It's true. Foreman wanted no fight with Quarry because he was avoiding him. Quarry knocked out Earnie Shavers in the first round. Foreman knew Quarry was a threat to him.
:deal Foreman would've beaten Quarry so brutally that beatings from Frazier and Norton would look like easy fights for poor Jerry
There were articles during the 70s entitled. " is Foreman ducking Quarry". George has stated since he was avoiding a bout with Jerry. However George says many things so it needs to be discounted. Of course Foreman would have beaten Jerry horrifically. Although a good fighter he always came up way short against the best. He was beaten up by Frazier twice, Ali twice as well as Norton. Certainly He was not beating prime Foreman.
Why did he duck him then? If it was going to be a piece of cake for him why did he avoid him? In my opinion, Quarry would have a good chance of beating Foreman.
No you can't discount that. Foreman was obviously ducking Quarry. Plain and simple. Foreman was a completely fighter than Ali, Fraizer, and Norton. Styles make fights. He was a power puncher like Shavers and Quarry knocked him out in the first round. Quarry would have a very good chance of beating Foreman.
I've never bought into this. Why would a man who was willing to face beasts such as Ali,Frazier and Norton have ducked Quarry ?
I agree with Stevie G. I've heard the theory peddled that GF avoided JQ but I can't see why...perhaps somebody who knows more than Stevie & myself clearly know on this subject can come up with something concrete on this? Apparently Big George has spoken on this subject but I tend to take some of the stuff George says with a pinch of salt...he does seem to go overboard to be complimentary to others (which in some ways is very refreshing). I think the "Foreman avoided Quarry" subject may well be one of those myths which has gathered momentum over the years and has become "fact". If I was a part of George's management team circa '72 I had would have had few qualms about pitching George in with Jerry, I don't see Jerry being strong enough to hold George off, or elusive enough to avoid sufficient punishment that would enable him to outlast the tyro Foreman.
Perhaps Foreman avoided Quarry coming up -- certainly after he butchered Frazier all doubts would have been dispelled, and I don't believe he was still avoiding Quarry then. Sometimes fighters and their handlers don't know how good they are. Quarry was a fearless counterpuncher, as Shavers found out. Not a great fit for George, unless you know as we do now that prime George was an ATG.
Good points and probably valid. However no doubt Foreman butchers Quarry for a TKO on cuts or just to halt the battering.
Sometimes the timing is just never right. Foreman was looking for bigger game while Jerry was trying to get the next level. There just wasn't anything in it for Foreman until post Ali when Jerry was injured and pretty washed up
I don't know how much validity there is in saying Foreman ducked so and so. I doon't know how much impact his word was in camp. I do know that his manager **** Sadler was an ultra-cautious figure who babied George along. Realistically, if you look at George's record, he beat old George Chuvalo and young prospect Boone Kirkman. That's really it. His career at the time was always a 2nd and 3rd tier fighter. i recall after he KO's the hapless Ted Gullick, Sadler said in a post-fight interview that they were now aiming towards the equally hapless Miguel Paez of Argentina who, as gleefully as one can say, Sadler said, "who holds a technical win over Bonavena of that country." I was just a kid at that time but I recall yelling at the TV, "Well, why don't you fight Bonavena then?" Funny stuff thinking back on that. Anyways, Foreman gets the rating and subsequent title shot really for being a very busy fighter rather than anyone he beat in the ring. And then even after he wins the title Sadler signs him up for Joe Roman. Moreover, Sadler states it was between Roman, Larry Middleton, Jose Urtain and the young recently-beaten-by-Ali Joe Bugner. So, back to 2nd and 3rd tier fighters. You got to admit, Sadler didn't like taking many chances. That first defense was crying out for a Quarry title fight, but we got Joe Roman. Would Quarry have won? I don't know. Foreman certainly had that ponderous slugging style that Quarry thrived on (Lyle, Shavers, Foster). It was the speed merchants that gave Quarry hell and that didn't fit the mold of Foreman. I would say for how long it may have lasted that it would have been a good fight. But again, it was **** Sadler who was the cautious one in the Foreman camp.
Quarry did do well against slower sluggers...not just against Shavers, but he took Lyle and Foster apart as well. I think he would do well and make Foreman miss, but he would have a hard time finding counters over the sheer volume of punches being bombed at him. I think this would be like Foreman v Frazier 2 with Quarry winning some rounds but ultimately making a costly mistake or getting overwhelmed before it goes into deep water. Quarry has the skills but not the power, focus, and stamina to pull this off. He would give a better effort than some would like to admit and I don't think Foreman wanted to bother with that if given a choice. He would rather root for the man against mutual rivals.
Unless they fought in 69, when George was a 'greenie' (no up and comer fights a top contender so soon) Foreman would have busted him up BIG TIME. Big George's jab alone would have had Jerry on his heels from the outset. Plus, what major contender did Jerry KO or even TKO? And please, don't bring up the Shavers anamoly, Or Mac Foster, or Thad Spencer, who went 0-7-1 after the Quarry fight. In a word, Jerry was a HOF counterpuncher but he, quite simply, didn't have the BIG BANG one punch skill to take out any of the 'big boys'.