Reports: Valley native, retired boxer Earnie Shavers dead at 78

 Retired heavyweight boxer and Valley native Earnie Shavers has died one day after his 78^th birthday, according to multiple reports.

Shavers, a track and football star at Newton Falls High School, was working at the General Motors Lordstown plant when he took up boxing in 1967. He went on to win 74 fights, 68 by knockout.

He lost to Mohamed Ali in a nationally televised bout at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1977. 

Ali called Shavers, nicknamed "The Destroyer," the hardest punching heavyweight he ever faced.

Shavers lost another chance at the heavyweight title to Larry Holmes.

After boxing, Shavers retired in 1983, becoming an ordained minister, training consultant, and inspirational speaker.

No information was immediately available on the cause of Shaver's death.