January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

opinion. Holmes, Tyson, Holyfield also, though personally not sure I agree.
Liston was somewhat lost after curious AliII fight, but had been in the ring
since the late 1950's, so might have been beatable by the right fighter, but not
as ripe as you think,Chuck Wepner. Agree with Evren about Earnie Shavers, who
had very high KO%, huge punch, which JQ took very well, but smashed others. He
gave Larry Holmes a great match. A dangerous, underrated heavy. The first
confused Don King graduate. Good to see someone mention the Euro-heavies of the
60's, they gave Ali very good matches and deserve their respect. Greatness of
any era usually is made in retrospect. Jerry Quarry's era doesn't just stand out
because of the divisions decline since then, it's because of the comparable
talent and depth of the time, which produced four respectable (Ali- legendary)
champions. When else did this occur? So many do not get title shots, yes, but
title shots are earned usually, not given. JQ earned his by beating Patterson, a
former champ, and Spencer who was at least #4. Wins like that usually can't be
ignored, though Quarry's wins over top guys like Lyle, Shavers somehow were.
Some guys like Norton were so dangerous yet not very saleable they were dodged
for years. Clay/Ali knew that if he didn't run his mouth, he might go the way of
Norton, others. Hype can be as important as talent, I guess, in gaining a
titleshot, as Gerry Cooney proved. $$$ |
|8/25/03 03:20:22 PM|Gerry Schultz|Cleveland ,
Ohio||jgschultz11@msn.com||||10|Sorry, to clarify, JQ would beat Floyd at 200,
CW, NOT 190, my goof . Both were under 200 for those matches. I'd take Jerry
over Foster also. Thanks. Massimo, Wilt and Shaq never played against each
other, that I've heard of. Wilt retired in 1975, but regularly scrimmaged NBA
guys thru the 1980's, and received serious offers to unretire as late as 1990.
He was 54 then and still could play. |
|8/25/03 04:23:48 PM|JIMMY DORSEY|VENTURA
CALIFORNIA||RONNYRAINS@YAHOO.COM||||10|One thing is for sure,whomever Mr.Quarry
did fight was in shape,Everybody he fought,with in reason was in absolute tip
top shape.Ali,Frazier,Norton,Patterson,Lyle,Shaver,Chuvalo etc, that will tell
you something about the man.|
|8/25/03 05:08:52 PM|Angelo|Washington, DC||funktron@yahoo.com||||10|Regarding
some recent posts: Say what you will about Ali. He might not have fought
technically perfect, but the man had an uncanny ability to size up his opponent,
expose weaknesses and ultimately win fights over just about everyone he fought.
The only men who beat him without losing a return match were Larry Holmes and
Trevor Berbick. In both cases, Ali was old and shot, with no reflexes left. In
fact, he managed to beat Spinks in the return match and he was already over the
hill. As for Frazier and Norton, he beat them twice in return matches, though
Norton really seemed to have his number. Still, he totally outclassed every
heavy of the sixties except Frazier and he outclassed the class of the 70's with
the exception of Norton and Holmes, though as pointed out, Holmes caught him
well on the way down. Ali pulled away from punches and kept his hands low
simply because he could! No heavyweight to that point had the hand speed and
footwork of Ali----and his boxing ability and ring generalship were second to
none among fighters of his generation. Yes, Holmes had the better jab, though
Ali's was faster. Other guys had more power, though Ali's was adequate to get
the job done. But the record speaks for itself: The man dominated the
heavyweight division over an extended period of time, and that included his
exile---three years that probably would have been his peak as an athlete.As
for the Foreman-Quarry fight that never took place: If the fight happened
around 1973-74, I think Foreman would have won by stopping Jerry on cuts. If
somehow, someway, Jerry could avoid bleeding in a fight against Foreman, he
could have won either by clear decision or his own stoppage. I don't see why
people think it's such a reach to believe that on a good night, Jerry could have
won this fight. Beating Lyle and Shavers proved that Quarry had the ability to
outhustle, outbox or even outslug the big hitters. No one in the history of the