RIP Earnie Shavers

[Darren Avey]

This man could punch almost as hard as Bhanks
https://www.thesun.ie/sport/boxing/9344248/earnie-shavers-dead-boxer-muhammad-ali/amp/

[Dokey111]

ah that sucks.  we got some great fights from him.  even dead he could probably still knock your block off.

all of the greats said he hit the hardest.

[Gym-Rat]

One of my favorites, in the greatest era of heavyweight boxing! BEAST!

[funk51]

     

                              he was from one of the greatest eras of boxing.

[wes]

RIP to a true boxing legend!

[SweetDaddySiki]

.

[GymnJuice]

     

                              he was from one of the greatest eras of boxing.

I didn't realize they had all that drama over a fictional "superfight." Pretty cool to see.

[a_pupil]

His performance in the Thrilla in Manilla will be talked about for centuries.

[IroNat]

Shavers record 74-15.

68 wins by KO!

Bhanky would have ragdolled him.

[Matt]

I thought Earnie was 72, but it turns out he was 78. That's a pretty good run, especially for a heavyweight boxer. I hope his final years were ok.

[SweetDaddySiki]

I thought Earnie was 72, but it turns out he was 78. That's a pretty good run, especially for a heavyweight boxer. I hope his final years were ok.

[Cook]

R.I.P. “the Acorn”

[Moontrane]

Shavers record 74-15.

68 wins by KO!

Bhanky would have ragdolled him.

Wow, he was boxing as recently as 1995!

Shavers had 89 bouts - Deontay Wilder is half-way there. 

[Lartinos]

Considered the hardest hitter ever by many, but wasn’t skilled.

[Ssxa]

Still amazed at how Larry Holmes got up after getting cracked on the button full force by Shavers.

[beakdoctor]

Wow, he was boxing as recently as 1995!

Shavers had 89 bouts - Deontay Wilder is half-way there. 

To say that the guys he was fighting in 1995 were bums is an insult to bums. Be that as it may, he was stopped in the last fight of his career by a body shot from a guy that had lost about 20 fights, many by knockoutand only won 5 or 6. I think he broke Earnie's rib. IIRC Ron Lyle was going to comeback with a few soft touches but was denied a license to box. The idea was to have Lyle and Shavers face each other. But then Shavers was stopped.

Earnie became very religious later in life and a little crazy. In the way a street preacher is crazy.

Muhammad Ali and Holmes both said Shavers was the hardest puncher they faced.  Ali said it was a different kind of power like a sho k went through his whole body every time he was hit.

[wes]

To say that the guys he was fighting in 1995 were bums is an insult to bums. Be that as it may, he was stopped in the last fight of his career by a body shot from a guy that had lost about 20 fights, many by knockoutand only won 5 or 6. I think he broke Earnie's rib. IIRC Ron Lyle was going to comeback with a few soft touches but was denied a license to box. The idea was to have Lyle and Shavers face each other. But then Shavers was stopped.

Earnie became very religious later in life and a little crazy. In the way a street preacher is crazy.

Muhammad Ali and Holmes both said Shavers was the hardest puncher they faced.  Ali said it was a different kind of power like a sho k went through his whole body every time he was hit.

These cats never know when to retire probably due to needing money.

[Humble Narcissist]

One of my favorites, in the greatest era of heavyweight boxing! BEAST!

Considered by many boxing experts to be the greatest heavyweight to never hold the belt. The 70's was brutal!

[funk51]

