January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

size/power advantages and his own propensity to cut to eventually do him in. How
many guys did well enough to force Ali and Joe to fight him twice, just JQ.
Jerry was a thinking fighter definitely, and an outstanding athlete, in my
opinion. I believe he had just two title shots, Ellis and Frazier, in his prime
of some eight years. I don't see anyone , Foster or anyone else, at 200 lbs who
would stop him from eventually being Cruiseweight champ. Maybe as fans here we
go a little far where JQ is concerned, but if commentary here is a little rich,
just read what guys like Frazier and Foreman and others have said about him.
It's not just hype... Massimo, Wilt's teams won two titles. The only teams to
ever defeat (Boston and New York) Wilt's teams in the playoffs had at least 5-6
Hall of Famers. Teams, not players, win titles. There were only 16-20 teams then
also, not the diluted, sloppy 30 plus teams the NBA has now. Wilt played against
better centers and better teams as a result. He shot 72% from the field for the
Lakers in '72, just one of his many unbreakable records. Shaq in today's best
center definitely, but Wilt is best all-time. Also, I never said Wilt was better
than Ali, guys. Just that his rare size and athleticism would give him a better
chance than you think. Wilt was amazing at a number of sports. But obviously,
spending years of time to develop skills in one sport would give a true boxer a
huge edge over someone like Wilt. Thanks again. |
|8/23/03 01:23:27
PM|Roadscholarette|Chicago||roadscholarette@hotmail.com||||10|Quarry as a
cruiserweight is a very interesting proposition! The cruiserweight division is
an odd one. Guys who were natural cruisers have more often than not preferred to
labor as "small" heavies, for the money, exposure, and fame. A lot of CWs have
been light heavies stepping up, or light heavies who were old and fat, or lazy,
and couldn't make 175 any more.Foster, in my opinion, was far and away
the best light heavy ever. However, fighting guys at 190, or putting on some
weight wouldn't necessarily make him a legit CW. Foster was a naturally tall,
skinny guy, an ectomorph, with a dynamite punch (like Danny Lopez). To go
against a Quarry, who could easily have been a natural, in shape CW, might have
invited the same disaster as when Foster fought heavies.I imagine Quarry
would always have heard the siren song of Frazier, Ali, etc. though, and
wouldn't have stayed long at the lower weight. Patterson either, or any of the
other guys who were at the lower end of the heavy scale.Anyway, Quarry
and Foster as Cruisers? As much as I loved Bob Foster, I'd have to say that
though he'd have gotten his bell rung powerfully, JQ would have taken him.|
|8/23/03 02:49:58 PM|Massimo|Rome||3peat.com||||10|All Mac Foster's victories
were by KO (incredible !) Did he punch so hard ? Is this the only case in
heavyweight history ?To Gerry: Thanks Gerry ! OK , Wilt was better than Shaq
! I' m strong inside, I'm gonna except it ! But ShaqbAli' KO 1 !!!!!! I' m
joking, of course ! No basketball player could have beaten Ali' ! Maybe in a
bar' s brawl but not in a boxing ring !|
|8/23/03 08:14:55 PM|Forest Ward|South Carolina||joekevin@cs.com||||10|Hey Paul
M., that's my point. In the late 60's Liston was ripe for the taking. But the
managers of all those rising turks at the time avoided fighting him. When
Leotis Martin beat him, I think every manager was relieved. Throughout Ali's
suspension he repeatedly stated that he thought Liston was the best out there.
Was he trying to piss off Frazier, and Ellis, by saying that? Maybe.|
|8/24/03 04:28:12 AM|Tubby Breslin|Fullerton, CA||bearstubastanchu||||10|You
folks really know your boxing. First of all, I was wrong: Jerry didn't have lots
of title shots. But he had 2, which is more than 99.9% of pros ever have. He was
also in contention for a decade, in the minds of opponents, promoters, managers
and fans. I'm interested in the proposition that the 60s and 70s were a
great era of heavyweight boxing. At that time, almost no one was saying so. Very
few of the ranked heavies then were generally conceded to be great, believe it
or not. Floyd Patterson lost too much status from his humiliating defeats to
Ali, and his other losses. Chuvalo and Bonavena were virtually considered