January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

a tough fight. However, when he lost Norton 1, Norton 2 had to happen. Norton 3
was the decider and justifiable with that in mind, but I think Ali should have
retired 2 years earlier after he beat Foreman.He fought Lyle in 1975. It
was a title defense. Perhaps it was mandatory, I don't know. It would have been
better if he had been retired by then, but Ali liked challenges and new
horizons. He beat Shavers in 1977, lost to Holmes in 1980 and Berbick in 1981.
As these fights fell after Foreman, it would have been better if they never
happened.HOWEVER (note the upper case, Forest) a distinction needs to be
made here. Ali's legend must be judged on who he fought and beat. His medical
condition is a different issue.Same with Frazier. You can try and excuse
the fights he ducked by saying it was "smart management" or whatever, but the
fact is he didn't fight those guys. Therefore, he doesn't get the benefit of the
doubt. We can't 'deem' him the result.As I've said before, Frazier only
fought 2 guys up there with the greats. Ali and Foreman. He lost 4 out of 5 of
those fights. The list of guys he didn't fight is long - Patterson, Terrell,
Foster, Norton, Lyle, Shavers, et al.And the low quality of guys he
opted to fight instead is just as compelling....Zyglewicz, Daniels, Stander and
a clapped out Ellis in their second fight.We then must look at Frazier
refusing to fight in the WBA elimination tournament. Joe wanted to be "deemed"
the title without earning it.Joe didn't have a lot of fights in his
entire career. He was virtually shot as a fighter at age 27 after he beat Ali in
1971. He was fragile and his management were painstaking in avoiding hard
punchers he didn't have to fight.He only fought Foreman because he
thought he'd win easily. He says so in his book. Joe had just turned 29 when
Foreman demolished him. Greats of other eras were in their prime at that age;
Joe was washed up.Joe's management were not "smart" as Forest would have
it. If they were smart they would have made Joe retire after Ali 1. He spent
months in hospital because of that fight. Had eye and blood pressure problems.
Was apparently a little blind in his left eye and had partial vision.Yet
his "smart" management allowed him to keep fighting... Ali 2 and 3.....Foreman 1
and 2.....Quarry 2. That wasn't smart management.Forest, Joe says that
he could barely see out of his left eye before the third Ali fight. He might be
making this up to excuse the loss. But let's take him at his word ...... was his
management "smart" to let him fight in that condition ? Seems to me that they
were taking bigger risks than Ali's management ever took !Fact is,
Forest, Ali is thought by many to be the greatest ever. Joe isn't. Ali's health
is impaired by dumb management. But so is Joe's, even with his "smart
management". |
|7/6/05 11:44:48 PM|Fan|USA||n/a||||10| Every now and then I like to drop in
and risk the wrath of a regular or two by talking boxing, often relating actual
facts, and - sometimes - even mentioning Jerry Quarry. Re: Marciano and
Louis, both among the cream of the crop... about 10 years ago I became
acquainted with an old heavyweight whose career overlapped both. He showed me
clippings from some of his fights, he fought a few guys whose names I
recognized. His name was Ralph Schneider, and he said he had sparred with both
Rocky and Joe. He was quite emphatic that Marciano hit harder - much harder.
Of course, he had worked with an older Louis and a young Marciano. But this
gent appeared to be in a better position to factor age and render judgment than
most anyone, and he said it wasn't even close, Marciano impressed him much more.
Re: poor Joe's unfortunate and infamous refereeing job in Frazier-Quarry
II, there was a positive side to the story which is all but lost. Not only did
Frazier show good sportsmanship by letting up on Jerry when it became clear he
was in trouble (I recall him saying Jerry was a good guy and he didn't want to
hurt anyone) yet Louis had no intention of intervening, but earlier in the
fight, after hitting Joe low, Jerry ignored Gil Clancy who was screaming at him
to take advantage of Frazier before he could recover from the foul. Jerry
wouldn't do it. I don't think Mike Tyson would understand. I submit that