Ali v Shavers

In spite of being way passed even his seventies best,Muhammad managed to turn it on during the last minute of the final round. He may well have dropped 'The Acorn' had he connected a minute earlier.

 

He was! He was ripping Earnie with counters all round. One little sneaky left hook finally did the damage.

It's amazing to watch him counter off the ropes, even while getting bullied and cracked by a murderous puncher. Dude was a hero inside the ropes.

 

Ali at age 35 was faded, yet his dec. win over Shavers in '77 New York was his last bit of greatness as a ringer... I saw the fight live on prime-time TV back in '77... I have a copy of the best rds on file.... Very good stuff....


MR.BILLbbb:rasta

 

Watching it after so many years a strong case can be made that Earnie won that round. He dominated until the last 20 to 30 seconds. However those last seconds Earnie was close to going down so it depends on how it's weighed against Earnies all out assault the first 2.50 minutes of that round.

 

I watched it also live in 77. I despised Ali back then but did not feel Earnie did enough to win. Just too many rounds where he did little but conserve his energy.