Design a gameplan for Quarry to fight Frazier

As popular and well liked as Jerry was, an awful lot of fans, myself included, would like to believe that a Quarry win over Frazier was possible, but as I indicated in a previous post, it would have been extremely difficult for Jerry to pull off, even without sustaining any facial damage. Whatever the best plan for Quarry to use against Frazier happened to be, Jerry would have had to execute it nearly flawlessly. He would also have most likely needed to win a decision to do it, something only Ali was able to achieve in the middle fight of his rivalry with Joe (arguably when Muhammad's speed was at the fastest during his second career).

Nice to know I'm not alone in thinking Jerry could hook with Frazier though. (In fact he did just that for two rounds, but at a pace he couldn't continue with for long.)

 

This is a perfectly reasonable caveat. Jerry did not have Joe's muscular endurance, but if he used his hook judiciously, he could outhook Frazier at well selected moments throughout the match, instead of winding down precipitiously as he did. Over the course of a longer bout, quickness can sometimes diminish as power frequently does. Quarry would do better to ration the use of his hook through the early part of the contest, so he would have enough left in reserve to utilize it with greater abandon later on.

If Jerry could preserve enough in the tank to generate a championship round performance against Frazier comparable to his first round assault, then circumstances could become intriguing.

 

And that sort of speculative dilemma is why this subject makes for a good thread you've created. Frazier really got going late in the third round of his unification fight with Ellis, when he clobbered Jimmy winging away with that haymaker hook of his. I think Jerry could have evaded, or at least stood up to that shot, in a way that Ellis failed to do. Granted, letting Frazier set the pace, and display his wares before responding is a risky strategy, but we know that getting off to a blazing start failed to work for Quarry.

Now, letting Frazier set the initial pace does not mean that Quarry should concede generalship of the ring to Joe. In their rematch, Jerry fought Frazier's fight. Quarry had the necessary skills and mobility to have Joe positioned to his advantage (much as he did in his 64 second bombing of the overaggressive Jack Bodell). But Jerry was boxing's classic head case, winning matches he should have lost, and losing matches he should have won. Here, we're struggling to create a scenario where Quarry can win a match he should lose. This requires mental mastery of the situation.

Both boxers had excellent physical strength, the prototypical strength of the non weight-trained athlete. Jerry was strong enough to blunt Joe's charge forward, but he would be better off using his narrow and mobile base to redirect Frazier's attack, conserving his own reservoir of strength while making Joe expend the greater supply of energy. This evasive movement would also lessen the risk of facial damage from Frazier's head and elbows, as well as reducing his bodypunching opportunities.

Admittedly, I'm fumbling a bit blindly trying to solve this riddle. Jerry got off to a magnificent start in that 1968 war. But he did not need to win the first round by throwing 30 more punches than Joe did. (I realize he might have been trying to stop Frazier early, the way Foreman eventually did, but now we have the benefit of hindsight to realize a stoppage win is not realistic.) How might that fight have gone if Quarry simply outtraded Joe marginally in the early rounds, instead of flying out of the gate?

Quarry gave ground to Spencer, and decimated him in the process. He might have done very well catching Frazier coming in, instead of initiating the exchanges, and allowing Joe the luxury of pacing himself steadily.

Tricky, tricky riddle this is.

 

Good idea. And he might also want to do some sparring with a newspaper tucked under his right arm to protect his body.

Joe did have a tendency to leave his hands low, and Quarry could have exploited that more than he did. Still, a tough nut to crack. (Frazier is a top five all-time HW in my book.)

 

Dont hook with a hooker,take your time ,use counters ,tie Frazier up inside where he is dangerous ,dont let him work there,clinch and wait for the ref to break the action,pace yourself,against a perpetual motion,big "Armstrong",you must be rpepared to take breathers or Frazier will run you out of gas,so control the pace of the fight,,use quick one twos ,then hold him,it doesnt matter if its a stinker of a fight ,maybe like the Ellis Quarry one,the win is the thing.

 

You have my unconditional permission to erase all my posts in this thread! (My thought processes are too damn ponderous for me to be attempting this shyte.)

 

Quarry was floored byGeorge Chuvalo,a left hook high on the head dropped Quarry he got up immediately then took a knee mistimed the count and was counted out,he was alos floore by anothe rguy whose name escapes me ,both fights are on you Tube.

 

I seem to have upset you.

 

Quite agree!

 

You? Not in the slightest! (You've simply outperformed me on this thread to such an embarrasingly astute degree that I wish I hadn't posted on this thread at all. I can only dream of cutting to the chase as directly as you did.)

 

There is a third knockdown of Quarry's on youtube, in part 2 of the Quarry chronicles hosted by Bert Sugar. That was in the rematch with Frazier, when Joe sunk Jerry to a knee with a hook to the body (in the round before Frazier forced Louis to stop their rematch). I believe Joe may have busted a rib on Jerry with that one. When the Bomber stepped in to halt it, Quarry did not complain. (Of course Frazier's bodyshot has no bearing on the quality of Jerry's chin.)

I consider Joe Alexander to be an important part of Jerry Quarry's legacy, because unlike Tyson and Lewis, Jerry came off the deck to win. (And in doing so, demonstrated that he had learned from Chuvalo.)