could joe frazier get past.... earnie shavers?

Shavers doesn't have the strength to force Frazier back, Foreman was able to just shove him back, Shavers can't. The belief that Frazier would lose to any puncher early is a bit far fetched. Also the damage that Foreman inflicted on Frazier was largely from uppercuts, Shavers didn't have one like Foreman

 

Shavers could play a decent Foreman for 2 rounds maybe, but certainly without the excellent chin of Big Daddy. Joe was a big hitter and even if there were carnage i think he'd be the one left standing. At his best i take him to stop Shavers in 3.

 

hell no. shavers had a solid punch. that is IT. he didn't have the strength & strategy of foreman to push frazier back and neutralize him. and indeed - even in those 2 rounds - frazier hit foreman with some good left hooks. you didn't notice them because foreman's granite chin. shavers didn't have such a chin. best case scenario: shavers lands his right hand on joe. joe is really hurt but gets back up (very similar to larry holmes) to give shavers a beat down. if george foreman couldn't knockout joe frazier in 2 rounds - neither could shavers - regardless of how powerful his right hand is. frazier's left hook would wobble shavers and shavers just wouldn't be as effective against joe as foreman was. different styles. frazier by TKO under 8 rounds. shavers may knock down joe like bonavena did (but much harder of course) - but joe will come back to win.

 

If tough Jerry Quarry bested Shavers , then I gotta believe that Frazier would do the same thing.

 

Shavers decks Frazier in Round 1, but ol' Ernie goes to sleep in
Round 5.

 

Earnie Shavers is not as physically strong as George Foreman, and only weighed about 5 pounds more than Prime Frazier. Frazier by mid rounds knockout.

 

While Shavers was seemingly always up for getting an upset, they were considered "upsets" for a reason- he wasn't quite in the class of the top guys, of which Frazier has to be considered. So, while Shavers could land that theoretical upset, my money would be on Joe by stoppage 90% of the time.

 

Your image of Shavers here is not really in line with the facts. Shavers wasn't a "huge" heavyweight. He was 6'0 and typically weighed in at 205-213 or under in his prime. Frazier was 5'11 1/2 and typically weighed in at 203-206. There is virtually no size discrepancy between the two. Neither do I think Shavers was a monstrously strong man in the vein of a Foreman, and he certainly didn't have Foreman's kind of offensive repertoire or constitution.

Shavers is a bad failure if one is looking for someone to "play Foreman." Making provision for Shavers' puncher's chance, Frazier beats him down within six rounds.

 

Never mind mate, many people think Shavers a lot lot bigger than he actually is, and first career Foreman is in the same boat. In the first Frazier - Foreman bout Foreman was only 3 1/2 pounds heavier than Joe, and in the rematch Joe outweighed Foreman by 1/2 pound :yikes

 

Joe was fat though.
And Foreman was lean.

I actually think Foreman was usually bigger in his first career than in his comeback. He just weighed more when he was old because he was FAT.
Foreman was a HUGE guy in the 1970s.

 

Regardless Foreman was 217 pounds. I used to think of him as even bigger, substancially. He looked absolutely huge on TV and from memory was considered massive back in the day.

He was, but via actual measurements he would not be considered huge at all now. Far from it.

 

Could Frazier get past Shavers? Sure. Would he? Perhaps, but Shavers can win too. I think Shavers gets unfairly dinged about having a bad chin. While it is true Shavers chin was suspect vs punchers, so was Fraziers'.

If one watches Shavers on film, he had better speed and skills than he's given credit for. Sure he gassed late on occasion ( maybe once or twice ) and cut, but he also had a big heart, and could hurt guys with arm punches. Shavers’ competition was better than Frazier’s in terms of facing punchers, and fighting more total bouts. Shavers also had many more fights outside of his prime.

I think this match comes down to whoever lands a good one first as both fighters were good finishers. While Frazier was a better fighter, style wise Shavers would have the advantage. Punchers tend to beat swarmers, and Shavers not only had a crushing right and a hard left, he also had a lights out type of uppercut. I think Shavers seems to have a bigger margin of error earlier. I say this because I think Frazier’s power is a bit over rated. A distance match between Shavers and Frazier is unlikely! Picking Shavers from early and Frazier later seems to make the most sense. I lean slightly toward Frazier to win because he has the edge on stamina. Too bad they never meet. It would have been a great fight.

 

I consider him huge now.
I consider a lot of heavyweights huge.

Most modern heavyweights have inflated body weights because they dont trim down like they used to.