  MPOV, having been on the end of one of his punches (as an amateur in the '60's), Earnie was the best puncher of the era. ..... By Richard Goldstein Sept. 3, 2022 NYTimes Earnie Shavers, who was regarded as one of the hardest punchers in boxing history, but who failed in his two quests to capture a world heavyweight championship in the 1970s, died on Thursday in Virginia, a day after his 78th birthday. The Associated Press said it had been informed of Shavers’s death, at the home of one of his daughters, by his close friend Kenny Rainford, a British former boxer. Rainford, whose aunt was married to Shavers for a decade, did not cite the cause but said that Shavers had “slowed down all of a sudden.” Shavers won 74 bouts, 68 by knockouts, lost 14 and fought to one draw in a professional career that lasted from 1969 to 1995. The boxing publication The Ring recently ranked Shavers as the seventh-greatest puncher of all time. When the heavyweight division was in its glory, Shavers traded punches with the great names of his time. He lost on a unanimous decision in his September 1977 bid to capture Muhammad Ali’s World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council crowns. He was stopped on a technical knockout in the 11th round of his September 1979 bout with Larry Holmes, the W.B.C. titleholder. Shavers, who weighed in at 211¼ pounds to Ali’s 225, was such an underdog that there was no betting line for their fight. His shaved head, uncommon at the time, was said to be intimidating, but Ali, unimpressed, nicknamed him “the Acorn.” In a 2016 interview on the cable television show “In This Corner,” Shavers laughingly recalled Ali’s attempt to rile him. “He was a con man,” he said of Ali. “One of the best.” Neither fighter scored a knockdown, but Shavers shook Ali several times with right-hand punches, his fiercest weapon. Both men were wobbling at the final bell in their 15-round bout at Madison Square Garden in New York. “Ali and Shavers stood there, swinging as if they were John Wayne and Randolph Scott in a cowboy brawl, but neither surrendered to the shelling,” Dave Anderson wrote that year in The New York Times. “I’m tired, almost as tired as I was in Manila,” Ali told reporters afterward, referring to his storied 14-round knockout of Joe Frazier two years earlier. Sports Illustrated ran a cover photo of Shavers delivering an overhand right with the headline “Ali’s Desperate Hour.” “I was a puncher from Day One,” Shavers said in 2016. In his 1979 bid for Holmes’s titles in Las Vegas, Shavers floored Holmes in the seventh round with a powerful right hand. Holmes got up quickly but seemed on the brink of collapse. However, just as Shavers had been unable to finish Ali off after delivering crushing blows, he could not conquer Holmes. His wild lunges allowed Holmes to get through the final 30 seconds of the round. The referee stopped the fight in the 11th round as Holmes was pummeling an exhausted Shavers. Earnie Dee Shavers was born on Aug. 31, 1944, in Garland, Ala., but when he was young, his family moved to the Youngstown, Ohio, area. He turned professional after some two dozen amateur fights and after capturing a national Golden Gloves heavyweight title and a national Amateur Athletic Union heavyweight title. He began to rise in the professional heavyweight ranks after hiring Don King as his promoter. As his career progressed, Shavers defeated the former world champions Vicente Rondón, Jimmy Ellis and Ken Norton, as well as the European champion Joe Bugner. Shavers’s bout with Holmes was his last big fight. He underwent surgery for a detached retina afterward and had not fully recovered when he was stopped in the eighth round of a bout with Tex Cobb in August 1980. He tried to make two brief comebacks, the first in 1987 and the second in 1995. He retired for good after being knocked out by Brian Yates in the second round of their fight in November 1995. He went on to become an ordained Christian minister, but he also made appearances in Las Vegas in his later years, signing autographs at casinos. According to The Associated Press, Shavers had five daughters with his first wife, Laverne Payne: Tamara, Cynthia, Catherine, Carla and Amy; he also had four daughters from other relationships: Catherine, Lisa, Natasha and Latonya. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available. In 1992, Shavers released a video telling the story of his career. It was titled “Earnie D. Shavers, the Hardest One-Punch Hitter.”

[funk51]

  https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/320    Earnie Shavers
74   14   1
68 KOs   7 KOs   

wiki
 Box-am Box-pro All Bouts
division   heavy
status   inactive
bouts   89
rounds   366
KOs   76.4%
career   1969-1995
debut   1969-11-11

ID#   000320
birth name   Earnie Dee Shaver
sex    male
alias   Black Destroyer
nationality    USA
stance   orthodox
height   6′ 0″   /   183cm
reach    79″   /   201cm
residence   Warren, Ohio, USA
birth place   Garland, Alabama, USA

freestar

freestar
Boxing Pro 89 bouts
date         w-l-d   last 6      result      
1995-11-24      Brian Yates   5 16 2   
Ho-Chunk Casino, Baraboo   L-KO      
bout
 
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 2:49    ref: Dick Bartman
Shavers down in rd 2.
1995-09-19      Brian Morgan   4 20 1   
Georgetowne Club, Omaha   W-MD      
bout
 
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1987-05-16      Larry Sims   3 18 2   
Cincinnati Technical College Gymnasium, Cincinnati   W-KO      
bout
 
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1983-03-01      George Chaplin   18 6 2   
Civic Center, Baltimore   L-DQ      
bout
 
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 2:41    ref: Harry Cecchini
1983-01-29      Rahim Muhammad   7 7 0   
Civic Center, El Paso   W-UD      
bout
 
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1982-11-04      Tony Perea   13 0 0   
Civic Center, El Paso   W-RTD      
bout
 
