Williams ate clean, flush bombs from Shavers for 10 consistent rounds. To the body, head. He didn't budge. No one ever ate Shaver bombs like that, and Williams was only stopped when going for the kill and caught with a perfect shot. Williams also went the distance with the Shavers level puncher Jeff Merrit, whom broke Shavers jaw in sparring and was avoided. Thoughts?
hmmm, definitely up there. i've only seen the last round or so, never watched the whole fight so i can't commment on it but anyone that can take shavers shots a whole fight is certainly impressive
Roy Williams is another boxing tragedy ... everyone who knew him bak in the Deek Lake days as a top sparring partner knew he was an extremely dangerous man and a fighter that could have been great. So strong, so tough , no one wanted to mess with him ... his fight w Shavers was some war and it's on youtube ...
Here I am, and yes, I'm indeed of the mind that Tiger had to be a ridiculously tough man to soak up all the bombs he did and nearly come back to stop Earnie. Shavers didn't really pace himself for this one, but whipped himself into fine condition, and smartly hammered his huge right into Roy's body for the first several rounds, apparently to no avail. A case could be made that Williams stood up to more big punches from Earnie than any other single opponent ever took. It would be fascinating to hear Tiger describe what it was like to get hit by Shavers, as he has to be the world's supreme authority on the subject. For a time, their complete match was on youtube, and I'd like to see those first six rounds return on-line so fans can appreciate for themselves what led up to the sensational ending. Earnie's punches were murderous over the opening five stanzas.
A good example of why the standing 8 count sucks. This fight has to be one of the best comebacks ever though, Shavers really had no business even surviving the round, let alone stopping his oppponent after the state Earnie was in earlier on. Great heart and power displayed by Shavers here.
That was really a very entertaining fight. At one point the contest looked as though it was going to be over for Earnie, as Williams was hammering him from pillar to post. Had that fight occurred 10 years later, it may have resulted in a stoppage, before Shavers could compose himself. Nevertheless, it was phenomenal effort by both men, and it certainly is a performance that would explode a lot of myths about Shaver's chin, stamina and heart..... BTW, was that Joe Louis I saw in the crowd at one point?
The two eight counts which were administered were not issued because Shavers and Williams had merely gotten stunned, but rather due to the fact that the ropes had clearly prevented a knockdown in both instances. It's the same circumstance which caused Arthur Donovan to administer a standing toll to Schmeling after Louis initially had him hurt in their rematch. According to professional rules in place for the better part of a century, a standing eight count is mandated when the ropes prevent a knockdown. What happened to Williams at the conclusion of the count he was administered is as perfect a representation of why eight is the number used as anything ever seen in boxing.
Indeed, a televised close up of Joe is shown at the one minute mark during the final segment of this match on youtube, and Norton makes reference to Tiger being his protege. Louis was in Roy's corner for this one, and can be seen on the ring apron with his back to the camera between rounds. (After the conclusion, there's a brief glimpse of Joe on the ring apron wearing his cowboy hat. He's on the left in the next to last camera shot, as Shavers and Frank Luca bend down to acknowledge Williams sitting on his stool.)
Yeah it was Joe Louis, the commentary said he was involved with Tiger - maybe training or managing him, I'm not sure.
Very interesting. Given that this fight happened in 1979, and Louis died in 1981, I'm wondering if this was one of the last and final bouts that Joe was at ringside for.. Edit: Sorry, I just realized that the fight was earlier.
Yes, and there's a bit of footage and discussion about it starting at 3:10 here: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkf94Rkpepc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkf94Rkpepc [/ame] Larry himself has the complete bout of course, but it has yet to surface on line through any other source.
Well, Shavers-Williams actually took place on December 11, 1976. Louis had a little bit still left in the tank physically at age 62. This was a little over two years since he refereed Frazier-Quarry II. I don't know when he became largely wheelchair ridden, but this must have been among the final times he was an active participant climbing the ring steps. The very last match Joe was a ringside spectator for was Holmes-Berbick on April 11, 1981. Louis died on April 12.
