I go against the general opinion here and say Shavers. Earnie said that Frazier didn't wanna fight him and neither did Foreman. It's a fact that they ducked Shavers during the 70's and for good reason, Shavers hit so hard that both were afraid of him. Earnie is totally underrated. If Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali wouldn't have had their heart and chin, Earnie would have beaten both. He hit both so hard that it's a wonder they didn't die in the ring(an untrained fighter would've died). Ali had blubbery legs after their fight and Holmes said that nobody hit him ever harder. Shavers defense is totally underrated. He was fast enough to duck Holmes jab, which is quite impressive when we think about how fast Holmes was. I'm sure that Frazier wouldn't stand up after the punch with whom Earnie dropped Larry. Only Larry Holmes could do. And we speak here about Joe Frazier, who was lifted off his feet by an uppercut of Big George Foreman(without any weight or speed behind it). No sir, Frazier wouldn't survive Shaver's right for 15 rounds, while Shavers has the defense skills to block Frazier's left hook. And I mean Frazier has only one attack. It's easy to block just one punch! Of course Quarry beat Shavers and only with his weakness: Shavers was a slow starter. If Frazier can take Shavers out early, he wins this brawl. But Smokin' Joe was famous for his smoking style, which means he got more aggressive in the later rounds, where he started to "smoke". Frazier had some early round knockouts, but against Top Fighters he always needed his time to knock them out. It wouldn't be different with Shavers. And Quarry could knock you out with both hands, Frazier had only that left hook, which would be easy to block for Shavers. Do you really think a guy that could be knocked out by one punch or a simple combo by Foreman in 2 rounds(and Foreman could never drop guys with one punch except the Frazier fight) survive such a punch? Neither can I:
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Joe Frazier all the way on this one. Shavers was a murderous puncher but had problems with stamina. Joe Frazier was beaten thoroughly twice by George. Shavers does not have Georges size. Shavers was beaten by guys you would think he would demolish i.e. Jerry Quarry and Ron Stander. Joe Frazier would left hook him throughout the contest doing much damage in the process. Frazier wins this on consistency. The only fighters Frazier lost to were 2 of the best Foreman and Ali. Frazier by mid rounds knockout 6 or 7 rounds at the most.
Frazier by mid rounds KO/TKO. Smokin Joe had the stronger chin and taking power and was the better, more explosive puncher between the two smallish heavyweights of the 70s. Note that Shavers was stopped inside one round by Jerry Quarry in 1973. For all his brutish punching strength,Shavers had weak chin and was also notorious for his slow start which Quarry took full advantage of. and later by Ron Lyle, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and even Bernardo Mercado and Tex Cobb in scoring their own KO/TKO wins..
I'd go with Frazier because Shavers is all power, no style, no skill. Frazier would outpunch Shavers and probably stop him in the late rounds.
Frazier was the better boxer,and could take a better punch. Shavers is considered one of the hardest hitters in the history of boxing, but his record proves that just having a big punch does not win fights.
I don't see Frazier ever going down, I see him winning a decision that is not very close.
A Prime Frazier would school Shavers, and probably knock him out.
If Quarry can KO Earnie, so would Frazier.
frazier by TKO
Both can knock each other out. That's the truth.
joe fraizer
