I suspect Damiani is winning until he isn’t, he wasn’t the most durable, he had solid fundamentals and was a great boxer, but Shavers was actually very good at explosive, surprise attacks and closing distance, punches over the top and catching guys by surprise, he could close the distance against movers, that’s why you needed a solid chin and durability in general against prime Shavers, if you didn’t have that, you needed some knockout power yourself, because he would close the distance at some point if you didn’t have that, and if you don’t have a chin either, it wouldn’t be looking like a good situation, you’d better hope you have some power, and also that you’re gonna land first. If you have a weak chin or poor durability, you need to have power yourself and either throw better long punches with power, or have excellent timing on guys as they attack, because if you don’t have either of those, he is getting into range, and if you don’t have a chin, you’re most likely getting knocked out. Who wins this matchup?
Damiani was a more well rounded fighter who had a good mix of power and boxing skill. But he simply wasn’t much for taking it. It’s possible he could win this if he gets Earnie out before he lands anything huge. But if Damiani gets caught with some of those big shots I don’t know if he recovers
Damiani for me, no doubt. Shavers got outboxed by far worse guys than Damiani. And Damiani was plenty durable. The Mercer fight was basically an anomaly, the kind of nonsense result that ends up defining a fighter's entire career. Like Vitali messing up his rotator cuff or Duran's "no mas". I picked Damiani by points, but really, he could just as easily knock Shavers out. I don't think Shavers was fast enough to clip Damiani clean with a punch on the button, whereas Damiani's all-round skills would be a problem for Shavers all night. And while Damiani was not a huge puncher, a guy as big as him and as technically rounded as him, certainly translates to him being a solid puncher. Shavers ain't gonna walk through him.
