Earnie Shavers vs 1974 Foreman & 1991 Foreman

Old George brutalises Earnie. Stoppage within half a dozen rounds. Young George v Shavers is also over quickly for me. Prime young George was a beast and this fight won't go long enough for him to get tired.

 

Im saying prime Ruddock still had enough in the tank to be a better boxer than Shavers. More consistent jab usage, better counters and more versatile punch placement. Im not seeing Shavers flatline Dokes and Page like that, nor go to war with pre-prison Mike twice.

 

Oh I'm not denying Ruddock had more natural talent and ability than Shavers and could have gone further if he put everything together.

I just don't see what the slugger version of Ruddock did better on a technical level than Shavers. He had even worse defense than Shavers leaving himself wide open in many fights against dangerous punchers like Morrison, Lewis, etc. He favored his left and lacked ring IQ.

 

I think Ruddock was better at long range. He was lighter on his feet and dealt better with lateral movement. He used his jab more consistently and had a hell of a right hand when he remembered he had it, though not as good as Shavers'. He also had better counters. Shavers was much more fluid with his combos on the inside and defensively more aware, but Ruddock I think had a better uppercut and comparable left hook. I honestly don't see Shavers doing what Ruddock did against Tyson on the inside, but that might also be because Ruddock was a lot bigger, stronger and tougher than Shavers.

I just see Ruddock as more effective than Shavers, despite his shockingly bad fight IQ at times.

 

I have said often here that if you could put Old Foreman's brain in Young Foreman's body you would have the absolute GOAT heavyweight.

 

You're mostly talking about athleticism and size.

Ruddock doesn't really do anything technically better other than the jab (which he abandoned), and yes sometimes he could counter better.

 

I think movement is a very important skillset.

 

Fair enough