Earnie hit me so hard it shook my relatives in Africa, Muhammad Ali said of Shavers’ punches! Did he cause his brain injury?

Even at 35, Muhammad Ali showed size and a properly hard chin when he defended his world heavyweight boxing title against Earnie Shavers. The latter is one of the hardest punchers in boxing history, and Ali himself gave credence to that claim.

Muhammad Ali, even at the age of 35, was a giant of the so-called Golden Era of boxing

Although he lived in the so-called Golden Era of boxing, even at the age of 35 he was one of the best the boxing world had to offer. This is also proven by the greatness of Muhammad Ali, who is still considered one of the greatest figures in the history of the sport.

After he first fell to his knees in the Boxing Match of the Century, when he staged a memorable war with Joe Frazier that took the world heavyweight title from him, the professional community began to underestimate him. But against all odds, Muhammad Ali has repeatedly reminded the boxing world that he is the greatest of the greatest.

Three years after his loss to Frazier, he won back the world title with an incredible performance in a memorable fight with George Foreman, who had previously absolutely demolished the champion Frazier.

After nine defenses, he then announced his retirement from fighting to practice the teachings of Islam. But when he heard the name of the next puncher who would stop his path to the top in the history of the sport, he announced a spectacular comeback.

That man was Earnie Shavers, who was considered one of the toughest boxers of the time. Before the fight, Shavers had 54 wins to his credit, including an incredible 52 knockouts. Ali was 35 years old at the time and coming out of fighting retirement. That’s why most experts saw Shavers as the favorite to face him.

In his fight with Shavers, he showed his true greatness

The fight took place on September 29, 1977 at the famous Madison Square Garden in New York City, where Ali fought two wars with Joe Frazier. The fight itself didn’t get off to the best start for Ali. In the second round, he took a blow that visibly shook the legendary boxer and it’s a wonder he lasted the full 15 rounds.

Although he was clearly dancing on his feet after the blow, he put on a heroic performance that probably won him the fight in the end. After that punch, he smiled and indicated to his opponent to try again. Shavers, however, preferred not to chase an early finish for fear of being caught by one of his memorable counters with which he was destroying his opponents.

After a tough second round, he put on one of the best performances of his career

Although Ali resisted Shavers’ pressure in the fight, he hit his opponent with hard combinations from the retreat and downright toyed with his opponent at certain stages of the fight. The last 15 rounds then went down in boxing history as one of the best ever in Ali’s spectacular career.

Ali showered Shavers with insane combinations that repeatedly made his opponent dance, and it was only by sheer force of will that he held on until the final bell. Although the fights with Liston, Frazier or Foreman are the most talked about, it is the war with Shavers that many experts call the best performance of Ali’s entire boxing career.

He said after the fight about the Shavers punch in the second round that it was the hardest punch he ever landed in a fight. “Earnie hit me so hard that it shook my relatives in Africa, ” said Ali, who admitted he still felt his punches for weeks after the fight.

Was it the fight with Earnie Shavers that caused the boxing legend’s brain injury that subsequently led to Parkinson’s disease? Some experts say it was, however, the more likely option is that it added up to all 61 fights of his career in which he took on the sport’s toughest greats.

Source: Wikipedia, Twitter accounts – iD Boxing, Chuck D