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ref: Pete Melendez
Fight stopped by the referee after the sixth round due to blood from a cut eyelid.
1982-10-14      Phil Clinard   0 3 0   
Duke's Country Nightclub, Tulsa   W-TKO      
bout
 
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1982-09-05      Chuck Gardner   15 8 0   
Wales   W-KO      
bout
 
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 2:07    ref: Dick Bartman
1982-08-17      Walter Santemore   16 10 0   
Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette   L-UD      
bout
 
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1982-06-22      Billy Joe Thomas   3 13 0   
Astro Arena, Houston   W-KO      
bout
 
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1982-06-11      James Tillis   21 1 0   
Caesars Palace, Outdoor Arena, Las Vegas   L-UD      
bout
 
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ref: Joey Curtis   Chuck Minker 91-97   Herb Santos 92-96   Lou Tabat 92-96
Tillis down in rd 9
1982-05-15      Danny Sutton   13 1 0   
Yorktown Aircraft Carrier, Charleston   W-TKO      
bout
 
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ref: Bobby Caraviello
1982-05-08      Joe Bugner   53 8 1   
Reunion Arena, Dallas   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:14    ref: Arlen Bynum
Fight stopped due to Bugner cut. Bugner down in the first round.
1982-04-22      Ali Haakim   14 0 0   
Grand Traverse Hilton, Traverse City   W-UD      
bout
 
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ref: Joe Kitchener
1981-12-11      Jeff Sims   12 2 0   
Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, Nassau   W-KO      
bout
 
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 1:34    ref: Nelson Chipman
Shavers down in first round.
1981-09-09      Mike Rodgers   3 19 1   
Civic Center, Lansing   W-KO      
bout
 
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 1:38   
Rodgers substituted for Johnny Robinson of Kansas City.
1981-07-29      Terry Mims   11 7 0   
Civic Center, Saginaw   W-KO      
bout
 
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1980-10-17      Ted Hamilton   1 29 0   
Auditorium, West Palm Beach   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 1:39   
Hamilton fought as Ted Watkins.
1980-08-02      Randall Cobb   16 0 0   
Joe Louis Arena, Detroit   L-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:19    ref: Harry Papacharalambous   Rosemary Grable   Stuart Kirshenbaum   Jack Moriarty
1980-06-14      Leroy Boone   13 4 0   
Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati   W-UD      
bout
 
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1980-03-08      Bernardo Mercado   24 2 0   
Great Gorge Playboy Club, McAfee   L-TKO      
bout
 
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 0:41    ref: Paul Venti 3-3   Milo Savage 4-1   Charlie Spina 4-2
Mercado down in the third, and then floored Shavers in the seventh before the stoppage.
1979-09-28      Larry Holmes   31 0 0   
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas   L-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:00    ref: Davey Pearl   Harold Buck 90-98   Hal Miller 91-98   Lou Tabat 89-98
WBC World Heavy
Holmes was down in the 7th.
1979-05-25      Eddie Parotte   8 12 2   
Richfield Coliseum, Richfield   W-TKO      
bout
 
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1979-03-23      Ken Norton   41 5 0   
Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas Hilton Pavilion, Las Vegas   W-KO      
bout
 
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 1:58    ref: Mills Lane
Norton down twice in rd 1
1978-12-04      Harold Carter   19 48 4   
Civic Center, Saginaw   W-TKO      
bout
 
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1978-10-09      John Girowski   19 15 1   
Coliseum, Hampton   W-KO      
bout
 
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1978-07-20      Harry Terrell   8 4 0   
Alan B. Shepard Civic Center, Virginia Beach   W-RTD      
bout
 
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ref: Al Rothenberg
Terrell floored twice in the first round. Terrell did not come out for the second.
1978-03-25      Larry Holmes   26 0 0   
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas   L-UD      
bout
 
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ref: Davey Pearl   Harold Buck 108-120   Dave Moretti 109-119   Joe Swessel 108-120
WBC Heavyweight Title Eliminator
1977-09-29      Muhammad Ali   54 2 0   
Madison Square Garden, New York   L-UD      
bout
 
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ref: Johnny LoBianco 5-9   Tony Castellano 6-9   Eva Shain 6-9
WBA World Heavy
WBC World Heavy
1977-04-16      Howard Smith   16 1 0   
Aladdin Theater, Las Vegas   W-KO      
bout
 
