Bula readers! Last week on September 1, 2022 we saw the passing one of the two greatest punchers in heavyweight boxing history.
His name was Earnie Shavers, the other noted heavyweight puncher is of course big George Foreman.
Earnie Shavers was born into a poor working-class family in the Southern region of America on August 31, 1945.
During one of my interviews with this powerhouse athlete, I asked about his phenomenal punching power and how he gained such tremendous hitting strength.
Earnie attributed this to his challenging upbringing, where, as a child, he would work long hours in the fields chopping wood and tending to the land.
His upbringing also taught him patience, tolerance and a will to work hard at whatever he did.
L Known as a dangerous and uncompromising puncher, Earnie compiled an impressive record winning 44 of his first 47 fights by knockout.
His KO streak included 27 consecutive knockouts of which 20 victories were in the first round which is an incredible feat in itself. His power was such that he was knocking out all but the elite fighters of the day.
Shavers fought as a heavyweight in the 1970s era, known as the golden age of boxing, due to the fact they had possibly the greatest heavyweight fighters in history during this time, who were all in combat with each other.
The list of active fighters in the 1970s was legendary with names such as Muhammad Ali, Smoking Joe Frazier, Big George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Floyd Patterson, Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry and so many more.
Earnie scored 68 KOs in total and 50 of those knockout wins came inside the first three rounds.
Shavers released an autobiography about his life and his fights called Welcome to the Big Time in 2002 which showed his boxing traits as well as his passion for being a motivational speaker and born-again Christian.
Shavers certainly was in the big time when he challenged for the Heavyweight Championship of the World twice.
Unfortunately, both times he came up against legendary fighters. In his first bid for the title, he lost a unanimous decision to ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali in September 1977.
Shavers managed to last the distance, but was outpointed by arguably the greatest fighter in history, so there was certainly no shame there.
When he challenged once more for the title, he came up short against Larry Holmes in September 1979, getting stopped in the 11th round.
It proved to both Earnie Shavers and the world, that he could certainly hit, but he just fell short when fighting the elite champions. The only other boxer mentioned as the hardest hitter in history is George Foreman.
They fought during the same era, but were unfortunately never matched against each other for some reason or another.
Earnie finally finished his ring career with one of the highest knockout ratios in boxing history across all weight classes, which is a great feat in itself. After retiring from boxing, Shavers became an ordained Christian minister, who lived and preached in Phoenix, Arizona and travelled the world preaching the gospel.
He has also appeared on the Benny Hinn TV shows several times where they both took sermons and preached to the masses.
During the early 1980s while preparing for the feature film Rocky III Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone explored the possibility of using a real heavyweight boxer in the lead role of Clubber Lang by inviting Earnie Shavers to spar with him.
Shavers initially refused to hit Stallone with anything other than a flicking jab and soft playful punches. This frustrated Stallone, who then shouted at Shavers, “God dammit C’mon Earnie, show me something real”.
Earnie responded by punching Stallone only once in the stomach, forcing an immediate stop to proceedings. Stallone later said “that punch nearly killed me. I went straight to the men’s room threw up, then curled up in agony.”
I have met Shavers on many occasions, both in a professional capacity during interviews and also on a personal basis.
I enjoyed his company and also his wisdom and positive outlook on life. He was certainly a fearsome puncher in the ring who put terror into almost all of his opponents.
Away from boxing is where I had the upmost respect for him as he was a true gentleman and also a soft and kindhearted individual. Farewell Earnie and rest well. A true gentleman of the sport.
• AJAY BHAI AMRIT is a founding member of The People’s Alliance party and is also a freelance writer. The views expressed in this article are his and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.
