Earnie Shavers, considered one of boxing’s hardest punchers during his long career, died Thursday at 78. No cause was revealed in reports.
Shavers was best known for his work in the 1970s, although he was active from 1969 through 1995. Overall, he was 74-14-1 with 68 knockouts in his career. He fought Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes for the heavyweight title, losing to Ali in a 15-round decision in 1977 at Madison Square Garden. It was a close decision and Ali needed a strong final round to pull out the victory.
After the fight, Ali praised Shavers’ power. “Earnie hit me so hard, it shook my kinfolk in Africa,” Ali said.
Ali was not the only heavyweight impressed with Shavers. Shavers fought heavyweight champ Larry Holmes twice, the first time being a non-title bout on March 25, 1978 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, his first after losing to Ali. Holmes won a 12-round decision over Shavers in that match,...
Shavers was best known for his work in the 1970s, although he was active from 1969 through 1995. Overall, he was 74-14-1 with 68 knockouts in his career. He fought Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes for the heavyweight title, losing to Ali in a 15-round decision in 1977 at Madison Square Garden. It was a close decision and Ali needed a strong final round to pull out the victory.
After the fight, Ali praised Shavers’ power. “Earnie hit me so hard, it shook my kinfolk in Africa,” Ali said.
Ali was not the only heavyweight impressed with Shavers. Shavers fought heavyweight champ Larry Holmes twice, the first time being a non-title bout on March 25, 1978 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, his first after losing to Ali. Holmes won a 12-round decision over Shavers in that match,...
- 9/2/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
An Original Voice
“We didn’t get mad, we got smart,” HBO CEO Michael Fuchs said about hitting The Wall, looking back at HBO stalling in 1984 from the vantage of the early 1990s. Actually, a lot of the rank and file didn’t get mad or smart; we’d seen 125 of our friends and colleagues get shown the door when the company had suddenly flatlined after eight years of phenomenal growth, and what we got was scared.
But it’s to the credit of HBO’s execs that whatever anxieties they may have had, they showed no panic or even nervousness in public. Instead, they poured any concerns into energetically and immediately addressing the question of, “What do we do now?” The world we knew had changed and there was no going back to the Gold Rush days of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company required a humongous...
“We didn’t get mad, we got smart,” HBO CEO Michael Fuchs said about hitting The Wall, looking back at HBO stalling in 1984 from the vantage of the early 1990s. Actually, a lot of the rank and file didn’t get mad or smart; we’d seen 125 of our friends and colleagues get shown the door when the company had suddenly flatlined after eight years of phenomenal growth, and what we got was scared.
But it’s to the credit of HBO’s execs that whatever anxieties they may have had, they showed no panic or even nervousness in public. Instead, they poured any concerns into energetically and immediately addressing the question of, “What do we do now?” The world we knew had changed and there was no going back to the Gold Rush days of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company required a humongous...
- 10/11/2013
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
The cast of entertainers and sports icons slated to appear at Keep Memory Alive’s 16th annual Power of Love Gala on Saturday, Feb. 18, in Las Vegas keeps getting bigger every day, though only a limited number of tickets remain for the celebrity-filled fundraiser.
Fans wishing to see what’s happening inside this one-of-a-kind 70th birthday celebration for Muhammad Ali — which will raise funds in support of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the Muhammad Ali Center — will also be able to tune in to “Ali 70th From Las Vegas” on ABC on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 4 p.m. Et and 2 p.m. Pt. It will re-air on ESPN2 later that same night at 10 p.m. Et.
The lineup for the night includes performances and heartfelt tributes from some of the world’s hottest entertainers and sports icons. The list of performers and celebrity supporters slated to...
Fans wishing to see what’s happening inside this one-of-a-kind 70th birthday celebration for Muhammad Ali — which will raise funds in support of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the Muhammad Ali Center — will also be able to tune in to “Ali 70th From Las Vegas” on ABC on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 4 p.m. Et and 2 p.m. Pt. It will re-air on ESPN2 later that same night at 10 p.m. Et.
The lineup for the night includes performances and heartfelt tributes from some of the world’s hottest entertainers and sports icons. The list of performers and celebrity supporters slated to...
- 2/9/2012
- Look to the Stars
If Muhammad Ali hadn't existed, Hollywood might have tried to invent him. A handsome athlete who speaks like a poet and can back up his trash talk with his fists, a principled martyr who can take an insane amount of punishment inside and outside the ring, a hero who goes from underdog to champ and back again several times -- if a Hollywood screenwriter had invented such a character arc, who would believe it? Ali, who turns 70 today, was bigger than the movies. Several films have tried to capture portions of his life, but the whole story is simply too big for one movie. Here are five that focus on portions of his life, either in documentary or lightly fictionalized form. None does him complete justice, but together, they'll remind you of why Ali was, and always will be, the Greatest. 1. "Ali the Fighter" (1971). Shot at the time of the...
- 1/17/2012
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Muhammad Ali: The Greatest (2001) Direction and narration: Carlos Larkin Muhammad Ali Growing up in the 1970s, the specter of heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali — whom I could never stand — was everywhere. Contrary to opinions voiced about him post-Parkinson's Disease, Ali was the most despised athlete of that era. The most beloved was actually soccer superstar Pelé. Nonetheless, from that time on a raft of mediocre documentaries-cum-hagiographies have been made of the man. Not surprisingly, none has gotten to that rotten core. Here are three that I've recently watched in consecutive order: Muhammad Ali: The Greatest, Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami, and Muhammad Ali a.k.a. Cassius Clay. The first documentary I streamed was Carlos Larkin's Muhammad Ali: The Greatest (2001) — not to be confused with William Klein's 1969 Ali documentary of the same title. Of the aforementioned trio, The Greatest is undoubtedly the most hagiographical, as the...
- 9/15/2011
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
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