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

[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.

[Dark Lord Al]

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.

[El Kabong]

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.

[Master]

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.

[Beanflicker]

Ernie Shavers STUNK and I have no idea why he gets so much credibility, because outside of his brutal power - possibly the hardest puncher to ever live, or at least top 3 - he really didn't have a whole lot going for him.

He routinely had shitty stamina, a shitty chin, lackluster skills and most importantly, very little heart. He was never a world champ, and is known mostly for losing efforts, such as dropping Holmes and giving a washed up Ali a good fight.

He has a pretty high opinion of himself for a guy who accomplished very little.

And I hate to break it to Ernie and anyone else who (erroneously) shares his opinon, two guys who are 6'6''/6'7'' with the skill set and athletic abilities of the Klitschkos are a tough night for any fighter who's ever lived. Lets not be stupid.

[Beanflicker]

The balls on him to say he'd take Tyson or the Klitschkos. He wouldn't have lasted past 3 with any of them.

[Silkeyjoe]

The Klits don't get enough credit. If you took them out of this era no one would be saying how shit this era is because you would have great title fights happening and no one would know they are b level fighters

[brocktonblockbust]

yeah but if ol' Earnie got in even 1 clean shot----those Klits aint gettin up off their faces like Larry Holmes dragged his KO'ed ass up off the canvass. Them Klits aint got the Larry Holmes/Muhammad Ali/George Foreman/Joe Frazier chins.

[Beanflicker]

yeah but if ol' Earnie got in even 1 clean shot----those Klits aint gettin up off their faces like Larry Holmes dragged his KO'ed ass up off the canvass. Them Klits aint got the Larry Holmes/Muhammad Ali/George Foreman/Joe Frazier chins.

I'd say Vitali could take it, Wlad's chin is another story though. But if there's one thing Wlad does well now is keeping his china chin away from the big bombs. Ernie would have to take some live rounds himself to get that shot off, and I dont think his chin and heart would get him through that.

[Dark Lord Al]

yeah but if ol' Earnie got in even 1 clean shot----those Klits aint gettin up off their faces like Larry Holmes dragged his KO'ed ass up off the canvass. Them Klits aint got the Larry Holmes/Muhammad Ali/George Foreman/Joe Frazier chins.

Joe Frazier stayed clear of big hitters , we all saw what Foreman did to him , as for SHAVERS 1 punch power , ive seen loads of his fights where he gets in the BIG shot and the guy doesn't fall , he would have had no chance against either of the Brothers Grim , well not much anyway.
both would KO him in a round , Quarry has been beaten 4 times before he fought Shavers , twice by KO , quarry was a 6 foot tall fighter with moderate power , Shavers went byebye in a round.

[brocktonblockbust]

Are we just slightly underrating Shavers though? Here's some of him in his prime.

[THE THIRD MAN]

I remember Ali saying without hesitation that Ernie Shavers was the hardest puncher he ever faced. I think of Shavers like i do Ron Lyle, they were at the top of the Championship but when they were promoted into the premier league they floundered. Shavers almost got there with Holmes in the 2nd fight, but at the end of the day Shavers was a good fighter not a great one.
If he thinks he KO''s both Liston and Foreman then i'm convinced he believes in fairies.
What he fails to comprehend is champions like Holmes actually get up from shots like that, i don't know how he did it? It's what makes the difference between champion and contender!
Shavers had two shots at Holmes and failed, sure he might've caught the Klits, he certainly had the power, but did he have the skills?

[IamInuit]

Some have gotten a little carried away here. Its not like he would not be able to compete with today's crop of lazy under achievers. Anybody today not named Klitschko would be in pretty tough with Mr. Shavers.
And lets be honest, the pre clinching Wlad that got stopped by Ross Purity could have easily been halted by Shavers. The post Manny Wlad is a different story. To bad Paul Williams never hired him. Its crazy because in a way Shavers is spot on about one of the brothers. Had Wlad not met a Manny Steward in the seventies, he would have been an ink blot. Vitali is competitive in any era.

I also think Earnie's chin is underrated. He took incredible punishment by Holmes in the first fight and never went down and even though he was stopped in the second he took some crazy shots.

[powerpuncher]

not that im saying that shavers is a great fighter, but his power makes him obviously dangerous for anybody. heres the thing, other than the klits, these HWs are beyond bad. lets look at povetkin for example. he is ranked at least a top 5 HW and he is TERRIBLE! he isnt even alright. other than the klits, the rest of the division are at best C class fighters. there arent even B class fighters.

with that said, could the klits beat shavers? yes. could shavers beat the klits? yes. although wlad improved with steward as a trainer, he hasnt really fought anybody good since then whether or not you want to admit it. i would say that haye is definitely his best win which isnt saying much. his chin is just so weak that i cant see him taking more than one punch from shavers. wlad is also a hard hitter and could take out shavers early but i would still pick shavers to win.

vitali i would pick to beat shavers probably, but vitali is very easy to hit. he fights with his hands to his sides like ali but isnt anywhere as good or quick as him. i think that the volume of punches by vitali would probably win him the fight, but i couldnt count out shavers because vitali is wide open to getting hit and i dont care who you are, you cant get hit that many times by shavers and stand.

but he is right that the kits wouldnt be anything in the 70's. people forget that in the 30's and 40's there were multiple big HWs that were also skilled. they still got beat. the klits' size is very overrated IMO. they are good fighters but its no coincidence that they started dominated the division once lewis retired along with the rest of the decent HWs of the era.

[denilson200]

As have been said before I think Shavers has a higher opinion of himself than he was.

There was no way he would have beaten a prime Tyson. Would have beaten Wlad ? If I my life depended on it, I would say no. I see Wlad busting him up on the outside and winning on cuts or late stoppage.