Earnie Shavers and Joe Cortez remember Muhammad Ali - full interview

Full interview with Las Vegas boxing greats Earnie Shavers and Joe Cortez. Both men reflected on Muhammad Ali's death at the age of 74.

[@twisttwister8254]

He's so humble. Hes a good man

[@tonygoodwin2834]

What a fantastic man and genuine person Ernie is. Great Boxer and person. Humble and kind until he's got gloves on.

[@cbrown940]

You got that right. Lol

[@easygrin1127]

Then its time to go...

[@RexStewartoriginals]

Well said!!!

[@twisttwister8254]

He shows so much respect to Ali. Im sure Ali loved him back

[@TheMiketyson9]

Yes do you respect him also?

[@dapbnh8295]

Ali said that Ernie is the strongest, hard hitting opponent he ever faced, stronger than Frazier and Foreman

[@Twizzledoc187]

R.I.P Earnie Shavers. So saddened by the news of his passing today. Sept 1, 2022.

[@jut8146]

Lifelong Ali fan, but you gotta love Earnie.

[@rogerarmstrong8893]

Ernie Shavers is the nicest wounderfull gentleman I ever met spent time with me talking about his career took pictures the whole bit. Made me feel like I had known him my whole life. What an Athlete the hardest puncher in heavyweight history. God bless him and his family. I cant say enough about this god fearing gentleman.

[@COO415]

Earnie, you gotta give it to the man. One of the hardest hitting heavyweights. Ali said so.

[@Dragoncannon4]

He is the hardest hitting.....not one of the hardest....THE HARDEST HITTING BOXER...EVER

[@dexterbernard2701]

If you fought Ali you gained world wide attention.

[@hungfao]

A lot of the boxers from that time had the nicest things about Ali. He never ducked anyone. He wanted to avoid Ken Norton but he didn't. Even Ken Norton remained so appreciative of that. A fight with Ali was a great pay day and many remained lifelong friends.

[@TheMrBennito]

Ernie, lovely man. Many fellow boxers shared his kind feelings about Ali. Ali was a giving person, they all appreciate that.

[@grazydine2]

I always love Ali's sense of humor. The way he was rubbing Earnie Shaver's head was hilarious...I mean Shavers would have to laugh at that even in the middle of the fight. 😆

[@jackroper8829]

I met Ali Three Times! get guy like Shavers said. I met Shavers at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. He was by himself selling his first round KO VHS tapes. Earnie Shavers was a nice guy also! The fighters back then were great.

[@AMMMM2367]

RIP Legend ❤❤❤

[@cecilmorgan5084]

Nice tributes. Ali did a hell of a lot for all boxers from his time to the present. All sports people in fact. And people in general, that is, those who didn't hate him. It's said to understand mankind, know thyself. Well, Ali loved mankind because he loved himself first. That's the key to him, just like the George Benson theme to the movie The Greatest says: learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all. His was the triumph of the human spirit. In the 60s he generated alot of interest in boxing, so that by the seventies the money had grown. This in turn raised the remuneration in a number of sports, especially as sportsmen in general became more vocal and high - profile. The money has gone on expanding since. I bet most of the teenagers driving sports cars and earning thousands a week from their contracts in basketball and football haven't even heard of Muhammad Ali. His charismatic confidence of course was an inspiration to many who heard it, inspiring them to bolder aspiration. He jokingly boasted, I'm so great I really don't know how great I am. Believe it, it applies to you too.

[@rizkhan3368]

Ernie was a legend himself , from Ali to all back then, acknowledged him as the strongest Puncher of them all

[@peterbalac1915]

Great interview, Joe was a great ref Ernie awesome fighter but I loved Mohamed Ali for me the greatest of all time

[@JohnHighSax]

I am grateful to have met Muhammad Ali when I was a kid and delivered his newspapers in Chicago!

[@yoryorsmith1695]

This man is too modest, Ali named him as the strongest he ever faced

[@mimip8834]

I love Ernie Shavers such a wonderful kind hearted human being. Always with a smile. R.I.P. 💕💕💕💕💕

[@sexxmode3197]

Ali Ali Ali Rock On!!!!! Incredible this Cat is in his 70s and still pays appreciation gratitude and humility to The Greatest Of All Time. As I've told people you made $$$$ if you fought Ali. If he gave you a fight you were forever indebted. The Old Acorn Has Spoken Rock On Ernie Shavers

[@billwhite9703]

You were a beautiful man Earnie, and the thing that showed it most was the way you thanked whoever held your phone for you. And Joe Cortez, nice words mate.

