I read an interview where Shavers said he agreed with the decision and that Ali won. I can't find 8 rounds to give to Ali, his pitter-patter flurries didn't impress me. Ali was badly faded by 1977, but surely still had his chin and toughness here. He took some bombs. This content is protected
Even a way past prime Ali was hard to hit. But Ali also had a great chin - always did have, and Shavers landed plenty flush, but couldn't put Ali away.
Would Earnie have put Ali down and away had he stormed into him after hurting him badly in the 2nd round? I think so, Ali took the rest of the round to get his strenth back, he was in a very wobbly state there after that right hand.
I think taking this fight was testimony to Ali's courage and self-confidence and the result was testimony to his heart and toughness. I'm shocked he signed for the fight.
Shavers won it. The fact that Earnie says he didn't win is because he, like Norton, Foreman, and many others, have become that ugliest of ESB words -"nuthuggers"- of Muhammad Ali
Carl Williams did the same after ''losing'' to Holmes. The truth said he didn't think he had done enough to win. Funny isn't it. And I also think Shavers beat Ali.
More revisionism here. The truth is that the fight was televised live on national tv and the judges scorecards were revealed after every round to the home audience. Shavers gave Ali a good fight but there were no cries of a bad decision after this bout. Shavers rocked Ali in several rounds but did little doing his best to conserve himself. He let it all hang out in the last 3 rounds but by that time Ali already had 8 rounds in his pocket. I was not an Ali fan back in 1977 but I found no issues with the scoring....Shavers just did not do enough in many of the first 12 rounds.