"Ali-Shavers" of '77 was IMO Ali's last great effort in the ring.

I had Ali winning by a point, on the basis of nicking the final round by nearly finishing the fight.

Ali was rarely effective, but there were many rounds where Earnie landed no punches, and threw almost nothing. Ali was landing on gloves, but he was throwing and at times pressing, and taking nothing in return. Ineffective aggression, good defense, and ring generalship is more than enough to win a round if clean punching is in short supply, and this is how Ali won.

 

This should've been without question Ali's last fight. He took alot of punishment from one of the hardest punching hw's in ring history at a rather advanced age. This after a remarkable career that saw him win the title 13 years previously. That he was able to survive the bombs from Shavers and almost put him away in the final round speaks volumes of his resiliency and determination. Did he actually win the fight? I'm not so sure. It was close. If Shavers had gotten the decision I wouldn't have complained but either way Ali should've called it a career after that scrap. The writing was on the wall. Too many hard fights over the years. It gets tougher as you get older. That's why Teddy Brenner, who was matchmaker gor MSG at the time said he would no longer promote another Ali fight there. That should've been the wake up call for Ali and his camp. Unfortunately no one listened.