[@hamdanjantan399]

Shavers is such a humble and nice guy. Should had won a heavyweight champion. But then again, during the 70s, there were Ali, foreman, frazier, norton, holmes, .

[@carterpewterschmidt6251]

Shavers brutalized Norton!

[@lawrencescott9962]

Love you Earnie, you look Great Legend!!!!

[@mikebrown9521]

Mr Shafers is a humble man.

[@charlesbattee1411]

Damn.... Boxing is a rough hustle

[@USMC-ve7im]

Learned more about both of these grst men from this. Thank you.

[@gregorymorris8343]

Earnie Shavers within s'mores with Larry Holmes and Ali. He seemed like he was just a trainer away from winning the championship. He looks awesome at his age. He can pass for 55. God bless.

[@3flyte_3flyte]

Earnie is a wonderful man.

[@CocaineCowboyJones]

RIP Mr. Shavers. You and Mr Ali are together now with Joe Frazier and Ken Norton..

[@dummy9517]

Yesterday, 1st September 2022, Earnie joined Ali. RIP Earnie Shavers 🕊️

[@jerryday9838]

I always liked Mr.Shavers.great man, and one hell of a pinched.

[@stevenstubby8632]

I could almost cry! :(

[@markdesilva1893]

Ernie was one of the strongest punchers ever. Amazing how Ali survived that fight. Anyone one else would have been knocked out!

[@user-rt5br1zi3u]

He was also 35 yrs Way passed prime

[@MrRobertFarr]

Golden Age of Heavyweights.

[@anthonychiulli7736]

Great man. Sincere

[@Dsmoove2984]

That’s my cousin. Good man.

[@alexchaudhri2405]

What a gentleman.

[@Poncho758]

Every time my wife makes me acorn squash. I think of Ernie shavers. No doubt one of greatest fighters. In best area of boxing.

[@terrywilson1813]

Cortez was a great ref

[@neal6473]

Yes he was one of the best 👍.

[@samv2783]

I saw Shavers fight a few times when I was a kid. He was built like a tank and very intimidating. It's nice to see what a class act he is.

[@jirenthegay9243]

Sam V Hardest hitter besides Tyson.

[@christopheranderson8875]

Jiren The gay - And George Foreman, Rocky Marciano, Deontay Wilder, Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier

[@envy690]

@@jirenthegay9243 There were harder hitters out there. Than Tyson, I mean. Shavers is said by nearly every single HW who fought him to be the hardest puncher in history.

[@davestrongman9519]

I’ll never be able to understand how Larry Holmes got up from that right hand....

[@greganderson1445]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@CoachDarren]

Rest in peace Mr. Shavers. 🙏

[@Ali-Makki]

earnie was nice since day one

[@shaungreen4756]

I Just thinking 🤔when they said about Muhammed talking while he was fighting ( that is why Ken Norton broke 'Ali's jawbone, when they fought' !)

[@marksymbala1193]

Shavers is cool

[@williamarmstrong632]

Nice Guy.

[@nathanlarkin1411]

Rip Earnie.. you guys are together now

[@carltonbanks1254]

Good energy.

[@cbrown940]

Great, great guy.

[@jerrynappi7075]

RIP and I love you

[@MrAsgharbukhari]

Sweet guy

[@Ambarwati-lo5jv]

ERA MUHAMAD ALI SEMUANYA BISA MENJADI RAJA... DAN MUHAMAD ALI BEGITU BESAR NAMANYA... KARENA MAMPU MELAWAN DAN MENGALAHKAN PETINJU2 DENGAN PEMUKUL SANGAT KERAS.. FOREMAN,NORTON,LYLE,ERNIE... SAAT ALI MENINGGAL SEPARUH JIWA MEREKA SEAKAN JUGA IKUT PERGI... KARENA NAMA MEREKA AKAN SELALU DI INGAT BERSAMA MUHAMAD ALI SEPANJANG MASA... CINTAI PARA LEGENDA INI..❤❤❤❤❤

[@pianoarmond]

Shavers was a hard hitter. He was a great freaking fighter.

