Could Shavers KO Anthony Joshua before getting stopped himself?

If Earnie Lands his best shot on almost anyone first he has a chance of winning. So yes, this could happen to Joshua. In all likelihood however Joshua gets him out of their first.

 

No, Shavers was never world-champion level.

 

Two big punchers and two dodgy chins. I picked Shavers but an AJ KO win wouldn’t surprise me either.

 

Either scenario could happen.

However Joshua is getting a bit under rated these days.

When he unified the belts, he was mean and hungry.

 

AJ weathered a full-leverage Wlad right hand and kept fighting. It's not out of the question that he could something similar against Shavers. Unlikely, but still.

 

Sure, Earnie has a chance.

I also think that if the hypothetical accounts for Shavers taking his established rep as a monster puncher into the fight and Joshua being aware of same, it would see a very leery AJ, well aware of his not so steel chin, doing his absolute best to stay out of harms way, boxing at max. range for at least the first half of the fight, looking for Earnie to tire.

 

He certainly could. Shavers threw every punch, not just his right hand, from his heels. That is a big part of why he tired so quickly. Joshua is no defensive genius and he drops his hands when he punches and Shavers would be swinging back. So Shavers could knock him out.
If he would is another question.
It would not surprise me to see Joshua use his height and reach and land hard punches from a distance and stop Earnie early. It would not surprise me to see Joshua, confident in his size advantage, sally forth to impose himself and get crunched.
There would be way more muscle than brain in this fight.

 

Neither is Joshua. He only won a title because there's so many of them today, not so in Earnie's era.

 

I am going to give Anthony Joshua at his best the edge here, but Joshua needs to stay alert at all times when Earnie Shavers is standing.

 

The first thing I thought of was Joshua's nasty uppercut up the middle. Unlike many big men nowadays, Joshua actually knows him to set up power punches at mid and close range (see how he broke down Pulev). This could prove the end for Shavers if he manages to connect with a few of them.

Joshua's chin is also often underrated because of how many times he's been dropped/stopped. While AJ absolutely doesn't have a great chin, his issues have always been poor recovery and lacking survival instincts/defensive skills. He stands fairly upright lacking head movement and can look pretty stiff and robotic when hurt. That could be a recipe for disaster against Shavers who threw power punches like Marilyn Monroe promised to visit his hotel if he won. However, the smart money would be on Joshua who had major advantages in height, reach, fundamentals, and could hit pretty hard himself.

He may have to peel himself off the canvas, but Joshua should win more often than not. Joshua by KO within 5-7 rounds.

 

Joshua could very much win a title in 70s depending on the situation. Shavers never could. This guy lost to Bob Stallings in his prime.

 

This is it, this is the answer.