January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

you will about the Ali-Norton trilogy. Norton won the first one, and you could
make a case that he should have gotten the nod in the third (I don't agree with
that---thought Ali did enough to defend his title, but would entertain an
argument.) but Ali won the second fight and I don't understand why that point is
really up for debate. He outboxed Norton and seemed to score more points---
controlled the tempo and Norton never hurt him in the second fight---didn't come
close. Of all the close decisions Ali won in his career, why to people debate
Norton #2? Just because Norton fought well in the other two fights? On the
topic of Jerry, he did indeed beat Shavers, who took out Norton in one and who
gave Ali all he could handle. He beat Lyle, who KOed Shavers and also fought
well against Ali and Foreman (and was ducked by Frazier and Norton). JQ was in
the thick of the title picture for a good many years and should have gotten a
shot against Foreman. He earned it. Earnie: Will you at least agree that
Quarry's impressive win over Shavers in 1973 should have put him in line for a
title shot? The reason we're even talking about what MIGHT have happened in a
Foreman-Quarry fight is that the fight, unjustly never took place.As for
Frazier, he was impressive in taking out Jerry twice and fighting Ali closely
three times, winning one. He beat a string of good fighters in the 60's. But
no one here should dispute the fact that Foreman made Frazier look ridiculous in
the first fight and soundly beat him in the second (though Joe actually won a
round). Also, Frazier was lucky to avoid Shavers and Lyle and never fought his
friend Norton. That's three top contenders of the 1970's---very natural face-
offs for Frazier that curiously, never happened. It seems to me that if
anything, it's possible that Norton avoided Frazier, but seems clear that
Frazier had little to gain and a lot to lose by facing power punchers like
Shavers and Lyle, especially after Foreman clubbed him and made it look easy.
|
|8/16/04 11:37:00 PM|Gerry|Cleveland||same||||10|I guess I'm in the pro-Frazier
group here. In the space between Ali's suspension and the emergence of Foreman,
he was the best guy out there. He didn't fight alot, but beat some great
fighters as has been listed. Was he better than Ali or Foreman? No. I still give
the guy his due, very courageous man, very successful fighter for being so one-
sided. Would Rocky Marciano have been so successful if he had to fight an Ali?
Frazier may have proved that answer, not likely. |
|8/17/04 02:43:48 AM|Timana|Auckland||kiwi@hotmail.com||||10|In his book,
Frazier didn't cite friendship with Norton for not fighting him. Frazier said
that the fight never happened because the big money was not there for
it.I find that hard to accept. If lack of money was the problem, why did
he fight Daniels and Stander ? Wouldn't have been much loot in that.And
then he fought Joe Bugner....is anyone telling me that there was more money in
fighting Bugner than Norton ? Come on. Frazier then fought two guys he
had already beaten - Quarry and Ellis - rather than seeking a risky fight with
Norton. Once again, logic would say that there was more money in the Norton
fight. He was ducking Norton, just like he ducked Lyle and Shavers. Joe
was very damaged property after that first Ali fight. Truth is, he came out of
it worse than Ali and spent more time in hospital and recovering. Personally, I
don't think he ever recovered and that is why he started ducking
guys.Remember too, Frazier thought Foreman would be easy. That was the
only reason he took that fight. The second Foreman fight he had to take if he
was ever gonna have credibility again.After the first Ali fight, Joe
fought 10 more times. He lost four of those, being stopped in three.Even
before the Ali fight, Frazier was choosy. He didn't fight Liston, Patterson,
Cooper, or even Ernie Terrell who went 15 rounds with Clay in 1967. Was he
buddies with all these guys too ?Ali foght plenty of friends. Ellis was
in his stable and Dundee was in Ellis's corner the night they fought.In
my opinion, Frazier has been dragged along on the shirt tails of Ali's legend.
Question: If you take Ali out of Frazier's resume, who is the next best