Smoking bert Cooper V earnie shavers s? Battle of the nearly men

sometimes 2 big punchers have too much respect and stink out the joint like tyson vs bonecrusher.
sometimes it goes the distance like tyson vs ruddock
or lewis vs mercer and tua

 

Yes but in thisncase both guys have suspect chins and relatively low stamina and defense. Both guys swing for the fences if they smell blood in the water and had bone shattering power. Thats a recipe for a disaster, although shavers did have decent rin iq and an underrated jab. He knew how to pace himself and went 15 rounds with Ali and Holmes at his best. If push comes to shove, he could easily outbox cooper.

Shavers also had late round power. See his dramatic win over the huge roy williams. Shavers by ko or UD in a thrilling war more often than not, but cooper definitely had a punchers chance.

 

I could definitely see shavers coming to box. With Bert's power and shavers less than iron chin, there's no point in getting in a slugfest where anything can happen. As a professional he should pick the gameplan that will gie him the highest chance of success. Very few fighters like tyson, holyfield, foreman can trust their chin to hold up for sure in a slugfest against a big puncher. your chin should be your last line of defense.
Because bth guys know the other can take them out they won't be reckless. Bert was shorter, had the better chin and more aggressive style so he would come forward. I see shavers dropping cooper once or twice early. Then shavers finishes him off, gets caught trying to finish Bert and goes himself, or shavers stays cautious wins a decision. Maybe Bert even hunts down the acorn. Like I said I wouldn't bet on it, if one of them finds a less risky way to win than trying to
Take the other's head off they'll take it

 

I agree with most of your post. Shavers was a professional and hardened veteran, he wont slug it out just for the heck of it if he knows how strong the other guy is.

The only thing i disagree with is chin. Cooper was stopped 16 times to shavers 7. In 2 of shavers stoppages he was standing upright and didnt go down (cobb, holmes). And against yates he was way, waaaay past his prime and washed up. In fact very few people ever knocked shavers out cold, even the infamous early 1st round loss to a blitzing quarry he was standing up and was more caught cold then simply counted out. Lyle might be the only guy to floor shavers and keep him down. Thats very impressive considering shavers had nearly 90 professional fights and fought in one of the most vicious, talent filled heavyweight eras.

 

Cooper had a good chin. But his defense sucked.

Did you see the hallacious number of uppercuts Holyfield hit him with.

He took Mercer's best shots and was never hurt.

I never saw Cooper get kod cold. Lyle left Shavers on his face a la John Tate v. Weaver.

Still, I agree Shavers would win because his power was awesome and he would have no trouble finding Cooper. I guess I think Shavers has more of a power advantage than Cooper has a chin advantage.

 

Bert is not a boxer and doesn't move side to side. Bert Cooper is going to stand in front of Ernie Shavers? That answers that.

 

I can't ever take a guy like Cooper seriously, with his drug problems, a big waste of talent. Shavers would crush him.

 

Cooper by KO.

 

Holyfield doesnt really have a lot of power, and mercer wasnt a great finisher.

A short guy who had short arms, flat feet, and atrocious defense vs one of the hardest hitters of all time? And hes been stopped 16 times? I would have the ambulance parked outside in advance.

No way in hell his chin was better than shavers. Or his power for that matter. His only chance is a lucky wild punch or counter in an exchange if shavers sticks his chin out.

 

Cheers to the OP...crazy match up! It could go either way, but Cooper will stand right in front of Earnie...Shavers should be favored here. True heavyweight with ATG power.

 

I picked Shavers by KO

I think despite Cooper's decent chin, Shavers would crack it - mainly because Cooper's lack of defense would allow Shaver's to get his power shots in.

Cooper did have a good chin.

Going to boxrec and citing how many times a guy was stopped means little

Many of his ko losses were when he was shot

He quit against Foreman, but never went down
He was never seriously hurt by Mercer
Holyfield was not featherfisted, he stoped Tyson and hurt Bowe badly.

Cooper was never one punch kod like Shavers, Lewis, etc.

Only Bowe got him out early, and Bowe was a big puncher.

Moorer hit him a ton in a give and take war and did finally stop him.

 

Evander Holyfield, Michael Moorer and Ray Mercer didn't take him seriously either.

 

Cooper had a great chin, actually. What he didn't have was consistency and the determination to gut it out in the face of adversity. I personally think his war with Mercer broke his spirit. I had seen quite a bit of the later Cooper and his quitjobs, and then watched a younger Cooper take it to the trenches with Mercer in a brutal slugfest. Couldn't quite believe it was the same fighter.