January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

all the way in the fight they had immediately before Ali had the first Frazier
fight. From memory, Bonavena teased Ali pre-fight by calling him a chicken (it
sounded funny because he used the Argentinian word for chicken and it drove Ali
to despair) as a result of the draft-dodging. If I recall rightly, it was only
in the 15th that Bonavena went down and to his great credit he kept trying to
get up. Oscar was no quitter. Joe Frazier, in his book, praised Bonavena's
toughness. He also told an amusing story about Oscar at their pre-fight press
conference. Every time he got near Joe, Oscar would point his nose up in the
air and animatedly start sniffing like there was a rotten smell near him. Also,
years after their careers were long finished, Frazier ran into Oscar at a Las
Vegas casino. Oscar's first words were: "Where are all the hookers ?" He was
one rough cut and it eventually took a bullet to stop him. Finally, I must say
that I find your postings about fighters of yesterday-year very informative
reading and I hope you and the other guys who actually boxed keep writing about
your experiences. This is a very good site. Regards.|
|3/19/03 06:57:31 AM|John Gerard|NYC||rock289z@yahoo.com||||10|FOREST: Ron
Stander, a pretty tough nut of the 70's was also mostly Italian even though he
had a German name. A little trivia regarding Bonavena: according to Jose Torres,
in his book Sting Like a Bee, he mentions that Charlie Goldman, Marciano's old
trainer worked very briefly with Bonavena. That did not work out. I would say
the closest I've seen to Marciano's physique (but NOT his skill) was Jose
Urtain, the late European champ from Spain. He looked like rock but could not
fight like him.|
|3/19/03 12:27:01 PM|John Gerard|NYC||rock289z@yahoo.com||||10|LISTON TRIVIA:
Sonny Liston turned down a fight with Boone Kirkman is Seattle due to the fact
that he was filming a movie which I believed was called Moonfire. Kirkman really
got lucky.|
|3/19/03 02:05:14 PM|Gerry Schultz|Ohio||jgschultz11@msn.com||||10|What was it
that made me think of this sight on St.Patrick's Day? Oh yeah, the cool Irish
thing! I'm sort of playing catch up... On Max K. ( of which much has been
already said ), I have to follow the crowd here on that one, his comments
regarding Jerry and Oscar B. NOT being true heavies in today's game turned me
off totally. A lot has been correctly said of the conditioning, and emphasis on
skill --- which may be missing today in all sports --- of Rocky and others of
the 50s-70's vs. size, which is given too much "weight" in today's game. Jerry
at 200lbs or less is a great example. He would give any of today's guys a great
fight. Ruiz did not look that aggressive vs. Jones, appeared to me to be
intimidated by his speed. I doubt Jerry would've been at all. As has been said,
Jerry vs. Oscar would be a great match. I give Jerry the edge on speed,
counterpunching. Oscar did not appear to have good balance, but was very game,
very strong, and was leading Ellis when he got caught. I rate Rocky a top Ten
guy, but I also rate Tyson there as well, his rare speed and strength would beat
Jerry, I think, clearly. Holyfield I do not rate nearly as high or Bowe or
Lewis, all three of which are not that far from Jerry, in my opinion. Tyson, to
me, is the last "legend" I've seen since the 70s, which I agree was the best era
for Heavies. Rock vs. Dempsey, I pick Rocky, but only after a brutal beating and
a couple of trips to the canvas. It's good people still consider these classic
greats in today's Max K. right-now world. Another fighter from that era I rate
top Ten is Gene Tunney, who also retired on top with a great record. Happy
belated St. Pat's Day to the Quarrys and their fans at this site. |
|3/19/03 09:38:03 PM|Forest Ward|South Carolina||joekevin@cs.com||||10|Gerry,
mentioning St. Patricks day, you reminded me of Foreman and Jimmy Young, from
St. Patricks day of 1977.For weeks before the Foreman-Young fight I was
telling anyone who would listen that Young would beat Foreman. I was putting my
"reputation" as a fight expert on the line. Well, normally on St. Patricks day
in my younger days I would be drunk by 3pm. Well, you can imagine the shape I
was in at 10pm on March 17, 1977. So I am watching the fight in a bar, and the