January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

the very best. A high school football team couldn't stay on the field with the
worst pro team, but does that mean the top three pro teams deserve accolades for
beating up on the worst pro team? In other words, Jimmy Ellis in 1974 might
have been better than 99% of the heavyweights in the world, but we're talking
about the top tenth of one percent---the top 5 or 10 guys---and Ellis was not in
that category. I respect him as being much better than most, even when he was
shot. But he had declined to the point of not belonging in the same ring as
Frazier. No, the public wasn't interested. Even with Ellis having a name and
being a former Champion, the public at large smelled rotten eggs and had zero
interest. So the fight was sold to boxing starved fans an 18 hour plane ride
away and actually, for a few rounds, it wasn't bad. Order was restored and
Frazier did what every single boxing fan knew he would do---the same thing he
did years earlier when Ellis was a live fighter---he landed heavy leather and
dropped Ellis like a 50 pound sack of beans. Hooray. Aussies got to see a KO!
Great tune-up guys. Without it, maybe Ali would have pitched a shut-out in
Manilla. |
|6/25/05 09:06:26 AM|angelo|dc||funktron@yahoo.com||||10|Kent, by the way,
before you chastise me for not knowing enough about boxing to understand the
need for tune-ups leading up to a big fight---yes, you've explained it and I
know. But Frazier fighting Jimmy Ellis, at that point in their careers, was not
even a tune-up. That was an exhibition or sparring and the same thing could
have been accomplished in a gym with no-name partners. A better tune-up for
Frazier with a little intrigue would have been Jimmy Young, well known in
Philadelphia, ranked, accomplished---but beatable in 1974. He was young, crafty
and might have actually had a chance---a formula to offer U.S. fans something to
buy tickets to, something to turn the television on for. Ultra
conservative/ultra cautious doesn't even begin to describe the selection of
Ellis. And by suggesting Jimmy Young, I'm not even suggesting Lyle or Shavers--
-I think most of us are confident that Frazier wouldn't be knocked out by Jimmy
Young, but the fight would actually hold some drama. |
|6/25/05 10:37:34 AM|Bob Bumbera|NC||renfbera@aol.com||||10|Angelo, there was no
money for Frazier fighting Jimmy Young. Jimmy Ellis while on the down side, was
a name fighter who promoters could still make some money off of. I tend to agree
with Kent and Forrest on Joe Frazier...we've all argued the merits of Frazier's
career here before and seem split into two camps. I will say this though, at the
time Ron Stander was no stiff. He built his record the same way Ernie Shavers
did and knocked out Shavers to earn a shot at Frazier, who I believe actually
signed a tenetive contract to fight Shavers before he contracted hepatitis, and
Shavers was KO'ed by Stander. I do also beleive in 73-74 Frazier could have
beaten Ron Lyle, Kenny Norton would have been no contest for Joe and he would
have followed Jimmy Young out of the ring in to the third row to knock him out.|
|6/25/05 12:20:35 PM|Gerry|Cleveland||jerjets11@yahoo.com||||10|I think the
jealousy issue is a good and valid point. Frazier was built to be the blunt
object he was and must have seen in Ali not just things to dislike. But to
brush off Ali's comments and actions as simple fight promotion is a big stretch,
it just doesn't fly. Ali may not have seen the offensiveness or stupidity in his
remarks, but many others did, and I'm sure it got back to him. Did he clarify at
that time or call Frazier personally ? No. He didn't care about Frazier, who he
probably saw as another tool to another payday. Frazier did America a good favor
by beating this guy, and I salute him ... Massimo, Wilt gets some criticism for
his easy going nature in defeat and just two rings, so few see him as a
champion. But I can't think of another team athlete who did more to make his
team a contender or a winner. Maybe that is the champion you refer to... I
agree, comparing Joe to Floyd is also a stretch. I enjoyed Floyd, a class guy
and a great boxer, but Joe is several notches higher for his wins and the way he
won them, at least to me. |
|6/25/05 03:09:54 PM|angelo|dc||funktron@yahoo.com||||10|Gerry: That's old