Earnie Shavers is often considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights to have never won a world title, having shared the ring with the likes of Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes.
Known for his thunderous punching power, Shavers amassed a whopping 70 stoppage victories throughout the course of his 26-year professional career, retiring in 1995 with a knockout rate of 92.11%.
‘The Black Destroyer’ challenged for a version of the world heavyweight championship on two occasions during his tenure, but unfortunately he fell short against Ali in 1977 and then against Holmes in 1979.
Whilst many consider Ali to be the best heavyweight of all time, Shavers once revealed in an interview with Boxing News that he ranked one man in particular even higher than the man they called ‘The Greatest’.
“I think Larry Holmes was the best fighter I ever fought. He was better than Ali. See, they both had great jabs, but Ali’s was a flicking jab; Holmes’ was a puncher’s jab! They were both truly great of course, but I give Larry the edge.”
Shavers and Holmes crossed paths twice within a period of 18-months, although ‘The Black Destroyer’ would come up short against his countryman on both occasions.
In their first encounter, which took place in March of 1978, Holmes was declared the winner via unanimous decision after a hard-fought 12-round battle at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Their rematch, which came in September of 1979, saw Shavers come very close to dethroning Holmes of his WBC heavyweight title after he floored him in the seventh round, but ‘The Easton Assassin’ rose to his feet and went on to stop Shavers in the 11th round of their clash.
