Muhammad Ali -vs- Earnie Shavers 9/29/77 part 6

[RealLifeOmen]

Shavers killed him....

[Triangulove]

@RealLifeOmen

But ali landed more punches and shavers still missed a lot of them. Especially in round 14.

[vx3k]

Past his prime,

Shavers vs Cassius Clay ( When he fought liston 1) would have gone way differently, dancing , speed and the swiftness that made him untouchable

[EndlessLaymon]

Bullshit. I am so sick of Ali's butt lickers everywhere. They glorify him over any performance.

Even a blind man could see that Shavers dominated that fight.

[KingZaza36]

Ali.. Please come back and Kill Klitschko.. I Bet ya

[BigDaddyHeavyweight]

you have to dig deep to find a heavyweight these days who´d have the courage to fight Ernie. Today he´d be champion of the world!

Shavers reminds me somewhat of a bigger version of the fantastic Marvin Hagler and not because of his shaven head or the color of his trunks.

[Silks]

Great last round.

[TheFox251]

I thought this fight was a draw.

[dz72]

Thanks for posting this fight. I scored it for Ali 8 rounds to 6 with one even.

[calico1248]

Notice how close the judges score card were in this fight? thats why boxing is losing fans now at days... because the judges are all over the place

[calico1248]

Wow. Larry Merchant looks old then...

[musiclover59]

Shavers was a feared puncher, but it's questionable if he deserved a title shot, given a lack of recent success against top-flight fighters prior to the bout. He was saving himself in the fight to go 15 rounds but he should have pressed Ali harder earlier on. A past-his-prime Ali knew how to handle him. Judges called it well, except R14, which was Ali's best until Shavers came on at the end. I have 10-4-1 Ali, with Ali winning 1,3,5,6,9-12,14,15, and Shavers winning 2,4,8 and 13, and 7 was even.

[willis7319]

ali looked finished at end of 14th,and come back in 15th show how great he was should a champions grit

[lucky44124]

On what planet did Ali win this fight?????????????? Please.... this is our typical "Ali Gift" to keep boxing mainstream. What a joke! Lets keep the talking pro wrestler around to try to keep boxing being talked about. Slaps, 90% missing with your right and running isnt a win. That was most of this point... Its like Ali touched Shavers with a baby jab and he was thinking "point.. point.. point" PLEASE... Shavers was robbed!

[michaelyouth]

@lucky44124 Ali won. If you honestly think, that Shavers won this fight, you clearly don't like Muhammad. Ali won, clearly. He did not annihilate him, but won by points.

[example6978]

@lucky44124 earth. he won on planet earth

[dreman1970]

@lucky44124 Shavers wasn't robbed....Shavers did not throw nearly enough punches to win the title...If you are going to win the title...especially against ALI, you need to be busy like Norton (in the first fight), and Frazier....Throwing 20-25 punches in a round vs Ali was NOT going to get it done

[dreman1970]

@lucky44124 Oh, and Shavers said that HIMSELF about the fight...He ADMITTED he lost....

[chessman19]

ken Norton is not underrated he was a good heavyweight but he got knocked out by Shavers Forman and that Irishman New Yorker killed him in one round.

Ali was amazing in this fight overweight 36yrs old past his day and this was his last memorable fight where he showed bits of the old ALI. My god we love him so because he was so courageous about everything.

[pazarciklimamo]

1.referie,9 rounds ali-6 rounds shavers.2 referie,9 rounds ali-6 rounds shavers.3.referie,9 rounds ali-5 rounds shavers-1 round even.and the winner is MUHAMMAD ALI

[iluvchoas]

who won?

[mcentepede]

Greatest CHIN all time...He took murderous punches here from the PUNCHER of the Century. Those punches could give a man brain damage...wait a sec.

[inviziblehunter]

amazing , the final 40 second ali came with the heart of a champion , I admire his killer intinct !!!

[inviziblehunter]

where did ali go, this is not ali i know , he slowed down so much, and look weak too

[JSavic]

This 35 year old Ali looks like a very old man indeed. Has anyone ever thought about why he aged so early ? Obviously, his classical dancing style was only possible in his early 20's.

