Shavers twice unsuccessfully challenged for the heavyweight championship, losing to Muhammad Ali in 1977 by a 15-round unanimous decision and to Larry Holmes in 1979 by a TKO in round 11.

He was one of nine children born to Curtis and Willie Belle Shaver, and worked on a cotton farm with his family.

Shavers credited the strenuous labor on the farm for helping to build his muscular physique and formidable strength.

While still a boy, his family was forced to flee their home after his father was threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, over money owed for a mule.

Before turning professional, he had a short but notable amateur career, winning the 1969 National AAU heavyweight title.

[5] In March 1969, National Golden Gloves director Tony Mange said Shavers "carries a hefty punch".

He began to rise to the upper ranks of the heavyweight division after he hired Cleveland-based promoter Don King to be his manager.

Stepping up the class of his opposition, he came to public prominence with a first-round KO of one time WBA heavyweight champion Jimmy Ellis.

Ali's cornerman Angelo Dundee asked Baltimore matchmaker Eddie Hrica to watch the broadcast in the dressing room and signal on the scoring.

In a furious final round, the two men tagged each other, but Ali closed strongly, nearly dropping Shavers in the last 20 seconds.

The fight made the cover of Sports Illustrated, with "ALI'S DESPERATE HOUR" featuring a photograph of Shavers scoring with an overhand right.

Ali later said Shavers was the hardest puncher he ever faced, comparing him favorably to Joe Frazier and George Foreman.

In a mandatory title challenge eliminator Earnie Shavers knocked out former champion Ken Norton in the first round.

The victory is widely regarded as the best win of his career and earned him a bout with WBC champion Larry Holmes.

After Shavers took a series of punches in the eleventh round and seemed defenseless, the referee stopped the fight, awarding a TKO win for Larry Holmes.

In the words of Duane Ford of the Nevada Athletic Commission, a detached retina for a boxer was like an AIDS diagnosis[14]).

Shavers was an exceptionally heavy puncher who stalked his opponents, setting them up for his thunderous right, which was responsible for many of his knockouts, although Angelo Dundee in a Sports Illustrated mid-1970s article said "He can get you out of there with any kind of shot", referring to Shavers's ability to inflict damage with a left hook, right cross or right uppercut.

Several boxers famous for their tough chins had fallen to Shavers's punches, including Bugner and Ellis who were felled by his uppercut.

Shavers would throw punches against any legal area he could reach, exposed or covered, relying on his tremendous power to wear down his opponents and exploiting any opening.

During the early 1980s while preparing for the feature film Rocky III, Sylvester Stallone explored the possibility of using a real heavyweight boxer in the role of James "Clubber" Lang by inviting Earnie Shavers to spar with him.

[18] However, according to Rhonda Young, the film's casting director, the reason why he was eventually not chosen for the part is that his voice was too high-pitched and not menacing enough (Joe Frazier was also considered).

Thank goodness.Shavers accepted the invitation of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International[21] to preach at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

He also gave a speech on 26 February 2008 at The Streetly School in Walsall, which was based upon helping kids make the right decisions in life.