Earnie Shavers
Shavers in August 2005 during an interview
Earnie Shavers Earnie Dee Shaver actually, ( born August 31, 1945 in Garland, Alabama ) is a former American boxer in the heavyweight division. He was with several " battle name " dubs, including The Acorn, The Black Destroyer or KO King.
Career
He had a brief but successful amateur career, the highlight was winning the U.S. Championship of 1969. In 1968, he was regarded as one of the promising candidates, which should represent the USA at the Olympic Games in Mexico. After the complainant had suffered a knockout loss in advance against the German heavyweight Kosche Manfred Mann, who later became his Olympic champion George Foreman was then brought forward.
After winning the Amateur Championship Earnie Shavers began in November 1969 a professional career as a heavyweight boxer, first under the Manager Don King.
Shavers captivated from the start with great punching power in his right hand. On the other hand, he had neither adequate taker skills nor conditional requirements which would have allowed him a greater career by winning the heavyweight title.
Against the then undefeated Ron Stander he went first time in 1970 KO. Stander was later called after his title fight against Joe Frazier, the " Ring Magazine " as the worst challenger to the heavyweight history. His most significant victory against a known boxer with good skills takers succeeded Shavers in 1973 against Jimmy Young. The still inexperienced Young had completed, however, at that time only ten professional bouts, whereas Shavers had already contested 44 fights.
His breakthrough in the recognition of the boxing experts Shavers scored in the same year by an impressive knockout victory against former world champion Jimmy Ellis. Shavers was badly wounded at the beginning of the struggle itself, the expended as not particularly strong impact- known former world champion himself completely to force the KO when attempting could be caught by konternd nachsetztenden Shavers and went very hard KO. In the next fight against Jerry Quarry, a very hard-hitting boxer with a good chin known, Shavers went to an open slugfest in the first round KO. In November 1974 Shavers had a fight record of 24 defeats in 44 fights. He lost on points against the unknown Ron Stallings, had to turn it to the ground. In 1975, he then lost against the hard-hitting Ron Lyle, a boxer like him type, by technical knockout in the sixth round. Shavers felt a little tricked after the fight, because he himself had Lyle at the beginning of the fight badly bruised. This had been rescued with the help of the ring judge by an illegal "Long Count" over time, as a concession to the audience in Lyles hometown, where the battle took place.
The years 1976 to 1979 can be seen as a high point in Shavers professional boxer career, here he was twice fight for the world title. When he 1976/77 consecutively struck out three highly rated opponents ( Clark, Williams, Smith) KO, he had qualified for higher duties. The held in Las Vegas on December 11, 1976 fight against managed by the boxing legend Joe Louis Roy "Tiger" Williams, a former sparring partner of Muhammad Ali, Shavers described in retrospect as the toughest fight of his career. He won after a tough slugfest in which both counterparties is expended to power limit and on the brink of KO balanced by the final knockout in the tenth round.
On September 29, 1977 Shavers was the first time to fight for the heavyweight title against Muhammad Ali. To everyone's surprise, he was able to keep boxing opinionated, Ali was repeatedly hit hard at the start of the fight, but eventually lost with six to nine rounds on points. The final fifteenth round of the fight, in the even more amazing Shavers also could keep up stamina, was nominated as one of the best rounds of the year. Ali said after the fight over Shavers clout: " Earnie hit me so hard, he shook my kinfolk back in Africa" ( Earnie hit me so hard that my ancestors in Africa, it still rocked ). Teddy Brenner, the match brokers of Madison Square Garden, however, said after when Ali already a Shavers has such great problems, he should stop at the Garden he was no longer welcome.
But on 28 September 1979 in his next fight against the young Larry Holmes showed up again Shavers boxing generic limitation. In a twelve round he lost every round. In an eliminator for the challenge of the now honoree Holmes, Shavers punched in 1979 against Ken Norton and hit him hard in the first round KO. So it came to a rematch against Holmes, this time it went to the World Championship (WBC ). Holmes had again no problems with Shavers, until it is in the seventh round caught a direct hit hard and fell to the ground. But by great will power he came up and won by KO later. More than any other rainfall reasoned that the myth Shavers.
Two other knockout defeats in 1980 against Bernardo Mercado, a tall bat, and against the beefy "Concrete Skull " Randall "Tex " Cobb damaged Shavers Nimbus as a world class boxer irretrievably. In particular, the loss to the boxing driven arg limited Cobb was resented by the press, even portrayed as " unforgivable ". So wrote the respected journal " Ring Magazine": "His knockout loss at the hands of Tex Cobb can not be forgiven. Shavers totally exhausted himself teeing off on Cobb's cement head. By the eight round he no longer lift his arms Could, and Cobb, hitting him at will, did not even have the fire power to knock him down. " ( His knockout loss at the hands of Tex Cobb can not be forgiven. Shavers completely expended by empty beat his Cobbs cement skull. lap eight he could no longer lift his arms so that Cobb could strike at will on him and it did not even have the firepower to knock him down. )
Myth Shavers
As he gained most of his victories by kurzrundige K. os, Shavers presented today by many boxing experts and journalists as the hardest hitting heavyweight boxer of all time. Still outweigh the testimony of his legendary opponent Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes, who testified each after the end of her career, Shavers was the hardest " puncher ", which they had ever faced in the ring. Given the opposition between these two legendary boxers, which included, among other things puncher like Sonny Liston, Jerry Quarry, Joe Frazier and George Foreman, as well as Gerry Cooney and Mike Tyson, a remarkable statement, which is naturally not be objectively measured. Fans of Mike Tyson as a contact, for example, their idol was finally been unlike Shavers able to beat o ( however the aged ) Larry Holmes K.. Holmes himself has repeatedly stated that Shavers had hit much harder than Tyson. He compared: "Being hit by Mike Tyson was like getting hit by a speeding Ferrari, being hit by Earnie Shavers was like being hit by a Mac truck! " ( To be beaten by Tyson, that's to be like being hit by a speeding Ferrari - to be beaten by Shavers, which is as you would from a heavy truck rammed ).
Others
Shavers ended his active career in 1995, after only sporadically attended some minor struggles in the 1980s and 1990s. Then Shavers worked for several years as a church pastor in Phoenix, Arizona. He was also temporarily gardener with Don King. In 2000 he moved to England, where he now works in a posh restaurant in Liverpool as receptionist.