Muhammad Ali vs. Earnie Shavers

Shaver was paid one-tenth as much as Ali. However, the $300,000 sum was more than he had earned during his previous career.[4]

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. Although he spent much of the fight on the defensive, Ali finished most of the rounds strongly, winning favor with the judges. The fight intensified in the final rounds, as Shavers mounted a strong comeback in the 13th and 14th rounds, but Ali finished the 15th round very strongly, nearly knocking Shavers down with a flurry of punches towards the end of the fight. Some experts regard Ali's performance in the Shavers fight to be one of the finest in his boxing career.[1][2][3]

Sports Illustrated boxing writer Pat Putnam said:

That fight with Shavers, and particularly the last round, sums up for me what Ali was about, even though he was long past his prime. Could have taken him out. He had him hurt early. Ali was ready to be taken, because if Shavers hit you, you were gone. But he suckered Earnie. He faked being more hurt than he was, and conned him out of going for the kill. He fought through that; he fought through fourteen rounds. People talk about Manila; they talk about Foreman; they talk about Liston. But to me, the fifteenth round against Shavers was as magnificent as any round Ali ever fought. He was exhausted. I don't know where he found the strength and stamina to go on, because when he went back to his corner after fourteen there was nothing left in his body. But he came out for the last round and fought three minutes as good as any three minutes I've ever seen. Not many people remember it now, but late in the round, he even had Shavers in trouble. Only the rope kept Shavers from going down.[5]

• Alfredo Evangelista stopped Pedro Soto with a knockout in Round 8.
• Alexis Arguello stopped Jerome Artis with a technical knockout in Round 2.
• Mike Rossman outpointed Gary Summerhayes in a 10-round decision.