He was ranked in the top10 in 1975 (and i have no idea why; he got iced in 1 round by Quarry, lost to journeyman Bob Stallings, got a gift draw against Young and got knocked out by Lyle). He was also ranked in the top10 in 1979, and that's it. Yes is one of the hardest punchers of all time, but he also has a glass chin, bad stamina, terrible ability to get his punches in, bad finishing ability, only managed to beat shopworn former contenders and lost to some journeymen as well.
So you're saying that he had his limitations and lost to some fighters who were less than average? How does this drop someone from good to mediocre, especially taking into account everything else that they did? Or are you just focussing on the negatives to suit your agenda? The man fought on average maybe 8-10 times per year within the first few years of his career. When you fight that often, someone's bound to catch you on an off night. Many of his losses came either before or after his prime. Sure, he fought some tomato cans, but it's not like he struggled with them either. He has a lot of first and second round knockouts, which were truly KO's and not TKO's. Very few punchers put as many people out cold as Shavers did. He also had some good wins in addition to the bum victories that you speak of. He fought a prime Holmes twice, dropping him in one fight and going the distance in another. Also, what's all this nonsense about poor finishing abilty? Are you calling 68 knockouts in 74 wins poor finishing. With all of the above said, I'll ask you again, how was Shavers mediocre?
It's very simple Magoo. In addition to what i pointed out before, Shavers had world class power (and then some) but other than that, he was mediocre at best. He lost to mediocre fighters and lost most of the times he stepped up.
yeah it's one punch stuff but it's his jaw that gets him through the barrage of punches and the right hand to stop the fight
wow!i cant believe you consider shavers mediocre.i do believe his name would be mentioned in a "greatest fighters of all time" conversation. Pontius i know youre a smarter boxing historian than that.
I stand by my points. Shavers is not a mediocre fighter to me or other amatures but compared to most of the greats that are being discussed here, he is. And if you read the original post, it said "at the best contenders who were very dangerous", so there you go. Shannon Briggs is another one, by the way.
Brilliant choice, m40! I'd clean forgotten about "Bummy," which is embarrassing; he was neighborhood guy.