WARREN – The impact Muhammad Ali had on the sport of boxing goes far beyond heavyweight championships, gold medals and a charismatic personality. The waves actually spread further than Ali.

One of his most-feared opponents said his career was “made” in a loss to Ali, the former heavyweight champ who passed away Friday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Earnie Shavers, a Newton Falls High School graduate, was and still is considered one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. Ali was one of several opponents who said Shavers hit him harder than anyone he faced. Following their showdown in 1977, when Ali won a unanimous decision, he said, “Earnie hit me so hard, he shook my kinfolk back in Africa!”

Such a compliment meant a lot to Shavers, but those words aren’t what helped catapult his career.

“After I fought Ali, it changed my whole life because when you fight Ali and you’re halfway decent, the whole world has eyes on you, even if it was for one hour,” Shavers said. “It’s opening doors for me now, so it was great for me in ’77.

“I loved the guy. He was good to me.”

The two became friends after the fight and remained close throughout Ali’s battle with Parkinson’s, which inhibited his ability to talk and use his hands.

Shavers, who now lives in Las Vegas, said he signed a pair of gloves for Ali just a little over a month ago. He generally communicated with Ali’s nurse, but that didn’t take away from the relationship with Ali, who Shavers said refused to fight him a second time.

“Ali said ‘Hell no,’ ” Shavers said with a laugh. “He said, ‘Earnie, I like you, but I don’t love you. You punch too damn hard.'”

Ali’s ability to take a punch and keep on fighting is what stuck out to another legendary boxer from the area. Cardinal Mooney graduate Ray Mancini said he got to know Ali shortly after Ali’s career ended. Mancini, a former lightweight champion who also enjoyed a tremendous amount of popularity, still remembers how Ali was “the only one that’s ever been bigger than the sport. He’s the only one.”

Mancini is still in awe of the physical gifts of Ali, who he said moved more “elegantly and gracefully” than any heavyweight in the history of the sport. Yet it was above the neck where Ali really impressed Mancini.

“The thing that made him great is that he had one of the greatest chins of all time,” Mancini said. “People don’t realize how good his chin was. Just think about all the guys he fought, all the punchers. From Sonny Liston, (Cleveland) Big Cat Williams, Doug Jones to Joe Frazier, Kenny Norton, George Foreman, Earnie (Shavers) and nobody ever knocked him out.”

Mancini did take a few punches from Ali, but they were playful ones.

The first time they met, Mancini said he admitted to Ali that he was a fan of “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier. Ali and Frazier engaged in three epic battles, and Mancini remembers the first fight quite well.

“For me, one of his greatest moments was when he lost to Joe Frazier in the first fight, March 8, 1971,” Mancini said. “Joe Frazier hit him with a shot that would’ve taken the building down, literally. He leaped in with that left hook. … He hit Ali on the chin. Ali went down. Ali got right up. Ali didn’t stay down for a count of any 2, 3, 4, 5, whatever. He got right up, wasn’t staggered. To me, that’s one of his greatest moments. To take a shot like that and get up the way he did. It’s incredible.”

The polarizing Ali, who retired in 1981 with a 56-5 record, affected all areas of boxing. His legacy is as vast as Babe Ruth, Jim Brown and Michael Jordan, but he also added a different element, according to Shavers and Mancini.

Ali’s mouth was as intriguing as his boxing. He made up nicknames to upset opponents, questioned major political movements and was as brash as any fighter before or after him. Such a reputation wasn’t well liked at the time but people later saw the strategy behind it.

“He had a great impact on the sport,” said Shavers, who Ali nicknamed “Acorn” because of his shaved head. “He affected a lot of people’s lives. He was great for the sport, and he was a great guy.”

Mancini was one of the people who didn’t care for Ali’s antics but then caught on to his methods.

“He was way before his time,” Mancini said. “He was the first to bring psychological warfare before there was such a word. He was talking all that smack and making names for his opponents, all that kind of stuff. It wasn’t my flavor but you realized later on that everything was tongue-in-cheek. He was the only one in on the joke but there was no animosity or dissent. It served its purpose. It got people out of their head.

“I just appreciated what he brought to the game.”

jsimon@tribtoday.com