Chuvalo vs. Shavers

Shavers lost to Stander and Cobb. I think he also loses to Chuvalo, who would be tough enough to withstand his early attack and then come on for a late round knockout.

 

I'd liked to have seen this one.

 

Tough fight. Shavers could be rocked and stopped early, as he was by Quarry, and almost by Jimmy Ellis (Shavers came back to KO Ellis). But he could blast you out too. Lots of fun while it lasted. Chuvalo was not a bad fighter at all, when you watch the old films against Ali and Patterson, among others.

I remember Chuvalo's "KO" of Quarry though. Quarry was winning easily when he was knocked down because he was off balance. Then Quarry pulled a Knoblauch and lost track of the count before getting up.

 

Watched that fight earlier to-night by co-incidence and felt that Chuvalo was in the fight and it was more than an off-balance thing, Quarry's legs did a funny dance. But agreed he lost track of the count.

 

Regardless of the outcome, one should realize that had they fought in say 1975 you'de have been looking at a 37 year old Chuvalo vs. a 29 year old Shavers. Semi-different eras; Chuvalo definitely past prime and Shavers (arguably) was not quite in his prime yet...

 

Just watched a clip of Jerry Quarry demolishing Shavers in one round.
George would do the same thing.
Shavers could punch but didnt have the ring savy to touch George.
Chuvalo would pick him apart then knock him out no problem.

 

Unless Chuvalo got nailed and taken out in the first round, Shavers would tired after four or five rounds and be taken out in the seventh or eighth.

 

I have already picked Chuvalo to take this fight by virtue of his chin, stamina and boxing ability, along with Shavers' tendency to tire or fold in the heat of adversity.

On the otherhand however, we should not forget that a 32 year old Shavers battled a peak Larry Holmes over many rounds on two occasions, and damn near had one of the most durable heavys of all time ( Holmes ) out at one point. For Shavers to survive the distance over say a 10 round contest, and pound out a decision over Chuvalo is not out of the question. We should furthermore consider, that the two most dangerous punchers that George ever faced, also happened to be the only two men who were able to force a stoppage against him ( Frazier - Foreman ). Now, granted these TKO losses had controversial endings. Apparently Chuvalo had an injured cheek bone ,which he claimed was already bothering him before the Frazier match and the Foreman fight may well have been a premature stoppage, but still. The best two punchers he faced were kicking his ass to the extent where someone was convinced that he had enough.

Earnie may very well have had power that equalled or even surpassed that of Foreman and Frazier. Therefore, a stoppage - controversial or otherwise, is not entirely out of the question.....Unlikely as it may be..

 

Here's a short writeup from page 164 of Stephen Brunt's 'Mean Business' which is in agreement with what you say;

"Perhaps the most gruesome was his 1967 fight with Joe Frazier. Before the bout, a piece of cartilage in Chuvalo's right eye socket had become dislodged in training but because of the magnitude of the fight and the money involved, the fight went ahead as scheduled."

As far as the scheduled Chuvalo-Shavers fight goes, they were set to go at it in Cleveland in, I believe, 1973, but Chuvalo didn't or couldn't go through with it because of a back injury that he was said to have sustained in training. Still, and although he apparently did produce a medical statement to David Ott (then chairman of the Cleveland Boxing and Wrestling Commission) to back up his claim of injury, Ott went through and suspended Chuvalo indefinately as a result of the "no show", which was a suspension held up by others like the WBA.

 

How good was Chuvalo still in the mid 70s? I thought he was past his prime by around that time.

I'd still favor Chuvalo to win, but a stoppage for Shavers isn't out of the possibility either, say if he were to bust up Chuvlo's face or break his cheekbone.

 

Ernie told Ted Spoon in his owns words that Chuvalo both ducked and could not of beaten him because he came forward...and then it would of been "OUT MAMA!"

Whatever the validity to the first point, the latter may of held true.