January 2002 - March 2004 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

who never had anything to be ashamed of, and that was part of his huge
popularity. There was indeed no dog in any of the Quarrys. This gamesmanship
and trash-talking and psyching out have grown way out of proportion now, so that
a lot of boxing promotion is close to WW Wrestling. We see kids with only 5
fights threatening to kill champions, and we see whole fights based on BS like
"Redemption" in the upcoming Mosely-De La Hoya fight -- excessive machismo, and
laughable. Ali made his head-gaming absolutely convincing, and often funny as
well. Almost 30 years after they fought, Joe Frazier is reportedly still furious
at Ali for calling him "The Ugly Bear" and so forth. I suspect that in a
sense, many people like Jerry Quarry because he never indulged in that stuff at
all, and simply showed up to fight. One more thing -- there's no way to
measure it or check the evidence, but I think Ali trained well for a higher
percentage of fights than 95% of boxers, and all boxers go slack on this
sometimes. It also occurred to me that Jerry was what? -- 5'11", 200-205?
George Foreman was 6'5", 230+. I simply cannot imagine Jerry hurting him, as so
few other fighters ever did, excepting Ali. I'm reminded of when Mike Tyson
(5'10", 220) finally mixed it with Riddick Bowe (6'5", 240+) and tried his
"ferocious stuff". Bowe hardly blinked and seemed to be thinking, "Jeez, is that
all?" The oldest lie in boxing is that the bigger they are, the harder they
fall. Actually, the bigger they are, the harder it is to make them fall. Look
not at the aberrations like Primo Carnera but the proof like Lennox
Lewis.And yes, my La Habra friend, I remember your town over the hill very
well. Our Boys' Club would have Fight Nights and smokers with you several times
every year. You always had good fighters, especially good, skilled Mexican-
American kids who could box you right out of the gym and beat you in a hundred
ways. A La Habra star I'll always remember was Larry Hughes, who became an
outstanding amateur heavyweight, and would have fought for our country in the
Pan Am Games, had he not had some Vietnam injuries that hampered him. You guys
were the toughest in Orange County then, along with Santa Ana. |
|8/25/03 02:55:50 AM|Ed|Cicero n y||mooseygoop@ol.com||||10|Just a couple quick
comments on recent posts...yes fighter from 30 to 40 years always take on a new
aura, kind of a nastalgia thing I suppose. Notice how u dont hear much from the
Dempsey or Jack Johnson era (cause those fight fans have mostly passed) even
though those fights are widely available on tape..so its kind of an emotional
thing as people age and think back on fighters they grew up with.Concerning
the lack of talent in the heavy division I agree its probably because of other
opportunities from other sports. Also its possible that the athletes are more
aware of the dangers of boxing. I know the university near me (and i've heard
some pro teams do it too)pulls the player aside when they hear they're
interested in pursuing a boxing career and sends them to the medical dept and
they're shown what happens when the brain is hit with a gloved fist. Most of
them lose interest quick.( Not that football is great for the head or body
either, they seem to ignor that part).One thing I read from a doctor
concerning a fighters ability to take a punch is that getting knocked out is
like a safety valve and that a fighter that gets k o'ed is actually saving
himself rather then one that takes punishment over the course of the fight and
is regarded as having a strong chin..of course thats what makes boxing, boxing,
the ability to take punishment and play russian roulette with your brains.|
|8/25/03 04:22:04 AM|Massimo|Rome||3peat.com||||10|To Tubby: Joe Frazier wasn' t
the "Ugly Bear" !He was the "Gorilla" ! Do you remember " I'm gonna beat the
gorilla in the Thrilla in Manilla " ? Sonny Liston was the "Ugly Bear" ! Primo
Carnera wasn' t an aberration ! I beat Paulino Uzcudun twice, Walter Neusel...
Lasted 15 rounds against Sharkey and almost 6 against Joe Louis. He wasn't a
great champion but he was a good fighter ! P.Uzcudun was EuropeanChampion
and fought toe to toe 3 times against Max Schmeling ! Max Baer could'nt last
almost 6 rounds against Joe Louis ! Ali isn't 6' 4". He is about 6' 2"1/2, I
think. In today's he wouldn't be considerated a big heavyweight at all ! He was