Earnie Shavers & Cleveland Williams: Who Da Man?

He was saved by the bell for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nl8rabZMIA

The Williams-Liston battles were short and explosive. The second round of the second fight was great as well, with both men hurting each other and Liston eventually finishing matters.

Williams smashed Liston's nose in the very first round of the first fight but Liston came back strong in rounds 2 & 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWbpM99wD2M

Look at the combination of left hooks Cleveland Williams throws at 7:25 of the video.

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The rematch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO6gqaQ5uC4

 

I met Lyle in the 70's just before the Quarry fight, he was a very nice guy. I see he is still honest and made himself a credit to the sport after a rough time in prison. Glad to see he is still trying to give something back to the sport

 

There is theory that Ali could not plant as well after the fiasco with Inoki in june of 76.' He suffered blood clots in his legs and had to be hospitalized rumor had it. How serious were Ali's leg injuries? Does anyone know? The fact is he did not score any knockouts after that event in Tokyo. I even read where blood had to be drained from his legs and amputation was a possibility. Is this just nonsense like the recent headline about Rush Limbaugh being 'dead' at 58? Or was Ali's condition really that serious? Also, for the record I'll take the Big Cat over the acorn in six. Williams suffers an early knockdown ala Lyle but storms back to win in a crowd-pleasing brawl.

 

He did have a lot of leg damage from that bout. But those legs were not the same one's as the guy had a decade earlier & just how many guys can suffer that amount of degradation to their game and continue to win?

That Ali camp always did a top notch job with the injury department and ali had those bad hands and look at the job they did with that. The only injury they really spoke of was the jaw injury in the first Norton bout. They sure were tight lipped about everything else, exactly like they should have been.

 

Before Quarry got him Ron Lyle arose from a knockdown to score one of the most brutal knockouts I've ever seen. He hit Earnie that final right hand to the side of the head and nearly tore his head off his shoulders..a 6th round ko, I believe. Yeah, I think Williams was a more polished fighter than Shavers, in addition to his power...I think Williams ko 8..after getting up from a kd like Lyle did.

 

Cleveland had a nice left,but the impression I have is that he seemed to be a bit wide open with his right.:think

 

Thanks Bill for the clarification... It seems as if Ali's leg injuries from the Ionki 'fight' were serious enough to hamper his future footwork and ability to plant to throw hard punches... But certainly not life-threatening as some gossip mongers were reporting at the time (june 76).

 

:deal This

 

Williams didn't have the power Shavers did. Shavers finished men with one punch. Williams was big and strong, too, but it took several punches for him to do his damage. Also, Williams was already a veteran of 32 fights when Satterfield (who was 26 pounds lighter) knocked him out. Both of these guys might be down, but I think that with Shaver's greater power, and Cleve's weak chin, Williams get put out for the count by the third round.