Shavers: NOT the hardest punching heavyweight of all time

I think that without empirical data that we can apply here:

This content is protected

This discussion is essentially meaningless. Shavers has a lot of dickriding because of how he'd pull out a gigantor punch once in a while. I don't buy into it or care much because he was so obviously incomplete as a finisher.

 

Well, common oponents between Foreman and Shavers all said that Shavers punched harder. Ali, as far as I know is the only common oponent between Foreman, Liston, and Shavers, and he said that Shavers was the hardest puncher. One who would know best who hit harder between Foreman and Shavers is Ron Lyle, and he said that Shavers punched harder than Foreman.

Foreman was a much better fighter than Shavers, which is why he knocked out people at a higher level. If hard punching is what got people the wins, then Shavers would be the greatest heavyweight of all time.

The average punching Muhammad Ali has knockout wins better than any win that Foreman has, but this does not mean he comes close to Foreman in power.

 

Shavers' power is there / good, but he is not the most fierce puncher of all-time above 200 pounds.......... Shavers KO'd many "B & C" grade opponents...... Only Ellis and Norton make the "A" grade.... And neither Ellis or Norton owned great jaws...... Shavers could punch and KO you, if he nailed you good a few times.... Great fighters (Ali & Holmes) could be stunned or dropped from Shavers power, but never down and out......

MRBILL

 

Shavers absolutely was the best puncher ever.

He just had little in the way of refined boxing skills or finishing ability. He struggled to land his nuclear right against better foes, and if he did, he struggled closing the show if they got up.

Foreman was an absolute animal. He'd hit, and hit, and hit, till you fell over. Nothing stopped him from trying to finish what he started. Watch him put away Lyle. Only perhaps against Norton did Shavers ever pursue an adversary like that.

Liston had the skills and know how to routinely bomb a target, and was pretty good at getting physical and seizing a stoppage.

 

In my mind 'best puncher ever' includes things like accuracy, speed, KO's vs quality of opposition, and 15 round knockout viability. Shavers is tops in raw force. But what about the others?

 

A fair point.

Maybe "hardest hitter" is a better term.

 

That there is it^^^^^......

MR.BILL:bbb

 

Shavers lacked good finishing ability. His power was second to none, but he tended to get over excited when he had someone hurt and would start flining haymakers allowing them time to see the punches comming and make him miss and grab on to survive.

 

I agree. I think Joe Louis or Mike Tyson is the best puncher at heavyweight, but Shavers punched harder than both of them.

 

question: is earnie shavers as hard a puncher at heavyweight as julian jackson was at junior middleweight? as robinson was at welter? as lew jenkins at lightweight? as moore at light heavy?

i love earnie, LOVE him. great puncher, solid fighter. but he is vastly overrated as a contender, as a fighter and as a puncher. he's in the top tier of punchers. but as this thread has suggested who did he really beat?? he couldn't knock down ali, struggled mightily with young, got destroyed by quarry, got demolished twice by holmes (despite landing possibly the hardest single punch in history)

maybe it's that punch against holmes that has me wondering. holmes' chin was solid but not granite. shavers landed as good a shot and you'll ever get...as larry stood up just fine. if big george or iron mike landed that, would he get up? i doubt it

 

I think Jackson was the bigger puncher P4P, but Shavers is top 3 in the power department P4P still.

If Foreman or Tyson hit Holmes with a shot like Shavers did I'm sure Larry would've gotten up. Foreman and Tyson, like Shavers, tended to bounce guys off of the canvas a few times before they were KO'd. Especially Foreman. Holmes said just minutes after Tyson stopped him that Earnie punched harder than Mike did, but Mike was the sharper puncher. Tyson was a much better all around puncher than Shavers, but Shavers had him beat in the raw power department.

 

:goodagreed. earnie just didn't know what to do with all that power