Shavers power quotes.

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by JohnThomas1, Apr 24, 2012.



  1. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Boxing Junkie Full Member

    14,984
    9,321
    Aug 22, 2004
  2. Absolutely!

    Absolutely! Fabulous, darling! Full Member

    8,155
    1,262
    Jul 8, 2010
    Not really. Nothing on film of Shavers matches, say, Tyson, or Lennox or Tua in terms of brutality of attack or devastating knockouts. His sole impressive knockout was against Jimmy Ellis. His TKO stoppage of Norton was a great name win, but in terms of the brutality of the knockout it was eclipsed a few short years later by Gerry Cooney. After that what did he have? Knockdowns and quotes.
     
    White Bomber and cross_trainer like this.
  3. Bummy Davis

    Bummy Davis Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

    23,570
    1,936
    Aug 26, 2004
    Shavers was only 6" and 210 but he hit like a giant, it was his skills and lack of stamina that betrayed him
     
  4. Absolutely!

    Absolutely! Fabulous, darling! Full Member

    8,155
    1,262
    Jul 8, 2010
    I was responding to the quote, if you hadn't guessed. The poster mentioned the two punches as being different, I disagreed.
     
    White Bomber likes this.
  5. JohnThomas1

    JohnThomas1 VIP Member Full Member

    47,903
    34,359
    Apr 27, 2005
    If you can't see Shavers has ridiculous power on film then there's probably not much i can do to help you. Even seriously rocking Ali around that time with a single punch is a sensational achievement.

    Thru the thread it's been mentioned Shavers wasn't the most talented, didn't have the best delivery system and therefore wasn't the greatest finishing despite his stupendous power. The guys you mention (Tua to a massively lesser extent) swamp Shavers for greatness and talent. Tyson also had that crazy handspeed and variety so once you were hurt it was mostly curtains.

    Feel free however to show me what genuine absolute one punch knockouts these guys had.

    That is just embarrassing, seriously.

    The nightmare just keeps getting worse.

    When Shavers fought Norton he was coming off a split decision loss to Holmes and a ko of a no name. He had not been stopped since Foreman 5 years prior. He'd been stopped once in 8 years.

    He was already around 36 when Shavers fought him, after the Shavers wreckage you call another two years and two tough fights vs contenders a few short years? Cooney was his last fight ever! Cooney didn't ko the same man Shavers did, tho no doubt he probably would have but that's beyond the point of your contentions.

    Knockdowns of guys like Holmes, quotes from guys like Lyle, Holmes and Ali who fought some of the most fearsome punchers in history.

    I think Sal Sanchez is right, ya just trolling :good
     
  6. Minotauro

    Minotauro Boxing Addict Full Member

    5,620
    689
    May 22, 2007
    All opponents of Shavers say he's the hardest hitter they faced. Does anyone know any fighter who fought Shavers and felt someone else was the hardest hitter they faced?
     
  7. JohnThomas1

    JohnThomas1 VIP Member Full Member

    47,903
    34,359
    Apr 27, 2005
    No

    :lol:
     
  8. johnmaff36

    johnmaff36 Boxing Addict Full Member

    5,793
    563
    Nov 5, 2009
    I PM'd james 'quick' tillis yesterday on FB asking him who hit him harder between frank bruno and earnie shavers (due to another thread on here) and his reply was "Earnie Shavers, no doubt...he hit so hard he turned goae **** into gasoline...i bull**** ya noT" (deliberate spelling mistake there as thats how he typed the reply). I'd show it on here but dunno how to
     
  9. he grant

    he grant Historian/Film Maker Full Member

    24,222
    7,560
    Jul 15, 2008
    Another guy that cannot tell the difference between power and overall ability. Either that or simply saying smack to stir the pot ...
     
  10. Duodenum

    Duodenum Boxing Junkie Full Member

    11,604
    250
    Apr 18, 2007
    "Shavers smash
    This content is protected
    !" -AKA Bruce Banner.

    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chIurKnmX60[/ame]
     
    Clinton and OP_TheJawBreaker like this.
  11. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

    69,970
    23,858
    Feb 15, 2006
    Thats the bottom line.

