Sonny Liston vs Earnie Shavers, both prime.

Earnie could provide for a shaker or two but I’d go with Liston and fairly quickly also, 2-3 rounds tops.

 

Liston...

 

Earnie has a punchers chance. But Sonny Liston is otherwise too well rounded to make Shavers any sort of a favorite.

 

Liston via KO, but Shavers may shake up Liston if he lands clean. And then after the fight that Liston wins by KO he declares "Shavers treated me rudely....."

 

Before the fight, when asked for his prediction, Sonny Liston holds up 3 huge fingers. Then, after tasting Earnie's right hand in round #1, Sonny proceeds to knock Earnie out in round #2. When asked later about it, Liston responds with: "It woulda gone 3 but..." (See InMemoryofJakeLamotta's Liston quote below as the proper finish to my sentence.

 

Same as Cleveland Williams but a little easier. Liston wins easily in terms of getting an early KO, but gives Ernie respect for his power.

 

Liston was better than Shavers in pretty much every regard. Hed slaughter him.

 

Excellent observation regarding Shaver's endurance. People think his durability was bad, but it was actually excellent. His chin stood up very well to Lyle's power up until he fatigued. Only KO loss he had that wasn't due to endurance was against Quarry where he took at least a good 40 power punches in less than three minutes before falling. Even so, he wasn't counted out.

 

You actually favored Liston in a h2h matchup!

And didn't include the repetitive "But he QUIT.... as champion...... on his stool".

Are we feeling OK here?

 

Liston by TKO round 4 or 5 but he would survive some very scary moments.

 

Liston very quickly …

 

There's a very small number of fighters in the long and storied history of heavyweight boxing that would have much of a chance against prime Charles "Sonny" Liston.
Earnie Shavers ain't one of them. In fact he's the type of opponent Liston shined against. A straight forward, tough as nails, but limited enduranced puncher. Shavers is perhaps the hardest punching heavyweight in history.
But it won't help him much, when perhaps the hardest jab in heavyweight history is repeatedly bouncing off his face, forcing him to reset.
He'd sooner than later began to get tired and try to load up with desperation and wide swinging right hands.
Setting up the perfect countering opportunity for Liston. ( A skill he doesn't get much credit for)
Fights over with in 6-7 rds when the referee steps in to save Shavers as Liston hammers him from pillar to post.

 

Liston in a clobber fest. Shavers lands a terrible right, but Liston smartens up real quick and exploits Shavers' not so great finishing flaws. Earnie takes several ridiculous shots, including a terrifying right, and it's over before the bell ends round one.