[@thomaslemond5913]

Love ya Joe and Earnie❤

[@Berkcam]

Ernie, a great man and one shaver you don't want anywhere near you chin 👍

[@dezwin4209]

truth is great

[@elhousseineboukhreiss2992]

Un grand boxeur shavers

[@AkMS0505]

Long live guys👊☝️

[@fmills1583]

Guy who is so easy to like, you better like him or else.

[@fmills1583]

Ali fought Liston, Frazer, Forman...Says Earnie is the hardest.

[@averagejoe511]

It wouldn’t surprise me if the fix was in. I felt at Times Ernie was going easy on Ali barely touching him to the body

[@Johnnyrocks34]

He was only person shocked that ali passed

[@minimr2]

And still making sense. So many boxers are punch drunk ☹️

[@Daurentius322]

Well he does have it very slightly, if you listen closely you can hear that he tends to have a slight ramble when he becomes excited but I think this man is not only a legend in the sense of a Boxer but also as a Human, I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't like to meet him and who wouldn't appreciate talking to him.

[@veteranencup5654]

R.I.P Earnie Shavers .

[@domenicsandri2740]

Holmes was All’s sparing partner. They were friends.

[@Richard-yt9vi]

Joe I'm the boss man in here Cortez is a legend

[@nepaliguy6537]

RIP Earnie, his time now life eh

[@pukulu]

Shavers is level-headed and he came away from the boxing game with all his marbles, a little like Archie Moore. Shavers was stopped a few times, mostly from exhaustion against a fitter opponent, but he did not suffer noticeable brain damage.. Joe Cortez is quite articulate. This was a fine interview. I followed the career of Ali and I always felt that he was given more leeway than his opponents because of his celebrity. For example, Ali was given a decision over Jimmy Young in spite of hardly hitting Young with anything the whole fight.

[@3rdpersonality48]

Can't dethrone the champ by ducking outside the ropes to prevent being hit and that's exactly what jimmy young was doing throughout the match ducking outside the ropes.

[@3rdpersonality48]

Can't dethrone the champ by ducking outside the ropes to prevent being hit and that's exactly what jimmy young did throughout the match ducked outside the ropes.

[@evanbarr9270]

Young was penalized for retreating through the ropes (sticking his whole upper body thru the ropes,one time he it was counted as a knockdown, no way he was winning the title with that disgraceful performance.He did this when Ali had him cornered .

[@pukulu]

@@evanbarr9270 well, I didn't much like the way Jimmy Young fought either. He couldn't break an egg with a punch. Ali was way out of shape though and he was slow and ineffective.

[@evanbarr9270]

pukulu It’s hard to watch the later fights .

[@danielolowu7626]

Earnie shavers mostache and built was so scary to me

[@kevinwiltshire2217]

Looks like a Mike Tyson punch

[@carlosartoni1387]

Earnie shavers Power Black

[@jajonjohnson3865]

Cortez and mills lane were the two best refs in the sport of boxing.

[@za3lan00]

A lot of people say Earnie Shavers gave ali Parkinson syndrome.

[@MrPhilliptv1]

Things like this will never happen for a fighter that fought Floyd Mayweather.jr.

[@hamdiben8163]

His name is Muhammad Ali not Ali.

[@abusalam7774]

Ernie was not a WBC champ Ali didn't give him a chance although he was a hard puncher

[@garyross1974]

Up

[@percyvaughan]

I am a fan of both but Shavers won this fight. Most people see the last 30 seconds of round 15, but not the first 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Shavers landed a ton of hard shots.

[@brunocontiero5310]

Shavers himself told Ali won...at the end almost was koed...and you can not win a world title in that way..

[@percyvaughan]

9-6 Shavers may be 10-5. Yeah Shavers along with Norton both took the political route now. But watch all of round 15 and tell me I am wrong. Also watch 10-14 tell me who landing 💣 and winning rounds. To Ali's credit he did nearly stop an exhausted Shavers in the last 30 seconds.

