Was quarry vs chuvalo a case of a bad referee ruining a great fight

Something I haven't mentioned. There is a clock on the tape of the fight. Quarry goes down at 33:45. He gets to his feet at 33:57. I counted with the sound off, one coming at 33:46, and I reached ten (as Clayton did) at 33:56 with Quarry still on one knee. Any claims he beat the count are not accurate in my judgment.

"Anyone who has Chuvalo winning has to go back to judging school."

We all judge with our own eyes, and it is subjective. But someone who describes Ken Norton as "battered and clueless" against Quarry might just be living too much in a glass house to throw stones.

 

Agreed.

 

IIRC at that time Quarry was quoted later on as saying he had not heard the count and thought he had more time before the count reached 10. Not the referee's fault as he was only doing his job and he did it properly.

 

Loved Quarry as a kid but and at the time I thought it was a fluke. Quarry was killing him and just didn’t hear the count. Had he got up would have recovered and continued to dominate and won a unanimous decision at the least. Over the years as I’ve rewatched the fight and had to be honest and say he just lost. First of all I realized he dominated in early rounds but last few were even at best. Chuvalo fought the fight of his career but Quarrys weaknesses were really exposed. Short and very short reach. Chuvalo I think was slightly taller and had a slightly longer reach. Enough that the jab gave Quarry trouble as was a weakness he had given the short reach. Also at least twice Quarry hit low and apologized profusely but then relaxed like he was trying to be nice and each time Chuvalo then blasted the relaxed Jerry with big left hooks. The last one decked him but the other hurt him as well. In summary Chuvalo asked no quarter and gave none were Quarry as he did was trying to be nice guy. Also I believe Quarry like everyone else thought he was much better the George and may not have been in top shape. Also Quarry 201.5 Chuvalo 217. And Chuvalo was always in top shape and he was a hulk. The weight differential was a factor. Quarry needed to train like he did for his biggest fights and not worry about being a good sport but punish Chuvalo at every turn. Had he done that I believe he would have stopped George in a late round.

 

Knocked down + counted out = A 'knock out'.
Quarry was simply knocked out.
Referee did a fine job.

 

Quarry screwed this up all by himself.

 

Yes, in the sense that it was a bad call, but I would't say one mistake of this caliber is enough to conclude that a referee is generally bad.