January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

equations, seeking to go where no man has ever gone before in the realm of
understanding or knowledge. And the seeker too is alone, possibly in the Dark
Night of the Soul, reaching for meaning, purpose and redemption in this
universe. Changing the subject, could someone please explain more about
Jerry Quarry's singing? Was it more like karaoke with friends, or did he sing in
public as a professional? What kind of music did he sing and what was his voice
like? You all know that Joe Frazier sang, too, and Ali recorded one hit cover of
"Stand By Me". Oscar De La Hoya recorded at least one CD, too, and one of the
greatest 20th Century singers, Dino Crocetti (known to some as Dean Martin), had
several pro fights as a youngster in and around Canton, Ohio. Hammering
Henry Armstrong would be a good pound-for-pound choice. I was thinking he was
from a different era, and then I asked myself what that term really means. In
those days, as several people here have noted, boxers fought much more often,
for purses miniscule in comparison to most today, and lacked the high quality of
equipment, training regimes, nutritional knowledge and medical care. What I'd
like to mention is something about expectations then (before 1960) and now.
Namely, in those days, few if any pro fights had the high level of perfectionism
they seem to have now. In other words, back then, if you lose a fight or even
get KOed, it's not the end of the world. Your career is not ruined or even
harmed, you don't call a press conference to announce your retirement, you don't
drop off the rankings if you were ranked, and everyone had a better and more
realistic attitude to winning and losing. Contrast that with the way it is now,
and see that any up and coming fighter had better not lose even once unless it's
to an obviously better fighter, or the media and fans will decide the youngster
is no good. Even Dempsey and Louis got decked sometimes and even lost a few
fights. Among the great lightweights, welters and middles, both men might be
knocked down in a good, tough fight, and an excellent fighter might still lose
one or two in a busy year. Nowadays that humility and willingness to risk is
gone, and the public and promoter faith in fighters is gone, too. It makes for
boring fights were often 1 or both kids fight not to lose, not to win.
Does anyone see what I mean? Do you agree, or disagree? Look at someone
like Lewis or Bowe -- they fought very seldom, almost as if they feared losing
everything if they lost a single fight. I apologize for gadding on so
much but I love this site. |
|11/11/03 11:40:15 PM|kookoo|ny||kookooclock000@yahoo.com||||10|let me answer
this one, JOE FRAZIER CAN NOT SING, COULD NOT SING AND WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO
SING, what a joke he was trying. Jerry on the other hand had a pretty good
voice, if he worked more at it, who knows, i always like jerry's speaking voice,
real mellow and cool sounding, nobody talks like that, anyway thats what i
think. koo koo koo koo|
|11/12/03 12:25:48
AM|Roadscholarette|Chicago||roadscholarette@hotmail.com||||10|John -The
whole star--->superstar mentality, cynically marketed by the people who run
sports and the entertainment industry, is a double edged sword. On the one hand,
promotion and monetary return is enhanced, but on the other hand, the public
expects not only perfection, but that the participant make it look easy. Walter
Mitty on steroids. Even the wars the last couple of years, regardless of how you
feel about them politically, were influenced by a public innundated by Arnold
Schwarzennegar movies. You can have a war, but no one on the good guys' side
dies. In terms of fighters, we'll assume all fights are on the level,
because if they aren't, that introduces far too many wild radicals from which to
draw any meaningful conclusions. Muhammad Ali had it right. You have to put buns
in the seats, and a lot of them have to be people who aren't ordinarily boxing
fans. You have to make ~those~ people care about you and your fight. Those
people (today) have watched a lot of TV and movies, and have an idea of "how
things are," and how they want them to happen, regardless of whether this is
realistic or not. The fighters are human, so anything can happen, so you give