What did Jerry Quarry in?

great fighter that fought the best !!

 

One of the stories is that the promoter had baited Quarry with "they are looking into making a movie about your life". Sadly Jerry took the bait.

 

I recall that some woman involved in Jerry's final ill-advised bout - maybe she was a state athletic commissioner or something - said after Jerry'd done poorly on an eye test, "If he loses one eye, he has another one." Or something...

Anyone remember something like that?

 

Genetics mostly, his brothers have or had puglist dementia also, yea he drank and partied too hard, but so did Duran, and Chavez sr, but they had more fights and didn't pass away at 52..

I read a book several years ago about Quarry, and their dad was a sadistic piece of garbage he would come home from work get drunk then throw his kids outsid and told them to box, fight,, and if they said no he would beat them silly, guess they didn't have CPS in those days..

 

Agree.

 

Had all his bridgework knocked out in his fight with Ron Cranmer… someone filmed it…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oxLQyGiBoM

 

Quarry didn't have much of a chin, lacked confidence, and had very poor footwork so that he was a sitting duck who could only stop a fist with his jaw. The accumulation of all those punches led to his mental instability and demise, sad to say.

 

Poor Jerry... He had several tough fights... But, that one he took near the end against Norton was brutal...

 

I only recently learned that Quarry did color commentary in the late 70's. I watched Monzon / Valdez II & thought he was pretty good. Very pleasing voice. Shame he didn't retire & focus on broadcasting. Did that not work ou for him?

 

Possibly the worst post I have seen on this site, which is really saying something. Basically everything you wrote is 180 degress opposite of the truth.

 

Of course even that was a body shot. He did get dropped by others ; Chuvalo and Alexander for example but he did have a truly amazing chin. Walked through the punches of Shavers, Lyle and Mac Foster! Bad chin?? You joking me !

 

Quarry was a hell of a fighter but took way too much punishment in his ring career. I can't help feeling that he came round at the wrong time. If he had been around right after Marciano retired then he could've been a champion for a little while. But putting his body and chin up against the likes of Ali, Frazier, Norton etc.. was asking a little too much. He didn't have the height and reach to compete with Ali who bombed him from the outside and he didn't have the punch to keep a pit bull Frazier off of him enough. As a result he took brutal punishment from both in gallant efforts. Plus he stayed in the game too long. The 2nd Frazier fight should've been his last fight. Norton? There is no way Jerry should've taken that fight. It was painful to watch. You can only take so much before you become damaged and Quarry took so much....and more.

 

That's a huge factor.

Overall, it was a perfect storm and every available box listed next to qualities that could account for potential long term brain damage, Jerry checked.

-sparring too young
-sparring too hard
-drug and alcohol abuse
-fighting too long
-taking too much punishment in the pro
fights themselves --> amplified by high level of competition
-not recuperating properly between beatings

It'd have taken the most iron-clad, 24 karat pure boxing genetics to have overcome that every environmental factor was taking him down that tragic path.

 

great post.