All men at their very best. Yes, some of them did actually fight but keep in mind that one or even both may have not been at their best. Everybody fights each other once... what are the results? Young vs. Lyle- Young did win two decision vs. Lyle at Lyle's best... Young by decision. Bugner- Young by decision. Quarry- Young by decision. Shavers- Shavers stopped Young in the 3rd round before Young had peaked. They fought again, still before Young peaked, and the rematch ended in a draw. Shavers would actually get better as well. Prime vs. Prime? I'll take Young by decision. Young 4-0 Lyle vs. Young- Young by decision. Bugner- Tough pick. Both were slightly past prime when they fought, Lyle SD12. I'm going with a draw. Quarry- Lyle had yet to peak when he faced the more experienced Quarry. Prime vs. Prime? Lyle by decision. Shavers- Lyle stopped him in the 6th round in '75. I think Lyle would always stop him. Lyle 2-1-1 (1) Bugner vs. Young- Young by decision. Lyle- Draw Quarry- Tough pick, Quarry beat Mathis, Foster, and Lyle but as I noted above... Lyle was green. Mathis and Foster? So what? What other decent "big" HW did he beat? I'm going with Bugner by decision. Shavers- Shavers stopped a past prime and rusty Bugner in the 2nd round on a cut. Prime vs. prime? Bugner by close decision. Bugner 2-1-1 Quarry vs. Young- Young by decision Lyle- Lyle by decision Bugner- Bugner by decision Shavers- Quarry stopped him in the 1st round. Maybe Shavers got a little better? I'll take Quarry by KO in the early-mid rounds. Quarry 1-3 (1) Shavers actually went 2-2-1 (2) vs. Young x2, Lyle, Bugner. and Quarry but I'm not sure he'd get a win if all men are at their very best. He'd have a punchers chance always though. Shavers 0-4 Really tough to pick on some of these.
Also, I disagree that Shavers would be winless here. Had he knocked Lyle down earlier in the round, he'd have stopped him in their real-life fight. Nowadays that fight probably would have been stopped at that point. This round-robin would be highly competitive. My guess is no one would go undefeated in it.
Young was never that consistent so I don't see him going 4 and 0. Shavers can be easily outboxes and all these opponents could box so 0 and 4 is in my mind not surprising. I think Quarry is being undersold here. He goes at least 2 out of four perhaps if cuts don't occur much better. In the end I don't think any one fighter dominates here. Shavers does the worst due to styles.
Young at his best was a short period in time... we are talking about these men being at their best every time out though. At his best Young beat Lyle twice, he dropped and decisioned Foreman, and he lost questionable decisions to Ali and Norton. I could see Quarry beating Bugner but more times than not I see Bugner pulling it out. He did way better than Quarry did against Ali x2 and Frazier. He beat Mac Foster just as one-sided as Quarry did, maybe even more so. I could imagine Shavers knocking any of them out but I doubt it happens when everyone is at their best.
Styles make fights. Quarry was quick, aggressive and could box. Young liked fighting at his own pace. I could see him outworking young for the win. Young beats Lyle and splits between Shavers and Bugner. He goes 3-1 or 2-2. Quarry beats Lyle and Shavers and splits the other two so he goes 3-1or 2-2. In the end at their best I don't think anyone wins them all or loses them all. Shavers has the most chance to have the worst record of the bunch...due to styles.
