Just Rewatched Quarry-Norton

Right. Agreed.

 

Ken Norton beat the hell out of Jerry Quarry that night. BEAT HIM BADLY.

You think it's "interesting" Ken Norton didn't want to get in a street fight late at night in the middle of New York with a guy he just severely concussed inside the ring?



Do boxers usually beat the hell out of someone A SECOND TIME when they walk outside afterwards?

Do they see a guy who, in your words, was "shot to pieces" ... and after beating him severely in the ring ... pummel him again outside on the street, for good measure?

Seriously, give me a break.

Ken Norton wasn't a murderer.

 

Apparently, people are saying Norton hit on Quarry's wife.

Then again, white women falsely claiming black men hit on them and wanting their men to defend them has a sordid history in the US.

Ken Norton's first film, Mandingo, came out in 1975. It was highly controversial. The book was banned for years in some countries. The film was widely criticized. In the movie, Norton played a slave who has sex with the slaveowner's wife. Norton is nude in the movie on top of the white actress, Susan George, who was kind of the queen of Grindhouse films (cheap Hollywoods drive-in movies) at that time.

Whites and Blacks in the US were outraged by the movie. Roger Ebert panned it.

Ali was so enraged he was still blasting Norton for appearing in the movie before their 1976 title fight in New York.

So, it was kind of a dangerous time for Norton anyway. Having Quarry's white wife accuse Norton of coming on to her could've turned into a volatile situation.

Norton was aware of that.

Ken Norton was one of the highest paid athletes in all of sports in the mid-70s. Top NFL players were barely making $100,000 a year for a full season back then. Norton could make that and more for a fight.

So, Norton was never going to fight Jerry Quarry in the streets, any time. Norton was also trying to start a movie career in Hollywood and as a boxing announcer. (Quarry was trying to become a boxing announcer, too.)

I question the validity of the story, particularly if Quarry's then wife (who was also trying to become an actress) is the source. But some people apparently buy into it.

 

It was said it happened a year or so after they fought apparently.

I take these stories (and sparring stories) with a pinch of salt personally.

 

Again, whether the claim happened in 1975 or 1976, I doubt it occurred.

Given the circumstances of Norton's film, and the outrage it caused, accusing Norton of that ... in that moment ... it is pretty evil on Quarry's wife's part and could've resulted in a very volatile and murderous situation.

But women have done that before. It's good neither Quarry nor Norton took the bait.

 

Not disputing it but I hadn’t read/heard of that claim until this thread.

However, it is well corroborated, including by Norton himself, that Randall Tex Cobb wanted a second go at Kenny after their fight.

 

Not a standout vulnerability but is it perhaps fair to say Ken was a bit susceptible to a good left hook?

IIRC it was left hooks that got him going against both Shavers and Cooney. Still, it should be duly qualified that Ken was past prime and the aforementioned opponents were monster punchers at any rate.

I don’t think that Ken ever switched his arm positions for his cross armed defence - always his left arm above his right, thereby leaving the right side of his head somewhat unprotected.

My guess is that Ken might’ve had his moments against a past prime (74/75) Frazier but feel that Joe still had the left hook to ultimately decide the fight in his favour.

 

Why did Tex want another go? Likely because he felt hard done by the official decision rendered in their fight.

 

DC, on the part of was Jerry's wife that evil, let me tell you. This was Jerry's second wife, a former model named Arlene Charles, and she was a narcistic nutjob. There was a fight - I'm thinking it could have been any of the Lyle, Shavers, Frazier or Norton MSG fights - and the story was related by Gil Clancy. Gil stated that he knew Jerry and he didn't need anything to rattle his psyche before a fight because Jerry could rattle easy. He kept a subdued dressing room. Until 'Charlie', as she was known, comes bursting in the room screaming at Jerry about her poor seats. Clancy had to have her ushered out of the room and go back to trying to soothe Jerry all over again. So is it possible she would come up with a story of Norton hitting on her? Anything was possible with her.

Also, the stories of Tex Cobb and Jerry wanting to go at Ken. Again, it's possible, Ken made a reputation of being a real irritant. In his early days he was known for grabbing the many 'little guys' in the Main street Gym (Flys, bantams, etc.) in a headlock and giving them 'noogies'. Well he made the mistake of doing that to featherweight Frankie Crawford - who really was crazy. Well, the story goes that Frankie - who was having none of it - grabbed a gun out of his locker and chased Ken out the door and down the street spouting profanities along the way.

So, I suppose if you connect the dots, anything is possible.

 

That's precisely how I see it,Magoo. Ken would still have been too good for Jerry.

 

Norton wasn't a street fighter .. in his autobiography he talks about Tex Cobb .. after he decisioned Cobb late that night a drunbk Cobb was screaming for him to come down in the hotel lobby to fight him and Ken says Cobb scared the hell out of him ... I met Conn and spent a good time with him and can't blame Ken ... Cobb was a monster ...

 

Agree. The Jerry Quarry of 1968-1973 might have been a better fight for Norton but I have serious doubts about him winning.

 

The man had been described by some as being a tad unstable at times