    You can find at least one disenting voice, with most of the monster punchers.
     
  12. JohnnyB

    JohnnyB Member Full Member

    162
    1
    Apr 4, 2012
    He looks wild and heavy in his delivery but he must have had unbelievable timing. He doesn't seem to have a lot of snap in his punches but his full body weight is behind the punches and his glove lands square on.

    The equivalent of a perfect golf swing. Landing on the sweet spot of the glove with perfect timing.

    Walk through opponents throwing a lot of punches helps two. He was aggressive.


    Met him in Las Vegas last year. He was signing memorabilia in a store in Planet Hollywood I think. Nice guy. Never know what to say in those situations and didn't want to ask the same questions he's been asked a thousand times.
     
    cross_trainer likes this.
  13. Duodenum

    Duodenum Boxing Junkie Full Member

    11,604
    250
    Apr 18, 2007
    Two exceptions with Earnie, so far as I can determine. Ellis reportedly claimed that he wasn't impressed with the power of Shavers, but judging by the footage, I doubt Jimmy ever knew what hit him. Immediately after their brief encounter, Jerry Quarry expressed the belief that Earnie never even hit him, and only learned the truth when he viewed the videotape of their match the following day. Jerry himself expressed surprise that the impact of Earnie's punches made no impression on him, and Shavers has confirmed that he indeed connected solidly on Jerry.

    So, considering how Ellis was laid out by Earnie, Jerry Quarry would seem to be the one great exception in the career of Shavers. (For whatever it's worth, JQ appeared to regard Mac Foster as the hardest puncher he dealt with, and Mac really did lay into Jerry with crowd groaning smacks.)

    The late Henry Clark dealt with Liston, Leotis, Machen (a very respectable puncher), Norton, Merritt 2X, Ramos, Mercado (after which he retired after losing the ten round decision), Mac Foster and Shavers 2X. The first match with Earnie in Paris, Shavers reportedly had an injured right, and had to outscore Clark behind his long jab, closing Henry's eye en route to what was probably the best decision win of his career. But there was nothing wrong with Earnie's right when they rematched on the Ali-Norton III undercard, and Shavers wiped Clark out in two.

    Henry Clark was never knocked off his feet, and it might be argued he actually competed more rounds against harder punchers than Chuvalo did. Liston and Norton were the only other two to ever stop Clark (both after several rounds of attrition-both events have also been available on youtube), and nobody, not Mercado, Liston, Norton, Leotis, Machen, Mac Foster or Merritt, ever knocked him for a loop the way Earnie did in Yankee Stadium. (In fact, Henry protested his stoppage against Liston, but there was no such outburst when Johnny LoBianco rescued him from Shavers.)

    For me, the question is always who one remembers being hit by. Gene Fullmer knows as much about the "perfect hook" SRR knocked him out with as we do, having no recall of getting struck by it himself. JQ didn't recall getting hit by Earnie even after watching the tape. But everybody who remembers being hit by Shavers seems to have been in unanimous agreement.

    One more power quote:

    "Never fought Earnie Shavers, thank God!" - George Foreman
     
  14. cross_trainer

    cross_trainer Liston was good, but no "Tire Iron" Jones Full Member

    16,482
    11,167
    Jun 30, 2005
    That's the other thing that makes these kinds of retrospectives (aside from the ones on Shavers, to a degree) so iffy: the memories/accounts are all over the place. Quarry outright forgot getting hit hard by Shavers, and Jerry wasn't even KO'd or anything. You'd think getting whacked by an incredibly hard puncher would leave enough of an impression to avoid a game of Rashomon. Nope.

    Arpad Elo apparently once described statistical chess rankings as like trying to measure something by dropping a cork attached to a measuring string into a stormy ocean and hoping for the best. He'd need to invent a new, and even more pessimistic, analogy for punching power.
     
  15. Reinhardt

    Reinhardt Boxing Junkie Full Member

    11,700
    14,934
    Oct 4, 2016
    Earnie got a very late start in boxing and coming up in the 70's was a murderers row of heavyweights
     
    OP_TheJawBreaker and JohnThomas1 like this.