January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

Outside my own neighborhood, I wasn't ranked! How many of you guys were? Do we
have any main event fighters here? I sparred with one guy who sparred with JQ,
so that's as close as I ever got. Please, i know I'm sounding like an
asshole for lecturing you, but all these fighters are worthy of honor. Let me
give you an example. George (Scrap Iron) Johnson was a journeyman LA heavyweight
in about 1967, when Joe Frazier was starting to attract national attention. He
came out to LA and ther signed Scrap to fight him, a heavy favorite. Well, Scrap
fought a terrific fight, Joe couldn't put him down, he had Joe in minor trouble
a few times, and Joe won the 12 round decision at the Olympic Audiorium. Here's
my point: if you see that fight listed in Frazier's record, you're likely now to
think, "Hmmm, another opponent, a ham and egger, a setup for young Joe." WRONG!
Scrap fought a great fight, did his best, showed courage. How many of us would
have the hair to mix it with Joe or the ability to go 12 with him? I rest my
point, friends. Floyd Patterson may not be your favorite champ, or the best, but
you;d have to say he was better than 99.999999% other heavyweights who laced on
the gloves. I am sure JQ would agree in a minute. Thanks for listening! (You
agree with me, Massimo?)|
|6/24/05 11:05:01 PM|Gino M.|San Leandro, CA||gmast49@juno.com||||10|1 more
idea, please. I know plenty of you are young Turks who could my ass with one
hand tied behind your back, but young or old, we do need to know the context of
any fight and the history around it when it was signed and fought. Brian London
was a leading heavyweight in the UK when Ali fought him. Karl Mildenberger was
the European champs. Zora Folley was a #1 to #5 contender for years before he
got his shot. Jimmy Young stayed in the top 10 for probably 8 or 9 years. Once
in a while there is a Butterbean or a Lyle Alzado (please that bi gman's heart)
who gets a match, but usually the guy chosen has superior ability. Now the real
problem is when top contenders don;t get the shot, and somebody much lower --or
even a newcomer with a big name -- does. I don't know if we can blame that on
boxing, guys. That's life -- that's reality -- that's just the way the world is.
You can work someplace for 20 years and never get promoted to VP because when
there's an opening, they hire some young kid with a fancy MBA from Harvard. I
don;t see a problem like that ever disappearing from boxing. OK, I;m done. |
|6/25/05 01:31:19 AM|Ed|Cicero N Y||mooseygoop@aol.com||||10|Forest,Your
comments about Floyd Patterson ducking top fighters during his reign certainly
is true. Also did you ever see his title winning fight against Archie Moore?
Moore seemed to go down awfully quick against 2 left hooks by Patterson..the
same Archie Moore that took what seemed like hundreds of punches in a loseing
effort against Marciano. This was an era where according to what i read,where
there was a lot of fixed fights.But putting aside Floyds safety first
management policy, how do you think he would have done against the toughies of
his era i e Zora Folley, Cleveland Williams, Eddie Machen (who Floyd did beat
after he lost title)ect.? Floyd did have a very exciting style and a very hard
punch. His fights after his title reign were better then during his prime years.
I think hes underrated as a fighter mainly because of his two 1 round loses
against Liston.|
|6/25/05 01:59:53 AM|Noam|same||same||||10|I think Patterson did well with the
tools he had. He was prepared to take chances and fight the top guys, unlike
some. Not bad for a relatively small guy who wasn't a heavy hitter.
People can say he was scared against Liston, but he was courageous
enough to get in there (twice) and that deserves respect. To say that he was a
"cheeseburger" (or words to that effect) is very disrespectful to a decent human
being and fighter and I'm surprised that Kent - who was keen to protect Jimmy
Ellis from similar harsh words - hasn't jumped in.Joey, you are right
with your intellect comment about Frazier and Ali (of course, people can't help
that). I suppose the most well known example was when Ali (before a
fight) was teasing Frazier about being an "Uncle Tom". Frazier believed that Ali
was calling him a "Peeping Tom". I've often wondered whether Joe knew what