Shavers, Foster, and Spencer. That's 3. You don't want them brought up, but they were all highly regarded contenders when he stopped them. Nobody is arguing Quarry as a KO artist anyway.
I think Frazier, Norton, and Foreman were all happy to have Quarry around, taking out or getting a measure for all the bigger punchers coming up.
The truth is that Foreman probably looked at Quarry, saw a fighter who would give him some stylistic problems, and decided not to fight him unless the issue was forced. It is common sense to to meet a challenger who you are likely to under perform against, unless they make it is necessary for you to do so.
Well if Foreman respected Quarry's talents in the ring, Jerry Quarry, also thought very highly of Foreman. Listening to the old tv broadcast fights from the 70's when Quarry was announcing fights for CBS, he always spoke very highly of Foreman. I think Quarry had thought of the possibility of fighting Foreman quite a bit. He seemed to have the strategy of how to fight/defeat Foreman thought out. Would have been a barn burner for sure...at least while it lasted.
Foreman and Shavers have much more in common than you think. Both have the same amount of KO's (sixty eight) and both stated to be the hardest puncher in boxing history.
Quality makes fights, also. And Foreman was a different tier fighter than Quarry. It's a different league. A decision win over a green Lyle does not convince me otherwise.
You're talking about one of the strongest heavyweights of all time fighting a pretty good cruiserweight. Foreman would've killed him. George showed no fear against Frazier once the bell rang....what would he have to fear from Quarry?
Know the history. Lyle was Foremans first bout after over a year layoff. Lyle knocking George down has nothing to do with how Quarry would do against Foreman. No doubt however that Foreman beats him rather easily. Quarry lost all of his Bouts vs the best talent of his era. Twice against Ali. Twice against Frazier and once against Norton. George was stop him within 5 rounds.