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 2:18    ref: Richard Green
Smith down three times in first round.
1976-12-11      Roy Williams   23 5 0   
The Aladdin, Las Vegas   W-KO      
bout
 
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 2:46    ref: Buddy Basilico
Shavers down in the tenth round before stopping Williams
1976-09-28      Henry Clark   33 9 4   
Yankee Stadium, Bronx   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:19    ref: Johnny LoBianco
1976-03-28      Henry Clark   33 8 4   
Pavillon de Paris, Paris   W-PTS      
bout
 
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ref: Raymond Baldeyrou   Andre Bernier   Edmond Horn
1975-11-13      Tommy Howard   2 17 2   
Howard Johnson´s, Monroeville   W-KO      
bout
 
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1975-09-13      Ron Lyle   30 3 1   
Denver Coliseum, Denver   L-KO      
bout
 
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 0:47    ref: Joe Ullmer
Lyle was knocked down in the 2nd, Shavers down in the 6th round.
1975-05-08      Oliver Wright   12 9 0   
Steelworkers Hall, Baltimore   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 1:55    ref: Larry Barrett
1975-04-09      Rochell Norris   11 1 0   
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Binghamton   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 0:31    ref: Jack Milicich    6-3    5-3    6-2
1975-02-11      Leon Shaw   4 6 1   
Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando   W-KO      
bout
 
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1974-11-26      Jimmy Young   13 4 1   
Capitol Center, Landover   D-SD      
bout
 
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ref: Harry Cecchini 46-45   Larry Barrett 44-47   Tom Kelly 47-47
Young was knocked down in the fourth round.
1974-11-04      Bob Stallings   21 24 0   
Felt Forum, New York   L-UD      
bout
 
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ref: Tony Perez 4-6   Artie Aidala 4-6   Nick Gamboli 4-6
Shavers down for 9-count in 9th round
1974-05-16      Roy Wallace   16 18 2   
Civic Auditorium, San Jose   W-KO      
bout
 
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 2:11    ref: Luis Gonzales
1973-12-14      Jerry Quarry   47 6 4   
Madison Square Garden, New York   L-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:21    ref: Arthur Mercante   Jack Gordon   Bill Recht
1973-06-18      Jimmy Ellis   38 7 0   
Madison Square Garden, New York   W-KO      
bout
 
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 2:39    ref: Harold Valan

freestar

1973-05-12      Harold Carter   12 25 3   
Windsor Arena, Windsor   W-KO      
bout
 
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1973-02-19      Jimmy Young   7 3 0   
Spectrum, Philadelphia   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:59    Carol Polis
1972-10-25      Leroy Caldwell   14 13 2   
High School Gym, Newton Falls   W-KO      
bout
 
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 2:00    ref: Bruce Trampler
1972-09-19      A J Staples   11 6 0   
Moonlight Gardens Ballroom, Canton   W-TKO      
bout
 
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1972-08-26      Vicente Rondon   36 7 1   
Canton Auditorium, Canton   W-UD      
bout
 
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100-90    99-94    99-92
1972-05-05      Lou Bailey   19 35 5   
Armory, Akron   W-KO      
bout
 
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 1:07   
The program had 1 pro bout and several amateur bouts.
1972-04-22      Bob Felstein   14 10 1   
Field House, Struthers   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:38    ref: Joe Bishop
1972-04-06      Charley Polite   13 21 3   
Packard Music Hall, Warren   W-KO      
bout
 
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1972-02-15      Elgie Walters   3 13 0   
Golden Triangle Arena, Beaumont   W-KO      
bout
 
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1972-02-01      Ted Gullick   15 4 1   
Packard Music Hall, Warren   W-KO      
bout
 
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ref: Tony Chudick
This was the only professional bout on the card.
1971-11-28      Del Morris   1 1 0   
Bryant   W-KO      
bout
 
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 2:40   
This was the only pro bout on the program.
1971-11-23      Cleo Daniels   7 24 2   
Packard Music Hall, Warren   W-KO      
bout
 
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ref: Ron Delaney
The program had one professional bout and several amateur bouts.
1971-10-28      Elmo Tex Henderson   26 14 0   
Sahara Tahoe Hotel, Stateline   W-KO      
bout
 
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1971-10-16      Charlie Boston   4 2 0   
Dean Chance Gymnasium, Akron   W-KO      
bout
 
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1971-09-28      Pat Duncan   17 3 1   
Sahara Hotel, Reno   W-KO      
bout
 
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USA Nevada State Heavy
1971-08-11      Richard Pittman   0 17 2   
Silver Slipper, Las Vegas   W-KO      
bout
 