[Ghstwn]

@JSavic I think you mean "Classic" dancing style. ( I never saw him doing Classical dancing or the Tango. ;) Anyway, he was exhausted! Come on! Ali always retained the ability to dance and move. Just less as he aged. But even in his mid 30's, he was still the best with his feet. He had an incredible chin, and when he planted himself flat footed in the later years, he was dangerous and looking to end things. Shavers really rocked his ass in this fight. But the heart of the Champion prevailed.

[tlig]

@JSavic I think it was a combination of many things. Of course he was ageing at this point and had been in a number of tough fights but he also had stopped - at this point in his career- taking training seriously. He was a heavy womaniser by this time and tended to see his training camps for fights as the only chance to get away from his wife and chase women (which he did A LOT of).

[46spoony]

@JSavic

You may be too young to remember, but Ali was was never known for training very hard, especially towards the end of his career. He used to gain a lot of weight in between fights and have to crash diet to get down to fighting weight.

He said that during his suspension he never went to the gym or exercised once.

[coldplay9982]

who could win if ali and mike tyson meet eachother

[TheBigBeavis]

@coldplay9982 Don't even go there.

[counterstriving]

I admire Ken Norton here for not allowing his feelings about Ali to distort his commentating on the fight.

[liqzy]

@counterstriving why does he not like him or somit?

[GalickGun5078]

@counterstriving Ken Norton is a very good man, very underrated as well.

[3dwardXP]

that really did look like a slip but from that angle we will never really know for sure

[benballs999]

it goes both ways, 15 rds was great for making great fights and revealing what muscles speed and attitude could not, true warrior spirit and fighting heart. It is also the reason when boxers retired they were destroyed and when they retire now they get to go on dancing with the stars and start promotion companies. 12 rds is why b-hop is still winning titles at 46. Anyways i love 15 rd fights and in this one i got 143 - 141 Ali. shavers did great for his first 15 rd fight ali was old and shot tho

[assad7able]

le vrai sheavers a la fin

[UNOMW2]

15 rounds are way to long glad they put um to 12 for the fighters, they where getting so tired it was causing to many injuries :(

[TTABOMan1]

The great fight !

[chaosinesco]

ali did great in 15, thats why he won

[tellthetruthg]

15 rnds 13-15 the championship rounds thats why Ali is called the greatest. Guys go 12 now and if fights went 15 we'd know who the true champs are. Hell if SRL vs Hearns went 12 SRL looses but no SRL cleaned Hearns clock . 13-15 was when champions were made and belts were lost

[tellthetruthg]

thats why Ali is called the greatest

[siralfredramsey]

In this fight Ali was brave as never before. 3 Shots by Shavers would have knock down most of all Heavyweights. He took more punches than even in the first Frazier Fight. I always wanted Ali to win. But he lost this one I’d think. Feel sorry for that, I love that man, for much more than taking punches.

[FredGurley]

Thanks for the post. Great stuff. Much appreciated.

[FredGurley]

Yes, I know Ali got the decisions ,but we all know the truth.

[FredGurley]

Ali lost to Norton twice. Also lost to Young. Was getting beat bad by Lyle. Great man and a great fighter, but best of all time? Lol..

[garethac81]

@FredGurley

I haven't seen Ali-Norton III, so I won't comment on that decision...but Ali DOMINATED Norton in their second fight, and whipped Lyle, too. Young? Clear win for Ali...Young mounted one of the least ambitious title challenges in heavyweight history. Ali was out of shape, and Young still managed to gift him the fight. Young's work rate was absolutely pathetic...he gave away most rounds simply by not throwing any punches.

Ali is in the top 5 greatest P4P fighters ever, no question.

[FredGurley]

Are you people serious about Ali's defense? Give me a break.

[78Panji]

Ali looked so great in this 15 Round, he almost stopped Shavers, what a great man what a fighter Ali was.

[zenmachinefilms]

Shavers has to be considered one of the best fighters to never win a belt.

[007rocksalotmann]

You can see that Ali was exhausted at 00 24, but he continued. He had an invincible heart. Thats why he won his hard fights, such as against Foreman and the third Frazier fight. I mean, war.

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

i am really impressed especially by the final round what guts and skill by ali.

but i still believe that tyson would have won. he was just to powerful and elusive.

and yes i am a tyson fan

[taximan472]

tyson would not have had the stanima to last with ali, tyson and ali in there peak, tyson would be made a show of.

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

@taximan472 tyson had tremendous stamina i dont know what your talking bout

[taximan472]

buster douglas played with him and he was a nobody, if he played with him what would ali have done to him, think about it.....

