BoxRec

Who win this one?

A terrified Spinks is laid out inside 3 rounds I guess.

Then again, I am being grotesquely unfair on Spinks by basing my prediction on the only loss of his career, but he was never a great HW; then again, neither was Shavers, but the difference is, Spinks would never have felt power like it.

Even Tyson didn't punch as hard a Earnie did.

Interesting matchup . I feel Spinks always gets undersold especially at heavyweight . Shavers could knock anyone out if he landed but it was everything else like boxing skill that could keep him from landing . Be interesting to see if Spinks could keep him off

I never thought Spinks looked good at HW beyond his effort in the first Holmes fight, vs a Larry who just seemed lethargic/disinterested. Give me Shavers by early KO.

Shavers KO 2

Cooney hit as hard as many heavies could and Spinks beat him.

Shavers hit harder than Cooney.And he more quick boxer than Cooney.

And i don't like Spinks..)

I can't see Spinks being able to make it through 5 rounds without feeling the thunder from Shavers and going to sleep.

Spinks, maybe by late KO.

If it wasn't for his power, Shavers would have been viewed as a very ordinary fighter.
Spinks was a damn good fighter. He couldn't deal with the power AND speed of Tyson, but Shavers hand speed and foot movement wasn't exactly Tysonesque.
Of course danger lurks with every punch that Shavers would throw, but Spinks would survive and wear down a big puncher who had a tendancy to run low on gas as the rounds progressed.

SenorPipino wrote:Spinks, maybe by late KO.

If it wasn't for his power, Shavers would have been viewed as a very ordinary fighter.
Spinks was a damn good fighter. He couldn't deal with the power AND speed of Tyson, but Shavers hand speed and foot movement wasn't exactly Tysonesque.
Of course danger lurks with every punch that Shavers would throw, but Spinks would survive and wear down a big puncher who had a tendancy to run low on gas as the rounds progressed.

Earnie's handspeed gets severely under-rated because most fights we have are him in his mid 30s or olrder when he was already slowing down, and his tendency to throw looping shots. But at his peak the guy had very fast hands. Watch the first fight with Henry Clark; Earnie's jab alone in that fight was rapier-like and hard.

SenorPipino wrote:Spinks, maybe by late KO.

If it wasn't for his power, Shavers would have been viewed as a very ordinary fighter.
Spinks was a damn good fighter. He couldn't deal with the power AND speed of Tyson, but Shavers hand speed and foot movement wasn't exactly Tysonesque.
Of course danger lurks with every punch that Shavers would throw, but Spinks would survive and wear down a big puncher who had a tendancy to run low on gas as the rounds progressed.

You can make a lot of fighters ordinary if you take away their dominant trait.

Vladimir5555 wrote:Shavers hit harder than Cooney.And he more quick boxer than Cooney.

And i don't like Spinks..)

You don't like Spinks? He was one of the most likable people in boxing.

I mean i don't like his style.

I'll go against the grain and pick Spinks by late round tko. I think Spinks did quite well at hw and he clearly could take a punch. He could of course loose early against Shavers but I think he'll survive the early rounds and stop an exhausted Shavers late.

I give the nod to Spinks either a descision win or late stoppage, sure Shavers hit harder than most but you need to consider the fact that probably the Biggest reason Spinks was blasted so early by Tyson was that Spinks was scared shitless and while Shavers probably hit harder than Tyson he wasnt as good of a fighter and Didnt have the same aura of invincibility.

Spinks Didnt have a bad chin if guys like Cooney and Holmes couldn't KO him i doubt Shavers would just walk through him, there is a chance but i think Spinks could easely ride the early storm to beat Shavers who didn't have good stamina.

Cooney...or the Cooney who showed up that night was no yard stick for his 1982 version let alone Shavers...

Holmes landed the right on Mike but couldn't follow up. Shavers wouldn't need to follow up.

I don't think there is much question that if Shavers landed anything close to what he was capable of, it would be all over. Except maybe if it's right at the end of a round.
There is a remote chance that Spinks could tag Shavers with something and hurt him, but unlikely. Most likely, Spinks would have to to be extremely careful of not getting nailed while at the same time doing enough to score points. Doable, but very difficult.

Spinks would have a chance, but the most likely result is Shavers by KO, probably in the 5 to 8 round range.