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1971-07-13      Bill McMurray   27 23 3   
Sahara Tahoe Hotel, Stateline   W-KO      
bout
 
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 2:56    ref: Sammy Macias
1971-06-29      Bill Hardney   15 18 1   
Western Reserve Field, Warren   W-KO      
bout
 
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 1:52   
The card had three professional bouts and four amateur bouts.
1971-06-10      Chuck Leslie   23 21 5   
Sahara Tahoe Hotel, Stateline   W-KO      
bout
 
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1971-04-24      Willie Johnson   19 30 2   
Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 0:33    ref: Ulysses Valle
1971-04-21      Mac Harrison   14 13 0   
Dean Chance Gymnasium, Akron   W-KO      
bout
 
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 1:16    ref: Tony Chudick
Harrison down four times.
1971-03-24      Young Agabab   debut      Silver Slipper, Las Vegas   W-KO      
bout
 
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1971-03-03      Steve Carter   14 2 0   
Silver Slipper, Las Vegas   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:05    ref: Nate Morgan
Carter down three times
1971-02-17      Dick Gosha   10 9 0   
Armory, Akron   W-TKO      
bout
 
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1971-02-03      Johnny Mac   5 6 0   
Silver Slipper, Las Vegas   W-KO      
bout
 
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1971-01-15      Nat Shaver   0 1 0   
Convention Center, Miami Beach   W-KO      
bout
 
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1971-01-06      Lee Estes   11 25 2   
Silver Slipper, Las Vegas   W-TKO      
bout
 
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1970-12-07      Bunky Akins   5 0 0   
Madison Square Garden, New York   W-KO      
bout
 
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1970-11-18      Johnny Mac   5 5 0   
Austintown Fitch High School Gym, Youngstown   W-TKO      
bout
 
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ref: Joe Bishop
1970-10-14      Johnny Hudgins   13 9 3   
Moonlight Gardens Ballroom, Canton   W-KO      
bout
 
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1970-09-12      Don Branch   1 2 0   
Cooper Arena On The Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus   W-TKO      
bout
 
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Branch down 3 times in the 1st round.
1970-08-29      Jim Daniels   debut      Austintown Fitch High School Gym, Youngstown   W-KO      
bout
 
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1970-05-11      Ron Stander   9 0 0   
City Auditorium, Omaha   L-KO      
bout
 
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1970-04-14      Frank Smith   0 1 0   
Moonlight Gardens Ballroom, Canton   W-TKO      
bout
 
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1970-03-23      Ron Asher   1 10 0   
Fitch High Gym, Youngstown   W-KO      
bout
 
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1970-03-10      Art Miller   24 25 2   
Moonlight Gardens Ballroom, Canton   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:41   
Miller down three times.
1970-01-27      Abe Brown   6 7 1   
Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 1:35   
Brown was knocked down three times during the bout.
1970-01-24      Joe Byrd   10 8 0   
Memorial Auditorium, Canton   W-TKO      
bout
 
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1970-01-07      Abe Brown   6 6 1   
Armory, Akron   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 1:44   
Brown down three times.
1969-12-23      Gene Idelette   4 9 1   
Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando   W-TKO      
bout
 
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1969-12-18      Chico Froncano   debut      Memorial Auditorium, Canton   W-KO      
bout
 
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 2:05   
Froncano down three times.
1969-12-04      J D McCauley   1 0 0   
Armory, Akron   W-KO      
bout
 
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1969-11-21      Lee Roy   debut      Municipal Auditorium, Rapid City   W-KO      
bout
 
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1969-11-13      Stan Johnson   6 0 0   
Seattle Center Arena, Seattle   L-UD      
bout
 
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1969-11-11      George Holden   7 7 3   
Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando   W-KO      
bout
 
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1969-11-06      Silas Howell   1 1 0   
Armory, Akron   W-TKO      
bout
 
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 2:20   
Pro debut for Earnie Shavers. Howell down twice before the bout was stopped.

[Gym Rat]

Legend... Both of them actually...

[38 returns]

Earnie used to work the doors in Liverpool- specifically Yates's wine lodge. Genuinely lovely fella, absolute gentleman.

[Darren Avey]

Earnie used to work the doors in Liverpool- specifically Yates's wine lodge. Genuinely lovely fella, absolute gentleman.

I remember hearing about that but as a cockney Everton fan I used to leave straight after matches rather than hit the city

[Humble Narcissist]

Is Earnie still dead?