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

@taximan472 i've seen every single profi bout of tyson.

and when i am talking about him i mean the prime time tyson not the tyson who fired kevin rooney his trainer.

tyson's prime was very short, i would say 1987-1989.

or in other words, TYSON NEVER REACHED HIS PRIME BECAUSE OF THE LOST OF HIS THREE TRAINERS CUS D'AMATO, TEDY ATLAS AND MOST OF ALL KEVIN ROONEY

[taximan472]

think about ali in his prime, we never seen it, the american took it away from him for not going to vietnam. i seen all tyson fights too and alis fights too, eight round tyson would have gave up because he would be getting to many lefts and rights....

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

@taximan472 thats your opinion and i dont mind but if frazier could win against ali and land over and over with his left hook, than tyson should also be capable of doing that, tyson was even faster than frazier and put more punches together than someone like frazier, foreman or shavers.

[taximan472]

Joe frazier beat ali in 1971 because ali had a three and a half year lay off, he came back and destroyed him twice after that. Would tyson go 15 rounds with any good boxer that could box? i dont think so. Tyson relied on his knocked punch. Ali was to clever, and in his prime he was a master.....

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

@taximan472 hmm ok your right but nobody ever put so much pressure on his opponent like tyson did and thats why hes that special, and how would ali have reacted to this pressure.... we dont know

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

@taximan472 you said you've seen every fight from ali. where can i watch them do you bought dvds or do you have a good website??

[taximan472]

Ali under pressure....liston and foreman they were pressure and he handled them well...although tyson was a fantastic boxer and it would be a great fight. i liked tyson a lot.

I collected ali fights over the years and was in a boxing club years ago and had contacts and also watch on u tube.

I wrote to ali and he sent me a lovely photo signed from himself...

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

@taximan472 so you must be much older than me but i'm a big boxing fan too and i am a boxing student too . it's very hard to believe that ali actually replied to you...you're a lucky fellow if its true.

[taximan472]

It is true. he lives in berrin springs michigan...i wrote to him 6 year ago, and about 3 weeks later i got his signed photograph, and on the back of the photo was a nice poem. i read most of his books and he replies to all of his mail. To him an autograph is a little thing that will make someone happy... I am 41 years old....! you should write to him, he will reply, it is his hobby...!

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

@taximan472 wow ok i believe you. can you give me his mail adress please?

[taximan472]

OK, i was just searching the house for the number of his house that i had on one of his books. it is Muhammad Ali P.O. box 187 Berrien Springs, MI 49103 U.S.A....trust me you will get an autograph. Please let me know when you do...thanks

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

@taximan472 i have to thank you

greets from switerland

ps. i let you know as soon as i have found the correct words for such a great man.

[taximan472]

No problem, greets from dublin ireland...take care for now...talk soon!

[00SENNENGOROSHI00]

@Syndigoz i dont agree with that comparison because tyson sadly got worse really fast. he forgot much of what he learned from his former trainers like headmovement, putting punches together and always beeing in motion.

the fight between them would be absolutely great though no doubt about that

[naturalthing1]

That was no slip, Shavers knocked Ali down

[chessman19]

Cmerc25 you have to realise Tyson Shavers are not used to fights over 10 rds most of there opponents did not make rd 3, just check out the Shavers lyle fight 5 rd of power punching. Ali was in a league of his own he knew when to coast and when to turn on the power, his power was in his quick punching.

[cmerc25]

How good can this guy be? He couldn't even beat an aging Ali. Shavers was a puncher. Ali was a boxer. Shavers could hit hard. That's about it. No stamina, poor finisher, could not follow through. Imagine if this was Mike Tyson instead of Shavers.

[expressivechild]

Ali did not land powerful shots on Shavers.... He should be able to stop Shavers by capitalizing on his weak chin. Shavers fought a great fight though, and Ali looked as though his iron chin is failing him.

[jeryd2003]

good fight

[FSMNoodlyAppendage]

That Shavers right hand that slipped past Ali's head at 2:43 could have ended the fight. Ali threw a right and pulled back with his hand his hands all the way down, chin totally exposed. Yikes!

I remember gasping at that when I first watched this years ago. Soooooo close.

[OfficialGitano]

guys look at that amazing part around 2:32

Ali hits, shaver misses cuz ali's to fast. and after that again and again three times the same happening looks amazing

[DonKilluminatis]

ali the man!!!!!!!!!!!

