Johnson won a decision over a prime Machen who at the end of his career beat an up and coming Quarry. How well would the man who beat the man fare vs Quarry?
Harold Johnson....in his prime, beat some very good Lightheavies, plus some heavies. Archie Moore, in the 50's was the only LtHvy really better than Johnson. Johnson survived duke-outs with punchers Nino Valdes, Satterfield, and Wayne Bethea. Johnson & JQuarry are similar in size in height and reach. Quarry 15 lbs heavier Unmotivated Quarry loses to Johnson "Ellis fight-style" on points. Motivated Quarry, ala Shavers Lyle & Frazier 1 fights, Quarry TKO's Johnson when refs stops fight with Johnson on his feet still fighting.
I'm favoring Harold Johnson. I've watched fewer of his fights than Quarry's, but he's fast as hell and has exceptional mid range pivoting footwork he uses to launch difficult to predict hooks from odd angles, quite a bit like Ray Robinson and Roy Jones. Quarry was a counter punching specialist, but I suspect he'd be overwhelmed and cut to pieces. The size difference isn't that much, and Johnson was one of those guys who almost looked too thickly muscled to fit into their weight class. To me he looks like a cruiserweight even at light heavy.
I love Johnson and like Quarry. But the styles to me favor Quarry. I like Quarry to decision him over 10 or 12.
I like it Longhhorn...the first one, that is...I don't think Quarry would be too successful vs Johnson. A boring "Jimmy Ellis" type decision!
