How well would Jerry Quarry do in the 1980's?

I think he'd definitely some of those alpha champions. Prime versions of Lyle, Foster, Shavers and a few other men he beat were no worse than some of them. Tim Witherspoon, Tony Tucker and Mike Weaver are guys I might pick to beat him. Trevor Berbick, Gerrie Coetzee and Michael Dokes are ones that I think he'd out box.

 

Lyle improved after his fight with Quarry... but Quarry did look good in this fight. Spencer and Foster were stationary targets and Quarry looked good exposing them. Quarry had close fights with a past prime Patterson x2 and Jimmy Ellis. He stopped the not so durable but hard hitting Ernie Shavers in less than one round. He was no match for the likes of Frazier x2, Ali x2, or Norton (a little past prime in this fight, not that it mattered). Chuvalo hurt him, dropped him, and stopped him (although the fight should have continued, at least for a little while longer).

Let's take a look (not including Holmes or Tyson)-

WBA- Tate, Weaver, Dokes, Coetzee, Page, Tubbs, Witherspoon (he was also WBC Champ), Smith

WBC- Thomas, Berbick

IBF- Spinks, Tucker

I don't know that I would favor Quarry against any of these men but I'm sure he'd get a win or two (maybe Weaver or Coetzee) if he fought all of them... or maybe he just catches 12 butt whippings.

 

I would switch Weaver with Dokes.

 

One of Quarry's biggest weaknesses was Quarry. Sometimes he boxed when he should have slugged, and slugged when he should have boxed.

A very " off and on " type of fighter. On his better nights, Quarry can be dangerous. Tough, with a good counter hook and plenty of stamina for the later rounds. One drawback was he had issues with cuts.

I think he'd beat Weaver who was porous on defense, and might be able to take out Dokes. Coetzee vs Quarry could have been a great fight! Holmes would be too much for him. Witherspoon would likely UD him.

 

It did matter with Norton. A version of Quarry from a few years before would have probably stopped Norton.

 

There are others who would agree with you in fairness, but I'm not sure that I can. To beat Ken Norton you either had to be a world class puncher like a Foreman, C00ney or Shavers - or an exceptional boxer like Ali, Young, or Holmes.. And the latter of those two groups only did well against him SOME of the time.. Quarry fell into neither category. He was more of a boxer-puncher hybrid that Norton generally feasted on without much difficulty. Of course Ken did have a loss to Jose Garcia early in his career. But he was very green and took care of that years later in the rematch.

 

Mr. Magoo,
I have two words in response to what you posted: Scott Ledoux.

 

Why? How? I really doubt it. I admit this was not Quarry at his very best, but what could he have done differently had he been a little younger?

Norton was the better boxer. He fought well in 3 fights vs. Ali, vs. Young, and vs. Holmes among others.

 

Quarry had 3 weeks or less notice for the Norton fight, plus a roll of fat around the middle. Early in the fight, he hurt Norton, and went for broke, and failed. From that point on, Norton put some real hurt on him before the fight was stopped.

 

Quarry was basically done after the second Frazier fight. Nothing to do with age, just damage. As Longhhorn71 stated, Quarry took the Norton fight on short notice and wasn't in the best of shape. All things considered, Quarry still hurt Norton. A few years prior and Quarry would have probably finished the job.

 

Word is Quarry handled Norton routinely. Quarry was shot when they met.

 

He'd be in the mix, but hot and cold, like he was in his own time. Replace Ali and Frazier with Holmes and Tyson and he's still 0-4, 4 KOs against the two best of his era. I wouldn't be surprised to see him drop down to cruiser. He might win a version of the heavyweight title, though I'm not sure how long he'd hold it for. If he could be upset by Ellis, a faded Machen, held to a draw by Patterson and KO'd by Chuvalo, then he could certainly lose to a Weaver, Thomas or Witherspoon.

 

Could you elaborate?

 

I've never heard that before. And occasionally getting the better of someone in sparring here and there isn't indicative of what would necessarily happen in a fight. Greg Page Floored Tyson in sparring.