A Tribute to Hard Hitting Heavyweight Earnie Shavers, Dead at 78, Who Had 68 Knockouts
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Youngstown, Ohio (September, 3rd, 2022)– Heavyweight Earnie Shavers died on September 1, 2022. Between 1969 and 1995, Shavers made his statement. Stamina in the ring was not his forte. When it came to raw knockout power, Earnie Shavers had it all. Earnie had action packed dynamite in both hands, and during his prime as a heavyweight contender, Earnie made his mark on the heavyweight division. While Earnie did not win his world title shots against Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes, Earnie’s fists made their statement during his career.
Shavers began boxing at age 22 in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, better known for Ray “Boom-Boom” Mancini. The National AAU amateur heavyweight champion, Earnie scored 74 wins as a professional, with 14 losses and one draw, with an incredible 68 knockouts in the heavyweight division.
Both Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes both agreed Shavers was the hardest puncher they ever faced in their respective careers. Shavers was a go for broke kind of heavyweight. Jerry Quarry took Shavers out in one round, while Shavers took out Ken Norton in one round. Shavers decked World Boxing Council World Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, and World Boxing Association top contender James “Quick” Tillis, though he did not defeat either one of them. Ring Magazine named Shavers one of its top ten hardest punchers of all time, and his swinging the bomb and getting results made Earnie Shavers one of the most exciting boxers of all-time, memorable and a crowd pleasing favorite.
A repaired detached left retina in 1979 was repaired. Shavers ended his career at age 50, decisioning Brian Morgan but losing to Brian Yates in 1995. Shavers wrote the 2002 sports book telling his life story, entitled ‘Welcome to The Big Time’, of 250 pages, which detailed his childhood run ins with the Ku Klux Klan, his six marriages, and his conversion to Christianity. Shavers never escaped the nickname the late World Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali put on him, ‘The Acorn’, because Shavers’ bald head made him look like an acorn.
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