Earnie Shavers vs. John Tate

Back up, Jack.............. Tate is not close to Ali or Holmes in greatness but, "Tater Chips" Tate did have style, skills, hand speed & decent power attached to his shaky beard...... Tate, like Tommy Hearns to a degree, had it all, as long as they didn't get tagged on the chin by a good puncher........
:good
Shavers had power to KO Tate in a fight. But did Shavers have the skills and stamina to force the issue and get the job done???
:huh

MR.BILL:bbb

 

Shavers had great power but he also gambled and over-committed to both his punches and attack in general, leaving him wipe open by the former sin and exhausted by the latter. He certainly was not a great finisher as he hurt plenty of guys who went on to beat him. I tend to think of him as having a great punch but really not being a great puncher in some senses.

 

****in' A. Skippy...:good

SR.BILL

 

1) Where did you see that? The Tate/Weaver bout was awful. Tate's defense was horrible. Tate was lucky that Weaver didn't apply more pressure in round one.

2) Shavers had 1-punch KO-power. He shook Ali, Holmes, Norton badly, just with one punch. When he saw that his opponent was stunned he followed by quick body-head-combos that finished the job. In case of Tate he wouldn't need stamina, because Tate would be floored in round 1. And I just don't see Tate coming back for some more rounds, changing the game.

 

I think Tate would have won in if they fought in 1979 which was a banner year for "Big John." But Tate was ruined after the Weaver fight in april of 1980 so even a used-up Shavers of 1980-82' beats Tate by kayo if they meet then IMO.

 

Big John Tate is underrated on this site. He handled big punchers in Knoetzee and COETZEE, and also ko'd Duane Bobick in 1 rd and Bernard Mercado in 2...The Weaver fight was a fight that went into the 15th rd and Big John was far ahead. Tate took some very hard punches before that but that fight and ko loss ruined him. Weaver was a different fighter, more confident going into the Tate fight. Going into the Holmes fight Weaver was like the Rocky of the era, just losing to Duane Bobick and his brother Rodney...Weaver got himself pumped after his effort with Holmes because he wobbled Holmes a few times before getting caught and stopped on the ropes...Earnie would have a punchers chance but for the most part Big John was a sound fighter and durable and outworked fighter with his stamina, the late rd power shot Weaver landed was potent

 

If it's pre-weaver Tate, than he takes Earnie in a UD over 15, post-weaver Tate, then it's a thrid round kayo loss to Earnie.

 

This post basically sums up my perspective as well. While Earnie could have layed out John at any time, his track record at losing to top flight heavyweights, makes me want to favor the more talented, but short lived John Tate. I've watched some Tate footage, and he was actually a gifted boxer with a lot of physical tools. The loss to Weaver was more of a fluke rather than a reflection of weakness on John's part. Can't provide any explanation for the Berbick loss, execept that he was dealing with a very good fighter in his prime, and immediately right after a mind blowing defeat... From the time he turned pro, to the time his career went up in smoke, John Tate was every bit as good as the best of his generation and better than most, ie Witherspoon, Tubbs, Thomas, Page, Weaver, Coetzee, Dokes, L. Spinks, etc....

 

Tate had a good record before he was Champ beating the likes of Coetzee; Knoetze; Lopez; Mercado. He would have worn Shavers down and Knocked him out.

Tate is remembered for his two bad knockouts which is myopic.

He was ****ed up on drugs before Weaver I suspect.

Another wasted talent. God rest his soul

 

"Forewarned is forearmed." Big John would be as well prepared for addressing the power and tendencies of Shavers as he was for the traits of Bobick, Knoetze and Coetzee. He had the size, strength, skills and stamina necessary to weather Earnie's early round onslaught until Shavers tired. This one would closely resemble Knoetze, and Tate had the power to stop him inside the distance. Weaver and Berbick were not perceived as the threats Earnie would always be recognized as posing. He would not catch John by surprise.

 

Good point.. I sometimes think that complacency was just as much a part of John Tate losing to Weaver and Berbick, as was anything else. He would not be as careless with someone who had the testimony of both Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali as being the hardest puncher either had ever faced...

 

Agreed.

Plus, just how long is Earnie going to absorb all those combos Tate threw anyway? And that accuracy? The underrated Tate activity level will force Shavers to fight at a much quicker rate than he's accustomed to. And that gas tank will empty and drain faster than normal, even for him. Like mentioned above, it'll go like the Knoetze fight and once Shavers is out of his 2nd wind by the 8th round or so, he won't be absorbing anything anymore and gets stopped.

It would've been a nice match back in the day but Earnie was not an Arum fighter and on the downhill slide > Holmes #2. Plus, he'd suffered quite a few ko defeats by that point in time but would be always dangerous. And they always put Tate in shark infested waters as far as matchmaking goes, so it's sort of a surprise the fight never happened.

 

Tate fights a cautious battle and takes a unanimous decision over Earnie winning anywhere from 10 to 12 rounds.