Earnie Shavers Power?

Shavers is not even top 5.
It's very plausible Wlad is no. 1

 

Vitaly never punched harder than Wlad, ever. He simply had a better chin, but not more punching power.

 

Stop embarrassing yourself.
Vitaly was more durable and could take far more risks, but he was mostly an arm puncher.
Wlad punched twice as hard.

 

Agree with this^. Although, I'd say Shavers had tremendous delivery, even if his "set up" could be found wanting. I think it is the difference in punch delivery, which separates those boxers with devastating power from those who are, at best, heavy-handed.

If you're in the former category then, as you suggest, that type of power is much of a muchness.

 

I recall Ray Mercer saying Lewis hit harder than Wlad.

Overall George Foreman would be #1 IMO. Lennox Lewis up there as well as Tyson.

 

Never heard Wlad as an all time puncher let alone the best...seems way off base. Top 20 I can see. His defense and boxing skill were much better asserts then his pure power. There are a multitude of boxers I’d think hit harder but I’m not the one taking the punches

 

You got issues pal

 

Maybe so, but he's got plenty to offer. He just needs some polish is all; a lot of us do.

 

Did you see my post where I showed tons of interviews and quotes about Wladmir? He's EASILY in the top 10, maybe top 5. Definitely the #1-3 of his own era. Arreola compared him to Wilder and said they were even. Chris Byrd said he had ludicrous power and hit 3x harder than Vitali.

Yes he was more defensive and relies on his reach and technique to keep guys at his preferred range, but his power absolutely cannot be denied.

See what made Shavers so devastating wasn't just the raw power, it was that he was...crazy. Nobody else put ALL their body weight into a shot the way Shavers did. He truly knew how to push off the ground and transfer his weight into his arms and swing with a unique blend of sharpness and explosiveness.

If You watch the 2nd Holmes fight, he swings so hard that he often stumbles and leaves himself wide open. Most guys aren't brave (or stupid?) Enough to fight that way. His offense was his defense when he was going for the knockout because it's extremely difficult to counter a guy whose not only not worried about getting hit, but he's supremely confident in the power of his punches.

Yes You can make a case for Wladmir being #1 (although Mercer disagrees).

Shavers is definitely in the conversation for top 5 in terms of just raw power. I already made a post detailing the huge amount of evidence why. You would have to call Ali, Holmes, Caldwell, Young, Norton, Lyle, Cobb, Tillis, and Bugner liars/dishonest/or in on some sort of conspiracy.

The simplest and most likely explanation is that they are telling the truth. Dropping a guy as good as a prime Holmes is not easy and only 3 people did so in more than 60 fights. Young was a defensive wizard and not an easy guy to stop. Bugner was also a very cautious fighter, large and durable and Shavers stopped him early (in just 2 rounds and much faster than a prime Bruno could who took 8 rounds to stop a washed up Bugner). Shavers was the only man to stop Roy Williams. Shavers once had a 31 knockout streak. He scored 23 1st round KO's, 50 in the first 3 rounds. Considering the sheer number of punchers Ali faced and that he picked Shavers is especially noteworthy. He admitted that Shavers had him as early as round 2 and was ready to go but tricked him into thinking he wasn't hurt.

No one is claiming Shavers was a great boxer. He was also a sloppy finisher and sometimes let guys off the hook due to his stamina and wild punching. But in terms of just raw power he is obviously in the discussion for top 5. Very very few boxers have his credentials.

 

I'm not trying to prop for Shavers, because he had a lot of handicaps, but one cannot judge a fighter's power due to his size, muscularity, or finishing skills.

 

Still waiting for @catchwtboxing to uncover this conspiracy for us.

Funny how the Norton near-decapitation gets underplayed when rating Earnie. Yes, Ken had trouble with punchers but even Foreman didn’t destroy him in such devastating fashion. And this is a Norton who was 9 months (with one bout in between) removed from the Holmes fight — he’s considered by most as the No. 1 contender or very close to it ... yet because Shavers bombed him out suddenly in those nine months he’s become a over-the-hill has-been.

Earnie could punch with the best of them. And I mean the best of all time. Yes, Holmes got dropped a couple of times by other people, but never like he fell when Shavers lowered the boom.

 

That is a valid point. Norton was less than a year removed from losing an extremely close decision to a prime Holmes where he was previously the champion. When Shavers knocked out Norton, he was the #1 contender. People need to deal with this fact and stop shifting the goal posts to talk about Norton's age or how he did with punchers.

You can find entire 20 page threads where people defend Rocky's resume where his best KO's are against men who were even older than Norton because they were "ranked" high. Ditto for Louis and Wladmir's record. Either stopping a ranked opponent is impressive and how you separate a good puncher from a great puncher or it isn't.

 

There is no point here at all. Norton was not China-chinned, but he could be knocked out. Foreman and Cooney did it similarity, and even Jose Luis Garcia. The fact that Shavers hardly proves that he hit harder than Foreman or Cooney, or even Jose Luis Garcia.

But you seem to be mistaking the point of the thread. No one is saying Shavers didn't hit hard. No one is saying that he wasn't one of the hardest hitters.

 

He was the hardest puncher Ali, Holmes, and Tillis faced. That says everything I need to know.

I think only Deontay Wilder is near his level of nuclear bomb.

 

Very true^. He was still swinging for the fences at the tender age of 37, against Tillis.

In reading your description of his ability to deliver power, I'm also reminded of the punch he caught Lyle with, in the 2nd Round of their slug-fest. This one stands out for me, because it was his left hand, thrown just as he'd taken a step backwards and yet, in that split-second, he steeled his trailing foot and drove his body weight into a short hook.

It snatched the senses out of Lyle and, against almost any other opponent (save the chins of Ali, Foreman etc), it would have ended the bout. An absolute peach of a shot.