Earnie Shavers - Hardest Puncher of All Time (R.I.P. 1944-2022)

I love watching his fights! Oh wow, could he HIT! RIP, Mr. Shavers, and condolences to his family and friends!

 

Yes he did. Shavers loaded all his bodyweight in his overhand right, Foreman never got to do that vs Ali.

 

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

If I remember correctly, Shavers landed his best shot on Ali in round 2.
Find me a shot similar to that that Foreman landed on Ali, point it out to me on film.

 

If you read what I've written previously, you'll see that I'm not talking about that.

I was saying that Shavers did not have everything behind the shot he landed on Ali in the second round.

You disagree.

I then said we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

There's more to that kind of power than technique.

It's something natural that Shavers was born with.

 

I don't disagree with the fact that Shavers didn't hit Ali with all he had, I agree with that.
My point is that if Shavers hit with say 60% of what he could muster (I just use this number as an example), Foreman never got to land in a similar fashion.
Basically what I'm saying is that Shavers landed with a force that is closer to his max potential than Foreman did.
I also believe that if both men would hit a stationary target with a measuring device attached to it, Foreman's output would be higher.

 

I said Shavers didn't have everything behind the punch that hurt Ali.

You said in response:

'Yes he did. Shavers loaded all his bodyweight in his overhand right'

Maybe we're just misunderstanding each other.

 

When I was at university in Liverpool, Ernie Shavers worked as a greeter on the door of one of the most popular wine bars.

He was a perfect gentleman by all accounts, unless you overturned a table, and it was on the to do list of many students to meet him.

To put this in perspective When we were Kings, had been released a couple of years earlier, and a lot of students watched that film while they smoked mamajuana.

There are some insights that you can only get from being on the ground at the time!

As a fighter, he got as close to the top, as you can get without getting to the top.

In one interview, he was asked whether he regretted fighting in the strongest era of all time.

He responded that he was lucky to have fought in the strongest era of all time!

PS

After I graduated in Liverpool, I did my masters in Bristol.

I ended up living across the road, from the pub where Tom Cribb and Tom Sayer used to train.

Boxing history seems to follow me around!

 

I have seem him knock down Holmes. The pouch literally threw Holmes down. I've seen him KO Ellis & Norton. But does he have any name knockouts on film?

I'm glad to see he lived a full life without difficulties for a long career in boxing. I mean he had 91 fights. He might be the last heavyweight that had that many. A favorite of mine.

RIP

 

The 90s was the strongest era of all time.

 

It certainly was.

The wine and beer flowed like water, the women were pragmatic about casual encounters, and if you got into a bar fight and were still standing at the end of it, then you just continued the night out!

 

Janitor KO1 WB