Jack Dempsey would have knocked out Earnie Shavers sometime between the 1st and 4th round...in my opinion.
Shavers got ko'd almost every time he moved up to fight other contenders. He had the look, and the punching rep, but is very overated. He was also ko'd by Ron Stander, and in his prime, was beaten thourouly by club figter Bob Stallings. The muscular build, shaved head, and ko rep, plus excellent management (Don King) made him.
This would be Sept 14th 1923 all over again, except Shavers wouldn't go down 7 times after Dempsey land s his hook it would be lights out.But Jack would probably hit the floor.
I don't think Shavers would even get a chance to land anything, honestly. In his prime he was such a fast starter and his defense (especially coming forward) was so good I think he'd land first and land well and I don't think Shavers would be able to take it. He'd get hurt right off the bat and either go down for good and get beat up a bit first but he wouldn't have the time to mount any kind of offense. Then again, Jack could be open to the right, and Shavers had maybe the best right hand out of all the HW's. It could be possible that Shavers lands on Dempsey and drops him for a count, but in that case, like Mcvey says, he'd get up and knock Shavers out like he did Firpo. Shavers was more skilled than Firpo but his chin wasn't as good, IMO. Dempsey fought better hurt than maybe any heavyweight champion of all time and while he could be hurt and dropped stopping him was an all together different matter. It'd probably take a finisher like Louis or Tyson to pull that off.
Dempsey TKO3, though if Shavers were to connect, flush then Jack would be dead. Dempsey starts to fast for the shakey chinned and lumbering Shavers, though and would pour in all on in the early running: forcing a stoppage after a knockdown or two.
Yep. Dempsey would have to make sure he's ultra careful for the first minute or so, like he did against Willard. But as soon as he finds the opening and hits one home, it shouldn't last too long after that.
Dempsey would probably take Shavers out in the first couple of rounds nine times out of ten. I will add one caveat however. If Shavers does catch Jack and he is coming forward when it happens he could be in trouble.