[morningbirdfeeder]

I can see why they call this the Golden Era. You don't see ring wars like this today.

[Magnum49r]

Is that Larry Merchant?



[bvb7589]

Advice: don't fight a celebrity......Ali did not even win 1 of every 3 rounds. how could;ve he won like that?....Obviously the judges are "paid in advance"......Ali: slow/clowining around/clinching too much....the crow booing.....Trash at its worst!!!

[ichirima]

@bvb7589

u thought shavers won? LMAO!

[malarki5]

@bvb7589

lay off the drugs!

[gacuna73]

@bvb7589 I was an amatuer boxer and sparred with profesional boxers in my youth,I have followed the boxing game since childhood, Arguello and Duran were my idols and I could see that you are ignorant in the boxing game, no offense ignorance is simply not knowing. but if you are ignorant in the subject do not said anything dude in the web, yes Ali was not as masterful as he was in his prime in this fight, but he still fought and won when he was over the hill!

[TommyGun7111]

that flurry at the end of the fight sealed the win for Ali imo.

if Ali had another minute, he would have ko'd shavers.

[mohamed9000000]

Ali was upnormal he was fighting with shavers and with what was in his brain he eas the best really

[rampageevans]

Awesome fight, one of Ali's many classics. I had this one dead even going into the final round, Ali and Shavers went toe to toe in that last round and Ali was able to take it at the end of the round unloading on Shavers, thtts whtt made him the winner in my opinion

[Peter9761]

Unbelievable final flurry from Ali....but huge mistake to not be in shape for Shavers.

[MaidAmerican]

When you have someone with as little brains as these two its no wonder hitting them in the head doesn't knock them out. Dopes!

[Blackjesus3]

niceee fight

[tuxtucis]

I' ve 6 rounds Alì, 6 rounds shavers, 3 even...

But with 10 points system, I've Shavers winning by 2 points...

[WBCHWCHAMPION]

Thanks for posting the fight.

[wabokuxx]

Amazing final seconds by Muhammad ali-round 15

[ErikS1975FreeState]

Earnie Shavers looks a little like a Bigger Marvin Frazier.

[208stroker1]

@ErikS1975FreeState you mean marvin hagler

[cainey66]

@ErikS1975FreeState hagler

[radar200]

wow,,shavers owned a devastating right hand!!!

[goofydog2]

They were both STUDS!

[tigerarmyrule]

The great man's courage brought him through that. How many rights did Earnie land? 30? |perhaps more.

[jeryd2003]

ali slow, slower and was the fight in slow motion or just slow

[undeadpresident]

Biased judges. Shavers lands so many power shots. Ali lands little dinky slaps. I only saw Shavers hurt once during this fight (at the end), and it only looked that bad cause he punched himself out too soon, so half of it was fatigue. Ali was hurt repeatedly, and permanently, in this fight. Can't say the same for Shavers.

[dreman1970]

He didn't land THAT many.They were few and far between.Especially between rounds 4-12. Ali's punches were not that hard, but they LANDED. That's what boxers do. Shavers was game, but he clearly lost the fight

[pakee64]

Win`or`no`win...Ali`got`his`bu­tt`kicked!!!

[reznick8]

sorry but boxing is judged on punches landed.

And don't think Ali's punches don't hurt.

Great fight!

[thadaddy7]

wrong !!! Amatuer boxing is judged based on punches landed, professional boxing is judged based on a number of factors including aggression, ring generalship in addition to punches thrown and punches landed. Too many fans do not realize that the criteria for judging is not the same in amatuer and professional boxing.

[dreman1970]

Shavers did not come close to wining this fight.....although he fought well...........From rounds 3-12, he wasn't busy enough.........mainly because he was concerned about lasting 15 rounds......When Ali danced, Shavers couldn't touch him........

[thadaddy7]

I agree that ali won the fight, in part because as you stated shavers wasn't busy for a large part of the fight, if he fought like did in the 14th for the rest of the fight he would've won, but shavers was always known to have poor stamina so i'm sure that was a concern to him

[dreman1970]

wining=winning

[dreman1970]

@undeadpresident Judges werent biased...Shavers didnt throw enough....He hurt Ali in rounds 2, 13, 14, and parts of 15, but in the other rounds he did nothing but chase Ali around the ring and suck up his jab.....The fact Ali was "permanent hurt" is totally irrelevant....Shavers didn't land enough...If they had Punchstat back then it wouldve not even been close

[Hippiemetalhead123]

Ali takes so many rights which is in most cases potential knock outs! incredible he won!

