The second boxer considered for the role of Clubber Lang in "Rocky III" was Earnie Shavers. Shavers, who passed away on September 2, 2022, was well-known for the devastating force of his right-hand blow. Though he never won a title, he came close in 1977 when he faced none other than Muhammad Ali in a championship bout. Shavers gave Ali such a run for his money that, even after the legend ultimately won in 15 rounds, Sports Illustrated ran a cover story on the fight titled "Ali's Desperate Hour."
Five years later, when auditioning for "Rocky III," Shavers showed Sylvester Stallone just how much force he could pack into his punches. As Frederick V. Romano writes in "The Boxing Filmography," in entering the ring with Stallone, Shavers initially refused to hit him with anything more than a soft jab. Having gone through filming two boxing movies, Stallone seemed to think he could take on this bruising heavyweight. "C'mon Earnie, show me something real," he said.
Shavers showed him something real by punching Stallone at full force right in the liver. "That nearly killed me," said Stallone. "I went straight to the men's room and threw up." In the end though, it wasn't Earnie Shavers' punch that lost him the part of Clubber, but his voice. According to casting director Rhonda Young, Shavers' voice was simply too high to come off as the kind of tough and intimidating they needed for Clubber, and the rest is history.
