Earnie Shavers, the hard-hitting heavyweight known as 'The Black Destroyer', fought both Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes during his career. He picked Holmes as the better fighter of the two.
Shavers boxed for 26 years and had two shots at the world heavyweight title. He retired in 1995 because of eye damage from his comeback fights. Sadly, he passed away in September 2022 after a short illness.
In 1977, Shavers lost to Muhammad Ali by unanimous decision. The fight put him on the map. He said:
"Yes, that fight brought me worldwide recognition. It was a great fight and I hurt Muhammad Ali on a couple of occasions, but he won the fight; he scored more points than I did over the 15-rounds."
The next year, Shavers lost another unanimous decision, this time to Larry Holmes. Despite losing both fights, Shavers thought Holmes was the better boxer. He explained why in an interview with Boxing News:
"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."
Holmes later became the only man to stop Ali, though Ali was past his prime and shouldn't have been fighting by then.
Shavers also fought other tough American heavyweights like Ron Lyle. Ali had beaten Lyle in a world title fight in 1975.
Even though Shavers never won a world title, he left a big mark on boxing. His power and toughness tested the best heavyweights of his era. His passing in 2022 was mourned by the boxing world, remembering him as one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history.
