Shavers in his own tier compared to Foreman and Lyle?

No worries buddy.

We’re talking in the shade, meaning - very much in the opinion realm, no rights or wrongs).

I’ll just add by the same token that there are opponents who weren’t levelled by Earnie who claim that Shavers hit harder than guys who actually knocked them out - and there’s people who are still happy to get on board with that.

Such is the malleable interpretation/use of testimonies (and I know there’s a few for Earnie, - though I think there might’ve been a wagon jump to a degree) - for the greater part, one draws their conclusions from other sources - so if the testimony fits what we believe anyway, so be it - if not, then we might try to dismiss that testimony and assign an ulterior motive.

I’ll keep an eye for same also - if an earlier testimony is out there (including pre ‘83), great, and it may reside in contemporary or closer to contemporary written pieces .

And I certainly hope that my own perception of Earnie as a terrific puncher, among the elite, hasn’t been lost in translation.

 

Not a problem at all my man.

As a matter of fact i am going to sling you a bone (purely for your side of the discussion) big enough to pretty much take Caldwell out of the equation altogether. There's very few i would do this for, mind you

This is during the lead up to Foreman - Holyfield.....i'm sure you will quickly find the relevant writings. There's a fair chance this is what was playing on your mind per previous Caldwell comments.

https://vault.si.com/vault/1991/03/...-victor-from-his-second-reflect-on-the-ageles

 

Great stuff. The old SI Vault articles are great for such things and that’s a nice article overall.

Thats more than a bone though, that’s the whole damn, de-fleshed skeleton.

Leroy was already on pretty shaky ground and that offering has knocked him over - hitting him harder than even Foreman OR Shavers did. Lol.

That’s why it’s a pleasure talking boxing and anything else with you - you’re a very knowledgeable and honest guy and if anything definitive was found going the other way, I would’ve happily accepted and embraced it myself.

Our discussion (never an argument) was always for the greater good.

 

Yeah it's the whole kit and ****ing caboodle alright

He just went with the wind, whichever way it was blowing. I have no doubt the intentions would have been reciprocated.

Thankfully i don't really have a horse in the argument, big fan of both and their stupendous power. I did see a claim somewhere yesterday that the word among the gyms and such back in the day was that Shavers was THE puncher out of all of them. There's obviously a huge chance he was, still.

 

Good, thought-provoking post.

 

I always felt Lyle would beat Holyfield

 

I wouldn’t favor him to beat Holyfield but I can absolutely see that being an epic fight.

 

We watched the fights of Foreman Vs. Lyle, and Lyle Vs. Shavers, and it's a shame we didn't Foreman Vs. Shavers.
While I think Foreman hits a shade harder than both of them, I think he has a better chin than both of them, but it's not about shade here.
Some of Foreman's misses against Jose Roman would have brought down the horse, especially Shavers

 

Who’s the best chined fighter that Shavers managed to ko?

 

By all accounts Shavers was an exceptionally HARD puncher, however looking at results i wouldnt call him a great/complete puncher.
Theres alot of guys who switched the opponents lights out far more efficiently even if the punches didnt feel that hard.

 

Of all the seventies crop I'd say you could argue either Foreman or Shavers were the top punchers depending on how you rate power. Shavers was a lot more explosive than Foreman and put more of his weight into shots. Foreman had more natural power though and seemed to retain it for longer in a fight. When Shavers gastank emptied his power dropped way off. Foreman meanwhile could still hurt you with cuffing shots that he didn't necessarily need to wind up that much. Shavers probably delivered the harder punch shot for shot, but Foreman could deal more cumulative damage over the course of a fight. Lots of fighters survived knockdowns against Shavers and got up to win. Same can't really be said for Foreman, and I believe that was down to the sustained level of damage he could inflict against you versus the one or two big kaboshes that Shavers could land from time to time.