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

Been there, lived it...unfortunately if I was standing at the end of it I usually went to jail lol.

 

God bless Earnie, a man I met several times and a great fella but even he takes a back seat to Deontay for pure one shot P4P power ... never saw a 212 pound guy ice giants like Deontay , not even Earnie, not with one shot ... Wilder is a true freak of nature ..

 

The proper response to being educated is saying ty, not laughing.

 

So this is you thanking me?

BTW this is the Earnie Shavers RIP thread so show a bit of common decency and **** on him elsewhere.

 

Saying he wasn't the hardest hitter ain't shitting on him one bit.

 

There's just no glimmer of hope for you is there.

 

I agree. But I still don't think Shavers had everything behind it which shows how hard he could hit.

It's frightening.

 

The shot in round two was full extension and early in the fight flush on Ali's face and knocked him halfway across the ring and had him badly stung .. that was I'd say at least as hard as a nearly exhausted Shavers hit Holmes in the seventh round of the rematch ... unless you're talking about one of those carnival booth bags that measure power when you plant your feet and wind up like a cartoon and punch you don't land much harder in an actual bout ... it was a brutal shot .. Earnie's mistake was not following up and going balls to the wall to finish it ..

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I certainly agree with this. I don't understand how Shavers could not see that Ali was really hurt.

You would think he'd have more faith in his own power.

 

Agree. And Earnie landed a number of other hellacious punches throughout the fight, a few of which might’ve been at least on par with the 2nd round punch.

The round two punch had the added dramatic bonus of the way it froze Ali for a moment, then caused him to teeter back and then hold onto the ropes.

People often highlight Earnie’s natural power but it was a beautifully executed/timed punch on a somewhat mobile Ali.

Great shot on Holmes also, Larry coming on to the punch for compound impact.

For opponents who hadn’t fought Shavers before, I wonder if his long reach (80”) deceived some opposition in so far as Earnie being able to reach them with power shots.

Baer had successes with his big overhand right also - but I’m sure his own 82” reach played no small part in facilitating its delivery and connection.

It’s not often noted that when Earnie dropped Holmes, Larry was only just coming out of the fog caused by some very hard shots landed by Shavers’ earlier in the round. Larry had only just become mobile, all be he still looking a bit awkward (hurt) in his efforts and then BOOM, Earnie hit him with that punch.

Not a desirable moment for Holmes, but his stocks had to rise considerably when arose back up, took a few more hard hits and still went on to win the fight.

The type of moment that immediately told you that even if Larry found himself at the short end against any other ATG, he would suck it up and fight back for all he is worth - for me, that’s a huge consideration and bonus when entertaining Holmes’ chances in certain fantasy match ups.

 

Ali was always so much in these guy's heads that Earnie was absolutely concerned about punching himself out early or being reckless and caught ... remember what happened to him in that same ring vs Quarry .. Ali was rocked and very very few men could have taken that ... I vividly remember after the fight the talk was how Ali proved to have one of the all time great chins but also concern about how many brutal shots he absorbed ... post Manila this is the fight that wrecked Ali ... it was accumulative punishment but man did it spike that night in the Garden.

 

Excellent post. I remember talking in detail once upon a time w Teddy Atlas about Shavers and he said technically Shavers was a sound fighter ... he threw straight shots ... Foreman often looped the right but Earnie threw straight ... (not taking away from George's power which was massive too) ..

 

Bring him back in games. Let's have fun w a Shavers/Wilder match up virtually.

RIP Shavers. Unreal power and seems to have been a true gentleman. I'm still like the only person who wants to c Shavers/Young 2 but so b it thats my selfishness.