Tim Witherspoon vs Earnie Shavers - who would win in their respective primes?

I doubt Shavers is stopped by Witherspoon, but I think Witherspoon might just have enough skill to win on points.

But I think Shavers probably would knock him out, anyway.

 

shavers didnt have the greatest chin in the world as we know. i see timmy by mid round ko,just a little too cute for earnie,who was not the most technically skilled either. still,with power like earnie's,anything can happen

 

I am not sure 'Terrible Tim' would have beaten all the 70's HWs named by Sardu. Maybe. Maybe not. He would certainly have been competitive.

That said, I would pick him to beat Shavers. I am talking prime vs prime. In all probability by late-mid or late round stoppage. But then, Witherspoon got caught and stopped by James 'Bonecrusher' Smith. Could certainly have happened against Shavers too.

Still, I would say that this a 70/30 fight for Tim.

 

I see it as a 90-10 fight for Tim. We need to look at Shavers record vs top 4 heavyweights. Witherspoon at his best was top 2 or 3 for a time. Tim is a massive fave here, and as for not being likely to stop Earnie i totally disagree. He could very well stop the big fella.

 

John I think many underate pinklon thomas win over spoon and pinklon thomas in general. Many just hadvnt seen it on film. he gets underated because he never got to fight holmes like spoon did. People talk about spoon giving larry holmes a dead even fight, but they forget thomas was the # 1 contender for two straight years and holmes never fought him. He was undefeated WBC champion for 3 years and some experts began to rate him over larry in late 1984. he might have done much better vs holmes had given the chance. At his best thomas was a top 2-3 of his era.


I like witherspoon by late round TKO of an exhausted shavers in this one

 

I think Witherspoon wins this fight comfortably. I also think he will stop Shavers as the 'Spoon is a decent puncher as many fighters will testify. He repeatedly hurt Holmes (and at times had him out on his feet) in their fight and Shavers does not have the chin or recuparative powers of Holmes.

Witherspoon by TKO 5.

@ Abraq

Don't read too much into the Bonecrusher Smith vs Witherspoon result. It was a very dodgy stoppage and Witherspoon was completely demotivated for that fight. Plus it was only stopped on the 3 knockdown rule and Witherspoon at no time during the fight looked visibly shaken. If you ask me Witherspoon threw that fight to get out of a contract with Don King.

 

You're suggesting it requires a special skillset to outpoint Shavers. I would firmly disagree on that one. Well, "special" compared to world class fighters, of course.

 

Tim would've stopped Earnie late, or decisioned him.Tim would feel Earnie's power, but he could take a good shot, and that, plus his skillset, would get him through.

 

You make some sound points.

 

Spoon for me is far too complete a fighter for Earnie to deal with. Shavers was decent but he was always renowned for his power, making him a little bit of a one-trick pony.

You cannot rule Shavers out altogether, but I'd strongly back Tim here.

 

Good summary, except I like Spoon to win this one a bit later than round four assuming Witherpsoon in motivated.

 

Tim would either starch Shavers with one of them over hand Rights in Round 1, or the fight will go UD for Spoon on the cards. Either way, Witherspoon.

 

'Spoon, by mid-late round TKO.

 

At his best Terrible Tim is very underrated. Shavers I feel would be a tough one for him, since I don't think Tim had the skills to stay out of trouble all night long. However, what Tim would have would be the heart and chin (he took a lot of heavy punches from Bruno, who at least hit nearly as hard as Shavers) to hang in through any storm. At the same time, I think Tim's superior skills and speed would allow him to land frequentely on Shavers.

I suspect this would look a bit like Lyle-Shavers, with Tim maybe having to get off the deck but ultimately grinding Earnie down and stopping him in the middle rounds.