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What: “Earnie Shavers: Welcome to the Big Time”

Author: Earnie Shavers, with Mike Fitzgerald and Marshall Terrill

Publisher: Sports Publishing, LLC.

Price: $22.95

As a heavyweight boxer, Earnie Shavers was regarded as a great puncher. He won 73 of his 88 fights and had 68 knockouts. That’s one of the highest knockout percentages in the history of boxing.

His autobiography may not knock you out, but its clarity and honesty will stun you. This 245-page hardcover book is a refreshing surprise.

Although Shavers eventually entered the ministry, he doesn’t use the book as a soapbox to preach. He simply tells his story, and it is a good one.

Shavers was born in Alabama in 1944. He originally was Earnie Shaver, but the name became Shavers after a newspaper misprint during his Golden Gloves years. Shavers moved to Warren, Ohio, at a young age. He became a boxer at 22.

His punching power resulted in immediate success in Golden Gloves, and he soon became a professional boxer. His first promoter was Dean Chance, the former Angel pitcher; Don King, then a newcomer to boxing, was his second. Shavers calls King a con man and a dirty rotten scoundrel but also calls him a friend.

Shavers has many stories to tell. He writes about training at Los Angeles’ Main Street Gym early in his career, about his many fights, including those with Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes, and about his personal life, including extramarital affairs and financial woes.

Showing uncommon humility for a boxer, Shavers readily admits the mistakes he has made in and out of the ring. He has been married five times and has nine children, including five daughters with his first wife.

He found religion in 1986, now lives in England, is engaged to be married a sixth time and earns a good living as a public speaker. He says he has peace of mind and is ready for the “Big Time” once again.