Let's put it differently.

Shavers HAS to be defended at all costs by the fighters of his era because some ducked him, one lost to him (2 if you include Ali) and the others STRUGGLED with him.

Shavers HAS to be defended at all costs by the golden era fans because he stands at an important pillar of the mythology so if Shavers is bummified (as he really should be), the whole era is bummified with him.

So what would happen if Shavers took on a guy like Arreola, who has failed 2ce now to become a champ?

Arreola would savagely waste Shavers within the 1st round even EASIER than he did Seth Mitchell.

Everybody knows it!

Arreola has an iron chin, I am CERTAIN he could take Earnie's best punch and shake it off, assuming he could even LAND it on an opponent as good as Chris! Completely objectively, Chris has a harder chin than ANY boxer in the 1970's, even harder than Geroge Chuvalo!

Nostalgists might be gasping reading this now, because Chuvalo was never dropped, but Arreola was recently stopped by Stiverne, but that is ONLY because they have not factored in that Bermane Stiverne hits several times harder than the hardest of punchers of the 1970's, harder than Shavers, harder than Foreman, not by a little bit, but by a VERY great deal! Chuvalo was never TESTED against the kind of power that Arreola has to contend with today!

Back to Shavers, Arreola is 6'4" and weighs 240lbs, Shavers never ONCE beat a good opponent like Arreola as big as that! And Arreola HIMSELF is a devastating mauler and hard puncher. He would overwhelm Earnie very early and beat him up more savagely than he has EVER been beaten before and crack that heartless, chinless bum in half in less time than it took me to write this thread!