January 2002 - March 2004 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

I have the day off! Steve you wanted to know about Harry Wills, Joe Jeannette,
Sam McVey and Jimmy Bivens. All of these guys were great fighters. Wills, Mcvey
and Jeannette were victoms of the color line that was drawn at the time. Wills
"The Black Menace" was 6'4" and fought around 220. A classic stand up boxer
with good power he was given a good chance to beat Jack Dempsey. In fact,
Dempsey had his licence revoked in New York for not fighting him. Dempsey's
manager, Tex Rickard set up a bout between the two but the promoter couldn't
back up the money. Race riots were also feared if Wills won. That set up the
Tunney fight in Philadelphia in 1926. McVey was about 5'9" and 180-190. He was
a very crafty boxer who was beaten by Jack Johnson. Joe Jeanette was another
great boxer around the turn of the century he beat Johnson and beat McVey in
Paris, a fight that recorded 38 knockdowns. Jeanette hitting the floor 27
times. These two along with Sam Langford and Jack Johnson were the best fighters
of the the era. White fighters drew the color line, if they were "allowed" to
fight a white, they almost had to lose, draw or foul out to keep from being
lynched. Jeanette, McVey and later Johnson exiled to Paris where attitudes
towards blacks were more tolarable. Jimmy Bivens was another great boxer in the
late fourties and early fifties. He was avoided by every heavyweight and
lightheavy of the era. Given a good chance to beat the aging Joe Louis, I
didn't look up his record before writing this but I beleive he beat Walcott
twice and lost to Ezzard Charles. He also fought Lee Ohma, Lou Savold, Elmer
Ray. Steve, I hope this helps you out a little, and if I'm wrong on any of this
please correct me.|
|5/27/02 12:12:48 PM|Bob Bumbera|NC ||renfbera@aol.com||||10|I was wrong about
Bivins record Steve. He was Beaten by Walcott and beat Charles altough Charles
beat him four times. He also had five fights with Archie Moore winning once by
KO. He also decisioned Gus Lesnevich,Tami Mauriello, Bob Pastor and Joey Maxim.
He also had wins over Middleweight Nate Bolden and future Middle champs Teddy
Yarosz and Billy Soose. He retired in 1955 with a record of 86-25-1 with 31 KO's
he met 11 world champions, defeating eight of them. Steve, look up some of
these guys on cyberboxingzone, I should do it more often!|
|5/27/02 12:23:21 PM|Kent|La Habra, Ca||oriononside@aol.com||||10|Liston over
Moorer and Norton over Schmeling, both bouts by mid round kayo.|
|5/28/02 11:13:26 AM|Gerry Schultz|ohio||jgschultz@firstam.com||||9|I realize it
is somewhat subjective, but I'm impressed that Ring's list gave Jerry Q proper
credit for his remarkable talent vs. the fighters in his very-strong era. The
late 60's early 70's should be represented with Ali and Frazier ahead of Jerry,
Norton and Foreman, who I'll refer to from here as " the group". It is tough to
compare, but Foreman was well-suited to Frazier's style, Norton to Ali's and had
the benefit of surprise. Quarry nearly surprised both of the above principles,
but got cut before he could attack in AliI, and got too much of Joe in Round 3
in FrazierI before he could convert to counterpuncher. I think both Ali and
Frazier were looking past Foreman and Norton respectively the first time, but
both proved they belonged in their second fights. Jerry clearly belongs in this
foursome given his list of remarkable performances versus slightly lower but
stong contenders in the era, and all four in the Top 20. Prime vs. prime Jerry
matches well vs. both Norton and Foreman. The other two took him very seriously
certainly, he brawled too much with Frazier when he clearly could've challenged
Joe even better as a counterpuncher. He needed size to slug Ali. It is curious
how he brawled in some fights, was more a boxer in others, and often picked the
wrong style for these opponents. Still, on talent alone, he belongs. Frazier and
Foreman both agree themselves. Again, I rank Holmes somewhere near Norton
,Jerry, and Foreman. Holyfield also about the same, with Bowe close behind the
group. Lennox Lewis I rank ahead of Bowe, worthy of belonging with Norton, JQ,
George and Holyfield. Tyson has to be a top ten pick, not much else from the
90's. I don't think Holyfield really beat Tyson as much as head-butted him and
confused him. I put Tyson clearly ahead of him, ahead of the above group with