ON THIS DAY | MUHAMMAD ALI | BOXING

 

BOXING'S BIGGEST PUNCHER IS NOT DEONTAY WILDER OR MIKE TYSON

The debate will rage on for centuries about who the hardest-punching boxer of all time is. Is it Deontay Wilder or Mike Tyson? Today, WBN puts forward its candidate in Ernie Shavers.

All the talk seems to be of Wilder and Tyson from the last two generations as knockouts get into the boxing debate regularly. However, it’s one man from a golden era who also makes the Shavers case.

Alongside Ron Lyle and Joe Louis, the oldest heavyweight champion of all time, George Foreman listed the three men as ones he wouldn’t have liked to receive a hook from in anger.

Forever bashful, and not one to put himself in that category – even when many would, Foreman sees Shavers, Lyle, and Louis as the frontrunners.

“1 Joe Louis, 2 Ernie Shavers. The others did hit me: Ali, Liston, Frazier, and Lyle,” said Foreman when asked to name the boxers who carry the highest velocity.

Alongside those – possibly without Ali, Wilder and Tyson may come somewhere in the top ten. But without the depth they enjoyed in the division, it’s hard to place either any higher than those three.

Shavers, Lyle, Louis, Foreman, Wilder, and Tyson could be joined by Larry Holmes, Sonny Liston, Rocky Marciano, and Lennox Lewis as ten of the most concussive punchers ever.

Adding Lyle in there would come at Foreman’s request. ‘Big George’ has long championed the destructive nature of the former world title challenger.

“I didn’t get a taste of Ernie Shavers punch. But Lyle gave me a taste of “Space Travel.” Afterward, I could have become a consultant for NASA,” he once joked.

Promoter Lou DiBella gave his case for Wilder when the pair worked together. But like George, Shavers was a constant for both.

“(Deontay Wilder has) Arguably the greatest one-punch power ever. Up there with Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Ernie Shavers. The hardest punchers in heavyweight history,” said DiBella.

Avid boxing fan and Hollywood actor John Cusak was undoubtedly firm about who he sees as the top knockout artist.

“The one thing all the greats agree on somehow is whenever you ask a heavyweight who had the hardest punch, it’s always Ernie Shavers,” he pointed out.

Retiring in 1995 after a failed comeback and another further down the line not counted on his pro record, Shavers stopped 68 of his 74 victims.

He may have had a fearsome punch, but Shavers could also be hurt. He lost seven times via stoppage from fourteen losses.

But that’s what made a Shavers fight a must-see event. You didn’t know which way it could go at times.

Despite not winning the top division crown, Shavers will surely be happy with his place in history with the tag every heavyweight wants to own.

Even being placed in the same sentence as Wilder and Tyson is a testament to the legend of the man.

- Phil Jay

MUHAMMAD ALI HAD NO DOUBT WHO WAS THE GREATEST FIGHTER OF ALL TIME: "I HAVE YO ADMIT IT"

 “I say I’m the greatest heavyweight of all time, but pound-for-pound he was the greatest of all time.” Muhammad Ali

An enigma outside and inside the ring, Muhammad Ali captivated fans worldwide with his slick talk and skills to back it up.

The man from Louisville, Kentucky – at that point named Cassius Clay – won gold at the 1960 Olympic Games before turning over to the paid ranks. He won his first 19 bouts before getting a shot at feared Sonny Liston’s heavyweight title and upsetting the odds – despite Liston saying previously he might get locked up for murder if they fought – to win by stoppage in six.

He would go one better in the rematch and finish it in under two minutes, although Liston was plagued with allegations of taking a dive. Ali then defended his championship status a further eight times before being denied a boxing license throughout the country due to his refusal to be drafting during the Vietnam War.

Upon his comeback he would star in such bouts as the Thrilla in Manilla and The Rumble in the Jungle, eventually hanging up the gloves in 1981 with 56 wins from 61 fights and a legacy to be unmatched.

Ali died in June of 2016 and will forever be known as simply ‘The Greatest’, but in a resurfaced interview he was candid about one man in the lower weights earning that tag.

“Pound-for-pound, when they say Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest fighter pound-for-pound, meaning that if I imagine he was a heavyweight fighting the same style he’d be the greatest. I would have to admit. I would have to say yes. I had his fight films. That man was beautiful. Timing, speed, reflexes, rythym, his body – everything was beautiful.

I say I’m the greatest heavyweight of all time, but pound-for-pound I still say Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest of all time.”

Over a 25 year campaign, Sugar Ray Robinson managed an incredible 91-fight unbeaten streak. The flamboyant pound-for-pound star fought from lightweight up to light-heavyweight, winning world titles at both welterweight and middleweight.

Back in the days when boxers could fight three times in three months, Robinson featured in 201 contests during his career, winning 174 and earning the respect of not just Ali, but Joe Louis, Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard as well as countless modern-day fighters as the best to ever do it.

- Kerr Furgoson 

BOXING LEGENDS | SONNY LISTON & JOE LOUIS

 

BOXING: NEW BOOK CLAIMS SONNY LISTON WAS MURDERED

A new book published last week with the title 'the Murder of Sonny Liston' by Shaun Assael claims the former champ did not overdose but was a subject of foul play...The official verdict of his death was Heroine...