Two wins later, Don King brought Quarry in to meet hard-punching Earnie Shavers in December. Shavers was 46-2 with 44 KOs. In another bout filled with the same racial overtones as the second Ali bout, Quarry surprised Shavers. After receiving a few hard shots, he landed a big punch in the 1st round and followed that up to win a stunning first-round KO win. The incensed King reportedly left Shavers in the ring and tore up his contract to manage him. Heavyweight champion George Foreman was in attendance, and negotiations for a title bout were already in motion for mid-1974. After the Shavers bout, Foreman reportedly backed away from that proposed bout. He later claimed to have dodged Quarry, who he never formally met in the ring.