Jerry Quarry did spar w George Foreman

How the hell was Foreman "avoiding KO artists like Shavers" when Foreman was looking for a comeback opponent and immediately fought Lyle shortly after Lyle brutally KO'd Shavers...? If his management wanted him to avoid dangerous opponents, that was a very stupid decision. That argument never made any sense.

Sorry, I just don't buy the idea JQ was gracefully zipping around the ring dodging everything and boxing circles around Foreman when he could cut the ring off on Norton and Ali who tried to use the ring to maneuver around Foreman...and they were better boxers than Quarry. They also beat Quarry.

Funny how the 2 boxers you believe Foreman's management avoided (Shavers and Quarry) were defeated by guys Foreman didn't hesitate to get in the ring with.

Morrison was in the 90's when he was heavier and way past his prime...not a good example.

 

Quarry stopped Lyle and handled him easily.....he also handled Shavers easy. You may be a Foreman super fan but you lack understanding of what you see. You also don't seem to not understand matchmaking and styles. The version of Foreman that Morrison beat would have beaten the hell out of 70's Foreman...90's George had everything young didn't have, he was bigger, stronger, hit harder, stamina and patience. When he came back he trimmed down to 237 roughly 10 lbs heavier than his youthful prime and found out he could not physically handle the big modern heavyweights very well so he pushed his weight up to 250+-260+.....

It doesn't matter if you believe the eyewitness accounts of sparring or why his team avoided Quarry.....also just because fighter A beats fighter B and fighter B beats fighter C does not mean fighter A beats fighter C.....if your thinking was valid then Hearns sparking Duran and then getting sparked by Hagler SHOULD mean that Hagler sparks Duran well we know how that worked out

 

Peralta - now there’s an underrated fighter or at least one that I took too long myself to properly appreciate.

Excellent skills, tricky and as tough as old boots. Good scalp on the resume imo - I wonder how Ken Norton would’ve fared against him.

 

At least I can understand and see that Quarry didn't stop Lyle, he won by decision. So you're already off to a bad start because apparently you either didn't watch the fight or you have a bad memory.

This is all wild speculation, purely opinionated, and way off topic.

It matters if there is zero evidence of it, because I can simply dismiss it as a rumor or gym talk. Quarry probably would've mentioned if he was easily getting the better of George in sparring. Instead, he had nothing but praise for him, which would be quite odd if that rumor was true.

There is also zero proof his team avoided Quarry. When you enter the realm of pure speculation and bias, you can see things and make connections that aren't there.

I didn't say Foreman beats Quarry because he beat guys who beat Quarry. My point was it's kind of strange to claim he'd avoid Quarry when he was more than willing to face 3 different boxers who all made short work of Quarry.

If the argument is that Quarry's style supposedly spooked him in a supposed sparring session where Quarry was "boxing circles around Foreman", again that's quite strange when Foreman was able to cut off the ring preventing Norton and Ali from simply boxing circles around him (Ali abandoned his attempt to do this in the 1st round and changed tactics). Quarry was not a better mover or boxer than Ali and Norton. Foreman was also willing to fight the slippery, technical counter puncher Jimmy Young when he didn't have to, which makes the claim he avoided Quarry due to his counter punching skills even more dubious.

 

You are correct about Lyle

On your last point by using Norton and Ali as examples of being able to cut off the ring then you don't know boxing....Ali didn't move his strategy was the rope a dope he even mentions it in the Foreman vs 5 fiasco....Norton was not a mover he dragged his back leg behind him and could not back up well.....hence the reason he was stopped when matched against Shavers and Foreman oh and Cooney he couldn't move out of trouble to save his life. Also the reason his team grabbed Quarry when he was out of shape and fading fast.....and the reason JQ tried to bomb him in the first round

You will have to research the story and BTW...is JQ supposed to bring it up every time he is behind the mic? Trying to get a fight with a top name is done through all sorts of means sometimes compliments...anything to get a fight. Makes you wonder how a far lesser fighter like Jimmy Young could beat Foreman but not Cooney and JQ could not....is this a race thing for you or idolatry....even fighters like Tyson, SRR, Ali, etc....had opponents whose style they avoided.....with Tyson it was Holyfield when he was with Rooney all due to sparring exposed something about what the fighter could not do well with.

 

Whenever Ali wasn't throwing ripping right leads in the first round Foreman was advancing hard and trapping him in the corners and on the ropes again and again. The pattern repeated again early in the second until Ali simply adapted on the fly and stayed there. His claims of foreman cutting off the ring too well are borne out on film.

