good talk

I was at Boulevard Mall in L.V. where I saw Earnie Shavers appearing in a memorabilia shop mid-mall where he was signing things for people he's often appeared there lately.  Considered by all to have been one of the hardest punchers ever in boxing Earnie looks great at "68."    nal record of 74-14-1 with 68 KO's 23 in the lst Round in a career from 1969 to 1983 with some comebacks.  Many thought that Earnie deserved the win when he fought Muhammad Ali in 1977 (Earnie  scoring an overhand right was on the cover of S.I.)  Ali called Earnie     the Acorn" in reference to his shaved hand (not fashionable then maybe it was a play     on his name) Ali, Larry Holmes, Ron Lyle and Ken Norton all said that Earnie was the hardest puncher they had faced.  There were only a couple people ahead of me and I spoke with him at some length I told Earnie that I was from Akron and that I knew he was from Warren and he said that his lst fight was at the Akron Armory.        Earnie well his memory is encyclopedic he said of the top HW's of his era only he, Larry Holmes and George Foreman are healthy, Earnie hit the canvas quite a lot with no lasting effect he said that he never smoked or drank alcohol weakens the brain I know that George never drank and probably Larry      . Retiring in 1983 Earnie became an ordained minister and has had ministries in the country and England.  A relentless Stalker whose record reveals an Extreme Killer Instinct belies the warm fatherly person that Earnie is.  R.L. Stevenson who wrote "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" said in relation to people's personalities it's more like 2. Earnie ran down a long list of the Akron boxers he knew speaking about all boxers as though th,ey were a fraternity and one he mentioned was Fate Davis.  In the Summer of 1965 the ill--fated Rubin Carter ("Hurricane,"Bob Dillon's the Ballad of, that movie) came to Akron an d Fate met his fate in the lst Round. I spoke with Earnie for quite a while and never bought anything Earnie is a real fine gentleman and speaking with him was wonderful.  The Internet current is a little shaky. B