George Foreman vs Jerry Quarry

Id give the edge to Foreman because of his physical advantages,I know Quarry beat some good big men like Lyle and Foster,but george is their superior for power and strength,Jerry would do well early,he had good handspeed and could make Foreman look plodding and predictable ,but around the 9th George would start to dominate,plus I think Foremans jab would be a factor in controlling Quarry at range,defensively Foreman looked crude,his gloves up taking punches on them like a catchers mitt,but he was effective.Foreman by late stoppage due to cuts.

 

I have the utmost resect for Quarry, but I can't give him much of a chance against Foreman. Quarry's swarming attempt against Shavers wouldn't work on a much more durable Foreman, and nor would he be able to box with George as he did against Patterson and Lyle. George would hit Quarry hard and early. Jerry had the tendency to box from mid to close range and this would play right into Foreman's hands.

Prediction: Foreman by KO between rounds 3-5.

 

Foreman KO4. He's going to land his share and his chin saves him from the Shavers type scenario.

 

Gil Clancy was trainer to both of them.

It would be interesting to hear Gil's opinion.

Supposedly Quarry was to get a title shot at Foreman after his victory over Shavers in late 1973, but Foreman signed to fight Ali in the Fall of 1974.

Quarry ended up having a return fight with Joe Frazier in June of 1974, got beat, and was never really ever the same thereafter.

However, a fight with Quarry in June might have helped Foreman immensely for an Ali fight in Fall 1974.

Quarry was very tough, would have hit Foreman back, and might have exposed some of Foreman's so-called conditioning problems.

I see Foreman winning in 7 rounds by TKO, with Jerry still on his feet.

George would have then defeated Frazier, Norton, & Quarry...all top heavyweights......and maybe had corrected his all out-early attack conditioning problem that hurt him so much against Ali.

 

Quarry had a good chin and was very successful vs the Big Slow punchers, I saw him KO Big Mac Foster 24-0 24KO's, Earnie Shavers, Joe Alexander, Thad Spencer, Ron Lyle and they all had one thing in common, hard punchers with no stamina, George Foreman hit as hard as Shavers but was slow and tired after 5 rounds or less, Quarry could take a shot and was never down vs Frazier, the 1st fight was even until Fraziers stamina took over. Quarry was also eratic when young but improved under Gil Clancy. On a good night the Quarry of the Lyle,Shavers and Foster fight had a good chance of stopping George, just a matter of styles but I liked QUARRY BIG VS fOREMAN FOR AN UPSET and George was very protected leading to the Frazier fight and his record was very padded

 

George stops him in 2 ...Quarry was always too brave for his own good

 

Leroy Caldwell made it very clear that Foreman and Lyle hit about the same, with Shavers hitting harder than both put together.

Foreman had sparred with Jerry, got knocked on his keister, and wanted no part of Quarry in the ring afterwards, especially when Peralta proved that Jerry had the size and strength necessary to make George give ground. After some of his early televised wins, Foreman was asked about taking on Quarry next. His trepidation at the idea of facing Jerry was far more evident than Liston's was after beating Henry Clark.

George was just the sort of big easy target Quarry feasted on, and both knew it. At Jerry's best, NOBODY of his era could blow him out quickly, and Quarry favored the same mid range distance the much slower Foreman preferred.

Jerry had speed, quickness, lower center of gravity, mobility and experience over Big George. Yes, Foreman said he was afraid of both Frazier and Norton, but actions speak louder than words, and his defense against Roman in Tokyo is Exhibit A that he is telling the truth about avoiding Jerry.

However, a Quarry dethroning of Foreman would have been a disaster for boxing. As popular as Jerry was, nobody would have accepted him as any more than a transitional champion with Ali waiting in the wings. The result of a Quarry challenge to Foreman would have established Ali was the best heavyweight in the division.

Still, Quarry would have probably made an inaugural title defense against Chuvalo, if only to get back at the Canadian Champ for that ignominiously galling earlier defeat. Then, take on Frazier. That bout would have determined who Muhammad got to dethrone to regain his title. (I believe Ali and Herbert Muhammad would have been willing to wait until sufficient interest was generated in Ali's recrowning to allow for such a delay to promote a lucrative buildup, probably rooting for Frazier to regain the title, given the one sided nature of Ali's last win over Jerry.)

