Earnie Shavers vs Roy"Tiger"Williams-35th anniversary-

[Brutu]

This month marks the 35th anniversary of the fight.
December.11.1976.
from the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas.
Williams had previously sparred with Shavers in 1975
when Shavers was preparing to fight Ron Lyle.
But Shavers trainers had to let Williams go after a week because
the sparring sessions reportedly got too rough betwen the two.
Also Muhammad Ali had promised Shavers a shot at the title,if Shavers defeated
Roy Williams.
The fight was broadcast live on the CBS Sports Spectacular.

[Brutu]

here is a link to the last two rounds of the bout anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RGEUQa9BVs

[Ambling Alp]

Thanks for posting that link. If it wasn't for the "Standing 8 count" rule in effect for this fight, Williams might have won by TKO or KO early in the 10th round.

[dempseyfire]

I can see a lot of modern refs stopping that fight and awarding Williams a TKO in the 10th; Earnie was a sitting duck for punishment but from him all it took was 1 punch.

Fight was a little dull until the last coupe of rounds though. Shavers attempted to maintain a steady workman-like pace but still gassed out anyway, while Williams just rope-a-doped and landed occasional counters.