The Long List of Boxers who say Earnie Shavers hit ***THE HARDEST***

[NoSavingByTheBell]

"On a given night, Shavers can knockout any heavyweight, elephant or water buffalo" (JET Magazine, 197

"Earnie Shavers takes no prisoners" "Earnie Shavers is a killer" ("Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times", 1992)

(Fight vs ·Bernardo Mercado): "Shavers split his glove open in two places from the force of a right hand punch he landed on Colombian Bernardo Mercado. Mercado was totally unaware of what happened until atleast 5 minutes afterwards." ("The Black Destroyer", 1982)

…and quotes on Shavers' power by his opponents…

·Tex Cobb: "Nobody hits like Shavers. Nobody. Trust me. And I can take a punch. If anybody hit harder than Shavers, I'd shoot him."

·Larry Holmes: "Earnie hit me harder than any other fighter, harder than Mike Tyson. He hit me and I was face down on the canvas hearing saxophonist Jimmy Tillis."

·Tex Cobb: "Earnie could punch you in the neck with his right hand and break your ankle."

·Muhammad Ali: "Earnie hit me so hard, he shook my kinfolk back in Africa" "Earnie Shavers hit hard, man. Hard! Harder than Joe Frazier."

·Ron Lyle: "Hey man, that's the hardest I've ever been hit in my life. And George Foreman could punch, but none of them could hit like Earnie Shavers did. When he hit you, the lights went out. The moon split in half. I can laugh about it now, but at the time, it wasn't funny."

·Ron Lyle: "Hardest I've ever been hit: Earnie Shavers. The ground came up and met me. He put you into a dream. That's all I remember."

Ken Norton: "Well, Earnie hit me and the world stopped, it was frozen. I couldn't hear a sound. Nothing. Like you were dead."

·James Tillis: "Shavers hit so hard he turned horse piss into gasoline! He hit me so hard he brought back tomorrow. When he hit me… I was seeing pink rats and cats and animals smoking cigarettes. I was in the land of make-believe."

·James Tillis: "The baddest motherfucker I fought was Earnie Shavers. That motherfucker can make July into June and made me jump over the motherf*ckin' moon. That motherf*cker hit so hard, he'll bring back tomorow. He hit me so hard, I thought I was on the corner smoking cigarette and eating a spam sandwich. That's how hard that motherf*cker hit."

Tiger Williams: "It was like I was blasted by a nuclear bomb. I only remember a bright flash."

[NoSavingByTheBell]

[NoSavingByTheBell]

[Dark Lord Al]

Earnie could hit , but as with sprinters etc , boxers evolve get bigger and faster and more powerful.
He was the hardest hitter of his era , ridiculous to suggest he hit harder than anyone present or someone yet to come.

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Jerry Quarry (knocked out Shavers in the first round), December 15th 1973:

"Earnie came to fight that night. He hit me with a left jab in the first 10 seconds of the fight that was as hard as any power punch I ever felt. That's when I knew I had to get moving. You can't stand in front of this guy. He will bomb you out. Thank God I caught him early and the ref stopped it. I caught him with a good hook and it broke my wrist. Right before that he caught me with a big right hand about 1 inch too high or he would have gotten me out of there. It knocked out one of my teeth. After the ref stopped it, it fell out when I took out my mouthpiece. Nobody ever hit me that hard."

[Master]

Shavers did not take it as good as he could give it.

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Shavers did not take it as good as he could give it.

Oh totally true! He would also gas out by the 6th or 7th. Surprised he went 15 with Muhammad Ali! He said he really had to pace himself in that fight and he really did well -- some feel he won it by a point, others feel it was a draw, still others feel Ali won. But so true -- I wouldnt say he had a glass jaw as Quarry at that time was in top shape and he really could crack, that Jerry! Nice short punches, hooks, uppercuts. But he definitely got hurt alot.