The hardest heavy hitter of all time vs. the slick, solid chinned Toney... 12 rounds at heavy... I like James at his best (for heavy) to dismantle Shavers with body shots...and TKO him in 9 rounds. Opinons?
BIG DEE HERE= Shavers would run over the fat ass weak punching Toney like a Tiger tank running over a Jeep. SHAVERS KO BY THE 2ND OR 3RD RD IF TONEY MADE IT PASSED THE 1ST.
This is not really a fair matchup. Shavers was a natural heavyweight his whole career, while Toney jumped weight after his prime had long past. I agree that a peak Shavers would KO an againg blown up Toney, but pound for pound and prime for prime, Toney is leagues better than Shavers.
Somewhere along the way, Shavers would land a bomb on Toney. It may or may not have landed flush, but the punch would shake up the overstuffed little middleweight so bad that Shavers would be inspired to really cut loose. I see in my mind an ugly, brutal ending like what happened to Norton It may have not happened in the first round, but it would have happened. It's the type of thing that luckily for Toney, never happened to him, first of all because he never fought a Shavers type puncher, but it could have happened if Toney had fought Lewis, either Klitschko, or Corrie Sanders. THEY would have seriously hurt him.
Hell, p4p, Marco Antonio Barrera is miles better than Shavers, and so were virtually all of the greats in the lighter divisions, but that all goes out the window when a short, fat, trash-talking, ex-middleweight punk like James Toney steps in the ring with any no nonsense, big punching heavyweight bruiser like Earnie Shavers, or any notable heavyweight champ of the past with power.
Shavers, even if it does last a while the hardest right hand puncher in history just smashing James Toneys left shoulder all night i mean he will get him eventually.
Shavers in his prime lost to guys like this: http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=16104&cat=boxer Toney humiliates him and shatters his glass jaw. That is a fact.
I would favour the best Toney by decision. I mean, sure, Mythical Shavers, much like Tokyo Douglas, would murder Toney inside three. But the real one, not likely so much.
Look. Toney owned Holifield. Holifield would own Shavers. These guys would have been way too fast, skilled, and just plain too good for Shavers. They also had way better chins. Shavers wouldn't hit either in the ass.
holyfield was waaaay past prime though for that fight i think shavers gets overrated for his finishing (and he's not even thought to be a great finisher by most) and occasionally underrated for his technical skill. he could not just knock any man out if he landed clean. he hit fighters with that right hand who were still standing. he could hit VERY hard but it wasn't magicial. four things i feel comfortable saying: 1)Toney has a spectacular chin 2)Shavers isn't hitting him often and barely ever clean 3)Technically speaking, Toney takes a **** on him 4)I know shavers can do 15 rounds against a top opponent, don't know if toney can say the same If Toney can pace himself, he takes a close UD against a Shavers who can't knock him out in the first 6, fades in the mid rounds, and gets outboxed in the last third.