah whatever, I don't hate Earnie at all. And in fact the only reason I'm dissing him as with most other boxers is because guys here are blowing more smoke up his ass than was produced by Mt. Etna.

Call it "counter-trolling".

Here are the facts.

Earnie was great at knocking out bums. Earnie was no good at all at knocking out quality opponents!

Earnie was great at knocking out Cruisers. Earnie was not very good at knocking out genuine HW's.

And that's all there is to it!

[Master]

BTW Shavers would have done the same to Jeremy Williams.

He probably would have gotten knocked out. He stunk

What did Jeremy Williams ever amount too?

Shavers body is built naturally.

[Max Power]

BTW Shavers would have done the same to Jeremy Williams.

He probably would have gotten knocked out. He stunk

What did Jeremy Williams ever amount too?

Shavers body is built naturally.

It does not matter if Jeremy Williams did not achieve more than Shavers, the level of competition each man had to contend with was worlds apart.

Besides the ONLY thing Shaver had more of to boast about, non-era specific was more fights! But Williams was disallowed to pad vs cruisers, and Earnie Shavers CHOSE to pad his record with a small army's worth of bums whereas Williams CHOSE to fight mainly the opponents at the best level he could get!

What matters is that Williams was a better athlete and skillwise much better boxer than Shavers. One of those obscure HW's to guys like you (who really aren't that obscure, you just pretend they are) who actually has a GOOD record!

Odds are he would dust Shavers. Most would put cash on it were they to have really fought because no one likes losing money on a tomato can like Earnie!