Earnie Shavers was born as Earnie Dee Shaver on August 31, 1944 in Garland, Alabama. His family moved to Youngstown, Ohio, where he was a football and track star. Earnie didn’t start boxing until he was 22, and had a short amateur career that saw him win the 1969 National AAU title. It was obvious to everyone who saw him, that Earnie was a heavyweight with power.
The first bout of his professional career took place on November 6, 1969 at the Armory in Akron, Ohio. Earnie knocked out a guy named Silas Howell in one round, and followed that up with another first round KO just five days later. This time the victim was George Holden in Orlando, Florida. Incredibly, just TWO days later, Shavers lost a four round decision to Stan Johnson in Seattle, Washington. His fourth bout of the month was eight days later, where Earnie stopped Lee Roy in three in Rapid City, South Dakota.
The young heavyweight from Ohio would win three more times to close out the year 1969, all by knockout. Earnie would open the decade of the 70’s with another first round KO of Abe Brown back home at the Armory in Akron. Five straight knockouts would follow that one, leading up to a fight with undefeated Ron Stander on May 11, 1970 at the City Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska. Stander stopped Shavers in five rounds, which left Earnie with a record of 12 wins and 2 losses.
After a few months out of the ring, Earnie returned in August, and reeled off five consecutive knockouts to close the year of 1970. Amazingly, he would fight SEVENTEEN times in 1971 alone, and knock out every single one of his opponents. 1972 followed with eight more knockouts in eight fights, which made him a viable contender for Joe Frazier’s belt, if the champion was willing to take the risk.
Shavers traveled to the Philadelphia Spectrum on February 19, 1973, and knocked out a slick boxing prospect named Jimmy Young in in three rounds. That same Jimmy Young would give Muhammad Ali all he could handle just three years later, and defeat George Foreman in March of 1977 as well. After a first round KO of Harold Carter in one round on May 12, Earnie traveled to Madison Square Garden on June 18 to take on the ex-champ Jimmy Ellis. Shavers knocked him out in the opening round, making it known to the boxing world he was the hardest punching heavyweight on the planet.
Earnie was dormant until December 14, 1973, when he stepped into the ring with the rugged Jerry Quarry at the Garden in New York again. Shavers’ march to a title shot was derailed suddenly when he was knocked out by Quarry in the opening round. The crushing loss sent him back home to Ohio, wondering what his next move would be. At only 29 years of age, all he could do is regroup, and comeback in 1974.
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