| Fight Name: | Muhammad Ali vs. Earnie Shavers |
| Fight Date: | September 29, 1977 |
| Location: | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York |
| Titles: | WBA, WBC, and The Ring undisputed heavyweight championship |
| Fighter1: |  Muhammad Ali |
| Nickname1: | "The Greatest" |
| Hometown1: | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Purse1: | $3,000,000 |
| Record1: | 54–2 (37 KO) |
| Height1: | 6 ft 3 in |
| Weight1: | 225 lb |
| Style1: | Orthodox |
| Recognition1: | WBA, WBC and The Ring undisputed heavyweight champion |
| Fighter2: | Earnie Shavers |
| Nickname2: | "The Black Destroyer" |
| Hometown2: | Garland, Alabama |
| Purse2: | $300,000 |
| Record2: | 54–5–1 (52 KO) |
| Height2: | 6 ft 0 in |
| Weight2: | 211 lb |
| Style2: | Orthodox |
| Result: | Ali wins via 15-round unanimous decision (9-5, 9-6, 9-6) |
Muhammad Ali vs. Earnie Shavers was a professional boxing match contested on September 29, 1977, for the undisputed heavyweight championship.[1]
The fight went the distance with Ali winning a hard-fought unanimous decision.[2]
This was the 10th title defence by Ali since regaining the championship. Ali entered the fight weighing 225 pounds, while Shavers weighed nearly 15 pounds less than the champion. Shavers was paid one-tenth as much as Ali. However, the $300,000 sum that he made was greater than all the money earned during his entire professional career leading up to the fight.[3]
Ali was badly hurt in the second round but, by pretending to be more hurt than he was, deceived Shavers into thinking he was play-acting resulting in Shavers not going for a knockout. Shavers continued to land hard shots to Ali's head and body, forcing the champion to box cautiously and move. Despite this, Ali finished many of the rounds well, winning favor on the judges scorecards.
The fight intensified in the championship rounds, as Shavers mounted a strong comeback in the 13th and 14th rounds, once again leaving Ali badly hurt, but still standing. The final round was close, Shavers started strong landing several hard shots, but the tide turned at the end of the round. After an intense exchange of punches, Ali sent Shavers staggering back against the ropes and nearly to the canvas while continuing to land several clean punches until the final bell.
Boxing experts have regarded Ali's victory over Shavers to be one of the most impressive and brutal performances of his late boxing career.[4] [5]
Sports Illustrated boxing writer Pat Putnam said:
Although Ali's defence over Shavers is generally well regarded, there is some controversy regarding the judges scoring of the fight. Despite how close the fight was, all three judges had scored Ali the winner by a wide margin, 9 out of the 15 rounds. The result drew loud boos in the stadium when the scores were read out. Shavers had landed 266 punches to Ali's 208, threw 878 punches to Ali's 709, and landed 30% of his punches to Ali's 29%. Shavers also landed 208 power punches to 128 for Ali. Shavers outlanded Ali in 8 out of 15 rounds.[6]
Sportswriters Bob Canobbio and Lee Groves contended that "the illogical scoring patters heavily favored Ali during this period in his career... the fourth round saw Shavers out-throw Ali 63–26, out-land him 22–1, achieve accuracy gaps of 35%-4% overall and 42%-7% in power, and land the single hardest shot of the round, a massive right hand in the closing moments. While judges Tony Castellano and Eva Shain rightly saw Shavers as the winner, Johnny LoBianco awarded the round to Ali." Other alleged irregularities in scoring included none of the three judges scoring the ninth round for Shavers (in which he landed 13 punches to Ali's 4, with higher accuracy and a higher ratio of power punches) while unanimously scoring the much closer tenth round (in which Ali outlanded Shavers 24–23, but Shavers still landed more power shots and had higher accuracy) for Ali.[7]
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Confirmed bouts:[8]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alfredo Evangelista |  Pedro Soto | Heavyweight (10 rounds) | 8th-round TKO. | |
 Alexis Arguello | Jerome Artis | Lightweight (10 rounds) | 2nd-round TKO. | |
| Mike Rossman |  Gary Summerhays | Light Heavyweight (10 rounds) | Unanimous decision. | |
 Bernardo Mercado | Roger Russell | Heavyweight (4 rounds) | 1st-round TKO. |