[reznick8]

i agree with you.

There were probably at least 10 right hand punches from shavers that would have knocked anyone else out, that Ali stood up to.

[thearns1]

Great fight but cant help thinking that it was a significant contributor to Alis subsequent decline in health. Its a disgrace that Alis trainer and managers didnt help him quit sooner, they could see the signs but it was only dollar signs they were interested in.

[vidnut67]

Don't just blame Ali's handlers; blame the boxing commissions. I understand that New York State would not license him after this fight because of kidney damage discovered in the urinalysis. This should have been respected by the rest of the nation. It's sad that it took the Holmes fight for boxing commissions to conclude that Ali was finished.

[RingmasterKO]

Could Joe Louis have taken those punches from Ernie Shavers?

[chomsky88]

I love the way the old Ali resurfaces for the last 30 seconds of the fight. Another 20 seconds and Shavers might have been down.

[FrsBigeasy]

"Earnie Shavers could knock down buildings" but he couldn't knock down Muhammad Ali the greatest of all time".

[pibefisura]

@FrsBigeasy 1:49

[EyesAngel7]

@FrsBigeasy

first: muhammad ali arent the greatest of all time

second: ernie shavers was shamefully stolen in this fight. as norton, jimmy young, bonavena... all of them stolen fighting ali.

[ShareTheMike]

@FrsBigeasy greatest chin for sure.

[jeryd2003]

this is the 2nd time i watched the ali vs shavers fight and i was really critical of ali the first time but the 2nd time seeing it ali did pretty good. i just wished he would have ALWAYS have gotten in 100% tip top shape @ he wasn't obviously in this fight also when ever shavers threw his jab ali should have countered more because shavers left himself wide open and wide open too when he threw his right

[songnow]

The Shavers incident was ruled a slip. However, in the first Ali/Frazier, one knockdown was ruled a slip in the 10th or 11th round, but I saw it as a knockdown. I love Ali, what he stands for and he continuously redefined his spirituality and his boxing. The parkinson's syndrome had already kicked in at this point. Some thought he was just going for the paycheck, but it was hard for him to quit, especially that he felt responsible for keeping his entourage employed. A very generous man

[olddirtypelican]

But i guess you gotta give the close rounds to the champion, which would probably of made it 143 - 142 for Ali. Either way Shavers made a very good account of himself. i could of sworn Ali was knocked down in this fight? everywhere i hear "5 men knocked down Ali" but if this wasnt a knock down, then that only makes 4 right? oh well haha, good display of late round power by Shavers in the 13th :)

[Iamwatchvideos]

Ali was, at least in his pro career, only knocked down once...Frazier did that...Or am I forgetting something? 'Cause Holmes won by TKO due to Dundee stopping the fight.

[songnow]

He was knocked down by Frazier, Cooper, unofficially by Chuck Wepner, (wepner stepped on his foot)  who else?

[olddirtypelican]

Sonny Banks. Earnie was aparrently number 5, but i saw no knockdown? oh well haha :)

[damiangolds]

Sonny Banks, Henry Cooper, Joe Frazier, Chuck Wepner knocked Ali down. All except Wepners body blow were legit.

[colinfarrell33]

It was actually three....sonny banks, henry cooper and joe frazier...wepner was unofficial...either way he was never knocked out! how manys fighters have that on there resume.

[olddirtypelican]

Chuck Wepner knocked him down, it was official. everyone knows it wasnt a genuine knockdown, but it was ruled one. Same with Hagler when Roldan knocked him down, was a slip ruled as a knockdown. In the end, what can you do? Shit happens :)

[mtl009]

wepner pushed him and you know it

[olddirtypelican]

Like i said, everyone knows it WASN'T a genuine knockdown, but it was still officially RULED as a knockdown :)

[Automatic25]

although I think Shavers was robbed in round 7 Ali still won. I was amazed at how he put all those punches together to keep Shavers off. 143-142 Ali

[tintinesk3]

They don't make fights and drama like this anymore!

[truthhitmanisback]

ALi is the greatest. See him beat Shavers towards he end of his career?