[@JoeKoOhNo]

There's no way Earnie outboxed Ali. He went into the 15th knowing he needed the KO and he tried to get it. Ali also knew it and played on Earnie's desperation. That's why he won the fight. When Earnie had to try, Ali was ready and almost knocked him out.

[@percyvaughan]

@@JoeKoOhNo Did you watch the entire fight? Did you watch all of round 15? Shavers won 9-10 rounds by landing hard 💣. As far as round 15? The last 30 seconds Ali nearly stopped and exhausted Shavers.....but 1st 2.5 minutes was Shavers.

[@JoeKoOhNo]

@@percyvaughan I've watched the fight many times. It's a great fight. I had previously bet on Shavers' to win other fights but I took Ali in this one. Ali outboxed Shavers throughout but every time he mounted a rally Shavers stopped cold. That doesn't mean Shavers won the round. Ali was the aggressor throughout the fight and landed far more effective punches. He was ahead going into the final round and knew Shavers needed the KO to win. He preyed on Shavers' desperation which increased as the round wound down. That's why he was so effective in the final minute. Shavers tried gallantly to knock him out but it was Ali who almost scored the KO.

[@thamermattar]

Ali seemed the loser, and he almost loss it! I don't think this guy know Ali very well for most fighters said that you never know if Ali was faking it or really hurt, he makes you feel that you have him but then he come back, that is what Forman and Frazier knew about Ali and so those who watch Ali's fights.

[@ASTONVILLIN42]

Your a moron

[@subhashchand8185]

Bro you are absolutely right .

[@tomneidher]

Yes Muhammad Ali was the world's best boxer and the world's best trash talk. Nothing to be proud of being tras talking. Nor to change their name to forget where you come from. And even worse to convert to Islam. And worst of all, how he treated his best friend Joe Fraiser. Joe Fraiser is the real champion her, but nobody talks about that! Stop not telling the truth.

[@Makentamedia]

This country was founded on the concept of 1. Freedom of Speech and, 2. Freedom of Religion. That includes Islam. Most Americans are freakin hypocrites who don’t believe in their own ideals, smh…

[@aarondigby5054]

His name was changed to begin with to Clay, I'm sure his ancestors weren't named Clay in a village in Africa, gtroh. A mother in Africa named Clay.

[@Daurentius322]

1:19 Ali was a kind guy? Well, with all due respect Mr Shavers, I think you are a better man than him because unlike him you have always been yourself, you did not pretend to be a loudmouth and didn't talk nonsense about people nor did you earn your living off of talking down on other boxers like Ali did with Joe Frazier and others.

[@shermanmiller3203]

You didn’t know Ali so stop, until you know a person intimately you can’t make comments like you have

[@bonsuosei2697]

People condemn Ali for the way he treated Frazier but forget how the latter disrespected him. By the late sixties and early seventies people had accepted and called him by his adopted Moslem name Mohammed Ali.That was his decision and he had the right to have chosen the religion he desired and expected to be called the name he adopted. The world recognised and respected this. However, a few like Joe Frazier a fellow African American, refused to accept this and still called him 'Clay' in utter disrespect to the man and his religion.Though I'm not in support of the abusive language Ali used on Joe Frazier, because I believe he went overboard sometimes, I cannot begrudge him for trying to pay Joe back.Ali's trash talking was for most times for fight promotions, off the ring he was a kind hearted, generous, modest, humane and honest person as attested by people who got the opportunity to get close to him.

[@richardbranton7396]

Joe started the trash talking he couldn't stand that people including ring mag still recognized Ali as champ until they fought.Joe was always calling Clay ,watch the Mike Douglas show when Douglas ambushed Ali by bringing Joe on .Joe could dish it out but couldn't take it back and was far ,far ,far more nasty over the years than Ali ever was also ruined his son's career by overmatching him too soon and changing his style Tobe an infighter like himself when he was a skillful and talented outfighter like Ali,he couldn't stand that Ali said he fought more like him than his daddy

[@matthews8576]

Shavers shook Ali a few times in that fight.

[@JoeKoOhNo]

Stopped him dead in his tracks round after round But in that last round Ali stopped Earnie repeatedly and almost knocked him out! That was a great fight.