I have a question here..I'm aware that Shavers stopped Young in their 1st fight and drew with him in the rematch...but from what I've read, Young said that Shavers merely "bloodied my nose and they stopped it"...and I've also read that in the rematch, Shavers decked Jimmy hard in one of the rounds, but they went on to a draw...is this accurate? Did Shavers deck Jimmy just once in both fights? And was that 1 round tko from a "bloodied nose"? Either way, that lone knockdown suffered by Young was the only time he was ever decked in his entire career, right?
I've read different accounts of the first fight. first rd. KO and third rd. KO. I'd love to know what really happened. I think I remember reading he was down three times in one account, and also reading he said they stopped it because he was bleeding, he didnt feel it should have been stopped. I have read so many people thought he won the second fight, never read about anybody saying Shavers won it. No disrestect to Shavers, great guy, great fighter.
According to what Jimmy said, a bloody nose is all that caused that third round TKO. Young isn't with us anymore, but Shavers is alive and well. Earnie might be the best source to ask for clarifying exactly what happened in both matches. Another person to ask would be Carol Polis, also very much alive and well, who judged fights as recently as last April, and began her pioneering career with Shavers-Young I. (Polis is in the process of writing her autobiography. She has said in at least one interview that she scored two of the three rounds, so UP's report of a first round stoppage would seem to be in error. As Shavers-Young I was the very first bout she judged, her memory of the event ought to be quite vivid.) The Cumberland Evening Times report of Shavers-Young II seems pretty clear, so it's precisely what happened between the two in the Spectrum in early 1973 that needs further description. Beyond Shavers and Polis, I'm at a loss to suggest who else might be asked about Shavers-Young I.
Thanks Duodenum...this amounts to far more than I knew before...I wonder what accounts for the confusion regarding these two bouts? jobeadg is another poster like me who has heard various things..how can this kind of confusion be possible for a couple of fights that took place in the 70's...not ancient history by any means...you'd think we were talking about a couple of no decision bouts back in the 20's.
Indeed, isn't it strange? Yet we have just a single venue movie camera recording for archival purposes to thank for the fact that Lyle-Shavers is not lost to the mists of time. Why a match-up like that was not picked up by a network for broadcasting in prime time boggles the mind. RC, I don't tweet, but on short notice, I did find this Twitter account in the name of Carol Polis. As "femalerocky" is the handle being used, I can't imagine that this account would belong to some other Carol Polis. If we were to dig deeper, maybe we'd find further avenues for contacting her directly. http://twitter.com/femalerocky
Thank you...it may take a bit of detective work...and it's a shame that there's so much murkiness and ambiguity regarding Jimmy Youngs career...he was almost invisible in the 70's outside of his fights against Ali, Norton, Foreman and Lyle.
I know he was invisable. I used to love to watch the fights back then, still do of course. But I would always check the TV guide for a Jimmy Young fight, and would hardly ever see one. Always ali, Shavers, Norten, everybody else, but very rarely Young. It was very frustrating. Look, I know he isn't everybodys cup of tea, but all these badasses, like Norten, and the rest, would usualy fight guys that sucked anyways. Why not have a guy like Young with ability, to show. I always felt bad for him, never new the whole story, just had my gut instinct tell me he was getting shafted.
