Question on the Quarry vs Norton fight

Norton did a number on a shot, poorly prepared Quarry ... plain and simple ... a prime Quarry , late 1960's or so is a totally different fight , a complete pick 'em sort of affair ... I have read from some very knowlegable posters that they used to spar together years earlier and Quarry really did numbers on Norton ..

 

The ref starts to grab Kenny's arm to pull him away from Quarry and stop it when Norton stumbles. He looks like he just kept moving forward and it wasn't intentional.

 

Two years earlier and Quarry probably stops Norton.

 

It looks like the ref was intending to jump in BEFORE Quarry landed the punch, and his intention was to stop the fight IN NORTON'S FAVOR, and make Norton the TKO winner. Once he realized Quarry had (maybe) shaken Norton, the ref recanted his intention and allowed Quarry to have one more chance.

Quarry's expression seemed to me to say, "Look, I just hurt him, don't stop it now!," and the ref agreed.

 

The Quarry of the Spencer or the Mathis fights stops Norton IMO.

 

If memory serves, Quarry had a wrecked back in this one but his father made him go ahead with the fight.

 

Maybe connected to the broken back he sustained in that barroom brawl prior to Ellis? (An injury like that would certainly impair training, and go a long way towards explaining why he quit for the better part of three years before Zanon. That Marciano prevailed through his bad back the way he did is staggering.)

 

Quarry staggered him but did not follow up because of the Ref and he missed it, If he had seen Kenny stagger it may have given him life...Jerry was never one to make excuses after a loss but always said this was a fight that he was in no condition and completely prostituted himself against Norton...Quarry knew he was shot before the fight and was not in condition....I think a Quarry who dominated Shavers,Lyle and Mac Foster would have KO'd Norton

 

I agree with the consensus offered so far on this. In 1975, Ken him with everything he had, and couldn't stagger JQ, as shot and hopelessly out of shape as Quarry was. The reverse wasn't true. Jerry showed even when hopelessly outclassed that his power could get Norton's attention at Ken's very best and most psyched. What would happen if Jerry unloaded the same kind of bomb which laid out Bodell?

At his best, he could do damage with a single blow from either hand. (Why he's sometimes stereotyped as a hooker baffles me. He initially stunned Mac Foster with a right, and finished him off with another right. The last knockdown of Spencer was with a deadly counter right, and the finishing sequence was initiated with another right. The first shot he staggered Shavers with was a right after Mecante's warning to Earnie about hitting and holding. And he smashed Bodell to the deck with a right that the referee erroneously dismissed as a slip right before that lethal final right nobody could mistake for a slip. Jerry was fond of twitting those naysayers who ignored his right hand, and justifiably so. He enjoyed going on about that after dispatching Bodell, and perfectly entitled to.)

 

Years ago, I was intrigued and saddened by the Quarry comeback against Cranmer. A few years after that, there was an article, I think in Sports Illustrated, discussing the Quarry boys and their father. There were false rumors of Quarry being a racist and the real truth about him not being able to train for the Norton fight, and taking a lot of medication and booze because of the pain from his back. Such a great talent ruined by circumstance.

Just looked for the article. It wasn't in SI. Hopefully, I'll remember.

 

...because an impressive win over "the great" Thad Spencer really means something!

That's like saying the DeLaHoya of the Mayweather fight was all this and all that... Jeff Mayweather that is... big freaking deal. DeLaHoya was great but not because he looked good beating up far from great fighters.

He stopped Shavers in 1 round, decisioned a pre-peaked Lyle and got his ass handed to him by Ali x2, Frazier x2, and Norton among others. What else did he do? I'm almost starting to dislike Quarry because of his delusional fans. Mathis and Foster were decent but I'm sick of hearing about his wins over Bodell, Spencer, etc... who really cares? Holyfield stopped Adilson Rodrigues in 2 rounds but you don't hear people bragging about that do ya?

Quarry was a good fighter but not a great one. When he fought a top fighter he usually lost... badly. What else could you really say? Anything else would be bull****... honestly!

 

Ok, ok, that's a bit harsh. I actually enjoyed watching Quarry fight for the most part. It's some of the Quarry fans on this forum that just rub me the wrong way.

Quarry had a good run before he faced Joe Frazier in 1969 for the NYSAC HW Title. He was in the WBA HW tournament and made it to the final in 1968. He had beat Patterson WMD12 in 1967 (he had a draw with Patterson in their first fight 4 1/2 months prior, D10), he stopped Thad Spencer in 12, then lost to Jimmy Ellis LMD15 in the final.

In his 2 fights with Patterson he dropped him 3 times and was dropped once.

Prior to Frazier he was 31-2-4 (18KO) overall and 0-1 in HW World Title Fights. He had lost to Machen (a clear loss) and Ellis. He had draws vs. Patterson, Tony Alongi x2, and Tony Doyle. His most notable wins were vs. Patterson, Spencer, and Mathis W12. Not bad, not great.

After the 1st loss to Frazier (counting both Frazier fights)... 22-7 (14) overall, 0-1 in HW World Title Fights, 0-2 in NABF HW Title Fights, and stopped 6 times. His most notable wins during this stretch were over Mac Foster KO6, Ron Lyle W12, and Ernie Shavers KO1. Not bad, really not great. His losses came vs. some greats, some not so great... but those 6 stoppage losses were brutal.

 

Almost right...Quarry scored 4 kds over Floyd...two in the '66 draw and 2 in the win on points the following year. Incidently, I believe Patterson won both fights..Jerry benefitted greatly from that weird 5 points must scoring system in California at that time.
I still think that the Quarry of those two fights beats...even stops Norton. He was quite good in both and there's no reason to deny him this, ...these were two excellent performances...and BTW, Thad Spencer wasn't the 2 bit bum you're making him out to be..he was favored by many to defeat Quarry and advance in that tournament.

 

Thad peaked just about at the Quarry bout having had his biggest win over Earnie Terrell, but he didn't have much depth as a fighter and went 0-8-1 (including the Quarry bout) to close out his career. Also Kenny once said some of the body punches from Jerry did hurt him.