Yes, I think you're probably right. I may well have them a bit far apart. My list changes all the time. However, I firmly believe that Lyle is definitely a top 50 heavyweight, while Shavers isn't.
Lyle by a mile imo. Quarry, Ali, Young and Foreman are the only people to beat him at his best. And in that time he beat the likes of Maths, Rondon, Peralta, Garcia, Bonavena, Kirkman, Ellis, Shavers and Bugner. Meanwhile Shavers at his best lost to Quarry, Stallings, Ali, Lyle and Holmes whilst beating the likes of Rondon, Young, Ellis, Clark, Williams, Norton and Bugner. So Lyle was always ranked higher, only lost to world class fighters and has a victory over Shavers. Shavers beating Young and Norton isn't enough to overcome that imo.
The problem is that Shavers did beat a shot Norton and a green young. Lyle has the better record taking in count this factor
I wonder if they'd met again in 1976 or 1977 if the result would be different? Because now we're talking about a Lyle who lost to Foreman and Young, and who struggled against Bugner and Ward. Whereas Shavers was showing he could go ten rounds and win with Henry Clark and Roy Williams, taking out Clark and top-10 ranked Howard Smith early, and putting on a good showing vs. Ali. Shavers was ramping up as Lyle was winding down. I'm not saying there would definitely be a different result, but I think there could be.
The main reason I rate Lyle as higher is not for a superior record, but because he has fewer losses, fewer prime losses, and only lost to the best. Losing to Quarry, Young, Ali, and Foreman is no disgrace. But Shavers lost to a lot of horrible competition including Stan Johnson, Ron Stander, Bob Stallings, and some B level competition in Mercado and Cobb. Lynn Ball was the only bad loss on Lyle's record imo.
I think it would probably be a carbon copy. There might be some measuring rounds to get out of the way, but both were warriors, and couldn't be held back long.
I go with Earnie. For one, he fought more often than Lyle, increasing his chances of the occasional loss. In my opinion he beat Ali, and came damn close to taking Holmes. And if he hadn't fought Lyle in Denver, that fight likely would have been stopped in his favor.
To be fair Lyle was very likely saved by the bell when Lyle dropped him so there's a good chance in a series Shavers would get some wins.