Tyson didn't avoid Holyfield, he went to jail.

 

I disagree the rope a dope was an intentional strategy....the ropes were extremely loose at the request of the Ali camp ....Ali knew he could not move like he did anymore and expected to be pinned on the ropes he also knew he could punch him in between his wide swings....that's not saying that Foremans springy legs were not part of the rationing...of course it was Foremans calves were freaking springy he was bouncy but he was a slugger with little boxing IQ,...the only real concern was whether or not Ali could take it. There are some very good documentaries on Zaire, the delays in the fight the intentional slack in the ropes and the death threats against Foreman....and Ali practicing laying on the ropes blocking punches and fighting off them.

 

Rich you have 2 people telling you Foreman was cutting the ring off and cornering Ali preventing him from simply dancing away. It's on film. Whether Ali planned the rope a dope or not is irrelevant, if he could've simply used his jab and footwork to evade Foreman he would have. Why the hell would he take all those painful body shots if he could box circles around Foreman?

 

Tysons people did not want to match Tyson with Holyfield because of Holyfield style handling him.....pre prison.....Tyson going to prison had little to do with whether or not his team wanted him to fight Holy.....the post prison fights were because of Tysons ignorant MGMT team who had little to no knowledge of the sparring thinking that Holyfield was fading so Tyson should have blew him out....well we know what happened....Tyson couldn't...every former fighter knew that Tyson bit him in the rematch because he couldn't beat him and he knew it

 

I've probably read them all. They contradict themselves at times too. The fact is it really should be obvious Foreman was cutting him off virtually at will in the first round. Ali had to punch him off from the start and did in spurts. Foremans advances were surprisingly fast for such a big man but also very measured and effective.

Ali would have practised on the ropes knowing Foreman was a gun ring cutter. There was no chance he was not going to get cornered at time no matter what his strategy. Ali gave boxing a shot but had to let it go.

 

Study he timeline. They had to build Holyfield up as a reputable heavyweight first to rake in the dollars. The public were hardly sold on a cruiserweight moving up and fighting Tyson. Even after he won the title Holyfield had his severe doubters.

Do your research and you will see Holyfield was already cemented in to fight Tyson 4 months after his "expected victory" over Douglas. The purses were already settled at a whopping $22mil and $11mil. This is boxing history 101.

Sorry but Tyson avoiding Holyfield is pure fiction.

 

One of these guys thought that Norton was good at moving.....I fought a long time and trained a lot of fighters....it doesn't matter you don't understand what Ali was doing in the ring.....Foreman was no ring master he fought a lot of fighters who came forward or could not get away very well......this is by design for those who don't understand matchmaking.....Ali moved on occasion with Foreman but he also let Foreman put him on the ropes and he laid there blocking shots....his legs were practically shot in his 2nd career he moved some but he was not the Ali of 66 or earlier....again Ali was known for training to let fighters hit him on the rope in his 2nd career....those ropes in Zaire were loose to compliment Alis strategy....you do know all those things like ring size, gloves, slow or fast ring etc.....are negotiated

 

Again you are lacking information on the ring, the intentional rope loosening and his strategy.....he had no plans of dancing around the ring like he did in the 1st career...hell Joe Frazier showed him he couldn't fight like that very well anymore his legs weren't the same ....so why on gods green earth would Ali a little older and more worn even think he could dance around a bigger and more athletic Foreman ? There is no logic in your thinking and fighters and trainers do not strategize without pragmatic logic driving their plan

 

Rich you just told me Tyson avoided Holyfield when he'd already signed to fight him, of all things. I think i'll leave it here mate.

 

The timeline does not matter the fact is Tysons people already knew Holyfield was trouble for him.....I did not say Tyson avoided Holyfield I said Tysons management and his trainers as in Cus D Amato who died earlier and Kevin Rooney had no intention of ever letting Tyson fight Holyfield no matter how good he was looking beating Adil Rod etc.....I never said the fight was being made and Tyson ran that is childish....it's also childish to even mention the fighter as the scared one when a fight is avoided....a boxer is a product he is a commodity the teams job is to match him carefully and make the most money they can by winning and popularity...that means he is going to be showcased to enhance his value. How the team knows how to match them is what goes on in the gym....in the gym he will spar with styles to mimic opponents and he will spar with certain styles to improve....you already know who to avoid when matchmaking because of your fighters weaknesses and the other fighters strengths