Jerry Quarry documentary.

Yeah, tons of footage. Great find, thanks for posting!

 

Just saw it this week. Great documentary, lots of footage that I had never seen before and that is tough to do. Check it out, it is well worth your time

 

When you posted the second Ali - Quarry 1972 fight a few days ago, Quarry looked IMO noticeably worse physically than he looked in the Miteff 1967 fight. I went back and looked at the Miteff fight to be sure and checked the dates of the fights. The fights were exactly 62 months apart, the Miteff fight was on 04-27-67, Quarry was still 21 (05-15-45), but almost 22 years old, the Ali fight was on 06-27-1972 and Quarry had just turned 27.

Quarry should have been entering his physical prime at 27, yet he looked softer, slower, and less agile than in the Miteff fight. He had only gained 5 pounds (198 for Ali, 193 for Miteff), so he wasn't over weight. Quarry still had the desire, but from the look of him, he was going downhill physically. I know that there is a difference in quality of opponent between Miteff and Ali, but it's also obvious that Quarry in 1967 was physically better than he was in 1972. He was leaner, quicker, more agile. Maybe by 1972 he was already showing symptoms of his later problems or maybe it was his lifestyle? If Quarry had improved on his form from 1967 he might have been competitive with Ali and Frazier?

 

Watched it the other night. Quarry was a good fighter just was around at the wrong time and wrong weight. He would have been hell at Cruiserweight.

 

Thanks. Gonna watch this later. Skimmed thru and saw some great footage I hadn't seen before.

 

Who the hell is that guy at 13 seconds?!

 

Best I could tell it looked like George "Scrap Iron" Johnson.

 

It has been said that Jerry Quarry liked a drink and that, by 74-75, he was having a lot of them.
There have also been stories that a back injury suffered by his brother Mike during 'training', was actually sustained in a fight with Jerry in a bar when big brother slammed little brother into the jukebox.

 

I think you might have hit on something. The deterioration in Quarry physically, at an age when most athletes are getting better is noticeable if you watch the two videos. In 1972, Quarry looked like a guy who might have been drinking too much. If he had started in his 1967 form and improved for five years, getting stronger and better, he might have been right there with Ali and Frazier in 1972. He had good movement and conditioning in the video from 1967, by 1972 he was starting to look more like an office worker than an athlete.

 

I also read an article that claimed his decline was because he turned pro too soon and had too many tough fights early on. The author was of the opinion that Quarry should have stayed amateur and taken a shot at the 68 Olympics.