I think Purity has a Chance here. He hit pretty damn hard himself. Upset some good men. And had a fairly solid chin
Purity didn’t get ko’d much and that’s what shavers was good at ko’s . And if Purity can take the power away he can win and shavers didn’t have great finishing ability or jab, he didn’t set up his power shots well, he just had this freakish power but it’s a 50/50 fight I say shavers wins on points
I agree. Puritty was tough as nails and could slug himself. He didn't have much technique but if a guy was going to stand in front of him and trade, Ross could put them away. Shavers lost to worse guys than Puritty.
Anything is possible, but the odds are against it. Puritty was a journeyman, through and through. Shavers had more than just a tendency to beat Journeymen. The only fighter of note I can recall Puritty upsetting is Wlad. He did hold Morrison to a Draw, despite losing most of the rounds (a couple of KDs making the difference). Other than that, Puritty's wins are against other journeymen. Shavers would be the obvious bet, here.
Good post. Purity at his best was at least a fringe contender. He beat Wlad, Hipp, Gonzalez and took plenty of top heavys the distance. Shavers was susceptible to durable men who could outlast him and in this case he’d be in against one who could punch as well. Not entirely sold on either outcome.
Out of interest - what period of Puritty's career, would you consider him at his best and a fringe contender?
Shavers W 10. As an aside, looking over Puritty's record, I see that Puritty won the WBC International Heavyweight Title against Klitschko. Yet he never defended it and Klitschko won it again when it was vacant two years later. Was Puritty ever recognized as the WBC International Heavyweight Champion?
I think Puritty just vacated it, without ever defending it. He would have been recognized as the International Champ, from the point of winning it, until the time he decided to give it up, which was likely more than a year or so.
Probably around the time he fought Corrie Sanders and not necessarily because of his performance IN that fight but more so because of the streak leading up to it
Fair enough - makes sense, since that streak includes the wins against Gonzalez and Hipp. Although, I don't think these fights and the results are of a level that would give me pause to consider Puritty a threat to Shavers. On paper, these were relatively good outcomes for Puritty, but Hipp was in a right state by the time he and Puritty fought - and, Gonzalez just brazenly quit on his feet in a quite awful display. Shavers, in what we might call his prime, operated at a different level to Puritty. Win, Lose or Draw, matching Young, Ellis, Norton, Lyle, Ali and Holmes speaks for itself - even Williams and Clark leave Puritty in the shade. I can only think a very rare circumstance could give rise to a Puritty beating a Shavers; a situation too unlikely to bet on, in my opinion.