 

Scott Le Doux said Greg Page hit him harder than Foreman, Lyle, Norton, Weaver and Holmes. Should we just take that at face value and treat it as gospel?

I learnt very early to take most things boxers say about one another with a grain of salt. There is often a very strong element of doubt. Some is entirely true, others not.

 

I'm with you here. Quarry does have the skills to pose more problems for George than Fraizier but losing the big one seemed to haunt him. Foreman 5th round stoppage, after a shaky few moments in round 3.

 

LeDoux may well have been telling the truth, but Earnie's name is not among those on Scott's record. Another point that needs to be mentioned concerns how fast Page was (if "not that quick," as Stan Ward puts it). Foreman was comebacking from the Ali defeat, at a time when Gil Clancy was changing George's former free swinging style. (This has been suggested by some as a key reason why a shot Frazier was able to last longer in his rematch with Foreman.) It also doesn't matter how hard somebody throws, if he's so slow, and telegraphs so much that the punch fails to land with full impact, or in the right spot. It has been suggested that Cleveland Williams was a harder puncher than Sonny Liston, but the Big Cat never was able to connect solidly on Ali, so Muhammad can never compare his power to that of Liston, Foreman or Shavers. (All the better, as "You're NOT supposed to get HIT!"-Billy Conn.)

Lyle was 38 years old when he broke up arguably the best undefeated streak of LeDoux's career. He came off the deck early to wobble LeDoux repeatedly (and get wobbled over and over by Scott himself), but was clearly faded, and had to settle for a split decision (as I recall).

Norton outboxed LeDoux handily, and should have taken the decision, but fortunately for Scott, it was in Bloomington, so he got the hometown draw. In that match, Kenny repeated banged LeDoux's midsection with his fine hook (one of the better displays of boxing skill in Norton's career), but Ken's reputation for power has been severely inflated by having broken Ali's jaw. (Due to some dental care negligence on Ali's part.) Norton did take Duane Bobick out quickly, but Bobick was a notoriously slow starter who was stunned early, then stood up to an awful lot of bombs from Ken before finally falling, in their 58 seconds of action. Norton was a very respectable puncher, but by no means a great one. The only clean single punch knockout I ever saw him score was against cruiserweight Randy Stephens, on the Holmes/Evangelista undercard (ironically, the only clean one punch kayo I ever saw Holmes record).

Mike Weaver jabbed his way to a 12 round points verdict over LeDoux. Scott made the mistake of wearing leather soled shoes in the ring, and then all the resin was swept off of the floor before the bout began. This prevented LeDoux from getting any solid traction on the ring surface, and Weaver took advantage accordingly. While LeDoux has blamed the poor footing for his performance, it may also be responsible for his surviving 12 rounds, as getting his feet firmly planted may have given Weaver a chance to connect on him solidly.

Finally, we have Holmes. While Larry is in my top three heavyweights of all time, he was really a pure boxer, not a major puncher. Aside from his uppercut knockdown of Weaver, his right to Evangelista's neck, and the left jab knockdown which finished off Ocasio, there are not a great many highlight clips of individual punches he produced during his career. (Still, Holmes did manage to floor LeDoux using just one finger, "The poke of blinding death!":good) But Scott himself did say immediately after their match that with the exception of getting shook by one good jab, most of the jabs Larry hit him with were of the "flicking variety."

Yes, and that's why a consensus should be sought among those with such experience.

The footage of these various contests makes it clear that Page did indeed hit LeDoux harder than the others you mentioned. Now, how many others agreed with Scott's assessment of Greg's punching power? Furthermore, was this the only shot Page delivered on LeDoux which carried such steam behind it, or did LeDoux report Greg to have struck with hard shots throughout those four rounds?

Regarding Shavers, if only Leroy Caldwell had rated Shavers tops in power, that would be one thing, but when Ali, Holmes, Lyle, Norton and Cobb all agree with Caldwell, how can such a consensus be conveniently dismissed so cavalierly?

 

Foreman by TKO