Earnie Shavers vs. Tommy Morrison

shavers by ko but morrison has a live chance

 

Why are they fighting now & you have a bet on or something?

 

Shavers via early KO.

Earnie was more durable than Tommy, so i might question if Morrison has enough stamina to stop him...watch Lyle-Shavers.

 

Whoever lands first, I lean towards Shavers

 

Shavers,for me. Morrison would be a very live underdog,though.

 

It took Jerry Quarry 59 punches to finally put Earnie down. Lyle blasted Shavers with bombs for five rounds before finally landing him in the sixth. He remained upright for 23 rounds against the most potent version of Holmes.

Morrison got up to win against Williams and Ruddock, but tended to crumble much more abruptly when he was stopped. This could well come down to who got hit first. However, if both got hit, I think Tommy's chin would be more likely to let him down with the kind of power Earnie carried.

Tommy was dropped 13 times in 52 bouts, encompassing a total of 172 rounds. He did remain upright despite having his jaw broken by Hipp, and stood up to some good shots from Foreman.

Shavers sustained five touch downs during the meaningful portion of his career, one to JQ, one to Lyle, one to Stallings, one to Mercado, and one to Sims in a winning effort. Earnie's chin was not as bad as commonly stereotyped. If we allow his embryonic knockout loss to Stander and geriatric swan song to Yates at age 50, then he sustained a grand total of seven knockdowns in his 90 fight career, spanning 372 rounds from 1969 to 1995. Considering his wide open style of slugging among the heavyweight ranks, this is a respectably low number. Unlike Morrison, Shavers never sustained multiple knockdowns in any match.

Round nine was the latest Tommy stopped anybody (Hipp), while Earnie posted a trio of tenth round stoppages. Shavers also swept round 14 on all cards from Ali.

Betting on the outcome of this one could get one committed. However, my best guess is that Earnie takes this one early. Morrison was quickly starched by Bentt, dropped in the first by Ruddock, and twice in the second by Lennox.

Just now, I figured I'd take a look at those knockdowns Tommy suffered to Williams, and what happened with Bentt. In striking contrast to what Jerry Quarry did to Earnie, Morrison does crumble down almost immediately, as the result of a single punch. Shavers would not need a sustained barrage with his power.

 

George sort of forced Tommy to box the way he did, repeatedly shoving Morrison back with his powerful forearms. The surprise was that Tommy had the stamina and mobility to adapt to the much stronger Foreman's physicality. Shavers didn't push opponents around like this, so Morrison would not be compelled to play the cutie. Given the option, Tommy would attempt to stand his ground, hence be more available to hit. Earnie could be dangerous off the ropes, as Bentt proved to be. Shavers turned the last round tide against a charging Tiger Williams with a long right off the ropes, and he knocked over Holmes with a right to the back of Larry's left shoulder as Holmes assaulted him near a corner.

The more I think about it, the less comfortable I am with the idea of Morrison's chin withstanding the power of somebody who could do it with either hand like Earnie could. His right overshadows his left, but his hook dropped Lyle and Young, and a hook was the first punch which stunned Norton. He did things to tough opponents nobody else accomplished, like laying Ellis out for the count, decking the huge Bugner in one, and putting the Tiger down and out. What he did to Henry Clark in their rematch was also unique. Tillis was stopped 11 times, but never counted out. However, a case can be made that nobody came closer than Shavers did in dropping James flat on his face in round nine. (Is Tillis the one common opponent of Earnie and Tommy? He'd be an interesting one to ask for a power comparison.) Nobody wobbled Ali the way Shavers did repeatedly. Jeff Sims was thought of as the reincarnation of Liston.

Who's more likely to do it with a single shot? Neither was great at recovering when in dire straights, but again, Tommy was more prone to drop quickly from a hard blow, and Shaver's wouldn't force him into retreat the way Foreman did. Morrison was one knockdown away from a TKO loss to Carl Williams, yet stayed in attacker mode, an advantage Carl squandered. I can't see Tommy surviving that round if Earnie's in there instead.

 

One punch from either man could end the whole thing in as early as the first round.. Neither man could take it very well, both were unpolished in the defense department, and both relied more on their power than anything else.. I think I like Morrison better as an early round fighter, even though Shavers dispatched more men within that time frame.. Tommy had a brutal left hook, sort like the way Quarry did, who in fact made short work of Shavers. Morrison had combinations, hand speed and myriad of other things, despite his limitations. Of course, a big overhand right from Earnie could have put Tommy in the intensive care unit, but he'd have to land first in order to make it so, and if being the first one to make a direct hit, is what determines the outcome, then Tommy had the better offensive mechanisms to do it..

 

Shaver's right hand was a bit harder than Morrison's left hook but Morrison landed the left hook a little more often. Morrison had pretty quick hands and threw good combinations. He was more athletic than Shavers. Shavers had a pretty good left hook... on the other hand, Morrison's right hand was nothing like Shaver's right.

Morrison was down a lot and did get stopped by Mercer, Bentt, and Lewis. He did get off the canvas to win several times. He even won with a broken jaw and broken hand vs. Hipp. 48-3-1 (42) overall. 6'2" with a 76" reach and about 225 Lbs. He admits to using steroids for what that's worth. He was a WBO and later an IBC HW Champ. He beat the likes of-

J. Tillis KO1, P. Thomas, J. Halstead KO5, J. Hipp KO5, C. Williams KO8, G. Foreman W12, and D. Ruddock KO6.

Shavers was down a bit. He got off the canvas and stopped Roy Williams in the 10th. He went 75-14-1 (69) overall. 6' with a 73" reach and about 210 Lbs. He was stopped by R. Stander, J. Quarry, R. Lyle, L. Holmes (he also lost a decision to Holmes), B. Mercado, Tex Cobb, and B. Yates (when he was 137 years old). He beat the likes of-

J. Young KO3 (he also drew with Young), J. Ellis KO1, H. Clark KO2 (he also beat Clark by decision), R. Williams KO10, K. Norton KO1, and J. Bugner KO2.

I would lean toward a Shavers KO win but if they fought 3 times Morrison would Ko Shavers at least once.

 

Shavers KO'd much better guys and was matched up with harder opposition. in comparision you gotta give shavers an edge in chin. for him it was more about stamina, although he didn't have a great beard, really

 

Duodenum laid it out nice there.. fine work.

i was leaning towards Shavers.. mostly because i am not impressed with Morrison as a whole. both have limitations but.. in 10 fights i would bet on Shavers winning vast majority of them.