Cobb does what Norton couldn't: Stops Earnie Shavers August 2, 1980

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I remember watching this fight, ole Ernie ran flat outta gas when Cobbs granite jaw kept him in it. I recall when Tex came back to his corner after a particularly brutal right hand ,Georgie Benton I believe said," the Son of a B**ch is killin ya! Ya want me to stop it? Hardly words of encouragement eh?

 

Styles.

Cobb had very interesting insight reflection on this fight .. he said there was basically only so hard any human being could hit .. He said Ken Norton in their fight once hit him as hard as Earnie Shavers ever did .. he said the difference was that Shavers did it every time he landed. Interesting.

 

Shavers shot his wad trying to get Cobb out ,and was a sitting duck when he gassed.

 

The immortal Don Dunphy....few words; let the fight speak for itself.
Like Vin Scully he knew when to shut up.

 

Shavers gassed badly and Cobb had an IRON chin.

 

Back in the day when the ref just put a mirror up to ya nose...still breathing? U can keep fighting.

 

Forgotten fact about this fight: due to humidity in the building or whatever, the canvas was slippery and it impacted every fight on the card. It was like fighting on an ice rink.

You can see it also in Hearns-Cuevas. Manny Stewart talked afterward about how he had the Hit Man wear rubber-soled shoes to get more traction while Pipino had the normal type and couldn’t grip the floor.

You can also see it in Cobb-Shavers.

 

And then Norton couldn't do what Shavers did, he beat Cobb.

 

Interestingly, Cobb was a late sub for Gerry Cooney ... Ger vs. Shavers would have been interesting: although Cooney probably overwhelms him you can never count out Earnie’s power and Cooney didn’t have Cobb’s chin.

So Earnie knocks out Norton ... a few years loses to Cobb, who is a late sub for Cooney ... Cobb next loses (very competitively) to Norton ... who next gets knocked out by Cooney.

 

Cobb was actually landing a lot more on Shavers than vice versa ... he just didn't have any power. I'm not surprised Norton beat him.

 

interesting that those punches that Cobb was throwing were arm punches and seemed to have little power, but Shavers said in his book that Cobb did break his jaw, and that's why the fight was stopped.

 

Real funny guy Cobb!.

 

I was a big Earnie fan and this was sad to see. Shavers lost to Holmes, Mercado, and Cobb within a year, coming close to beating them all. He was done at that point. Always sad to see one of your favorites become cannon fodder.

 

Yes but he did kick Joe Bugner's ass. I hate big heavyweights that don't like to fight, and pick and poke their way to decision wins ala Joe Bugner.