Jerry Quarry Ranked Top Ten

reading many of the comments on here about Jerry Quarry sets me thinking, "Just how young and how little of the sport most members know on these internet forums".. its obvious that most have never taken the time to understand the history of Boxing, they have never watched the great boxers from the past and only seen the garbage we have boxing in the sport today. If the website Boxrec was taken down then most of the jokers on Boxing websites would have to disappear, they would be lost and unable to comment on any fighter pre-2010 and what is most surprising, is some of these posters have over 20,000+ posts. That in itself tells you all you need to know about them and their lifestyles.

 

Regarding the opinion about "putting your Ring ratings away", looking at where a fighter was ranked at the time of a given bout is essential to understanding boxing history.

For instance, we might not look at Joe "King" Roman as a quality title challenger for George Foreman, but Roman was a solid top-15 guy who deserved to be in there as much as anybody in a 'gimme' defense. "Washed-up" Cleveland Williams was ranked 3rd by Ring and 5th by Boxing Illustrated going into his Ali fight. People may not have given him much of a chance to beat Ali, but they also didn't think that there were more than five heavyweights in the world who would beat him at that point.

So looking at Jerry Quarry, or anybody, and ana1yzing where his opponents were ranked at the time of the fight is as legitimate and essential as looking at an opponent's record.

 

Most popular… wonder why that was…

I like Quarry but he was undersized and tho very skilled on offense, especially at mid to close range, he sacrificed defense. He doesn't last half the distance with either Waldo or Lewis… or Vitali or Holmes...

 

True. While Quarry did fairly well against top flight "contenders" he fell short of the elite.. Ali, Frazier, and Norton were all able to dispatch him in relatively short time - one of whom was in his first fight back after three years of inactivity. Ellis and Chuvalo were able to get wins against him too. The men you listed would indeed stop Quarry and probably more sooner than later. Especially with Jerry's tendency to cut, bleed and get decked frequently.

 

I would say you have it exactly right.

 

Agree.

 

When was Mathis ever in the top ten?

 

Mathis appeared at #10 in Ring's ratings in early 1968 but fell out after losing to Frazier. I can't help but wonder, though, if he got that ranking as part of the buildup for the Frazier fight.

He returned to Ring's ratings at #6 in early '69, presumably because of his wins after the Frazier fight & capped by the win over Chuvalo. The Quarry loss dropped him to #7, then he gradually slid out over the rest of 1969 due to inactivity.

 

Much respect to Quarry who fought everyone. Very tough schedule makes me laugh about someone like a Wilder today who gets handed a belt.

 

Im a huge Quarry fan. I have every s**** of footage that exists on him including a lot that isnt commonly available. My take on him can be summed up pretty easily: Oddly enough i believe Quarry was a better fighter when he was younger. Prior to him entering the title picture. He was in better shape, faster, and i believe this led to him being a harder puncher. His first fight with Frazier to me showed cracks in his facade. He fought a stupid fight because he was so shamed by his performance against Ellis. I always reasoned that an earlier version of Quarry would have done better against Frazier, counterpunching, fighting off the ropes, throwing hard, accurate counters. He was a dangerous guy then, not the headcase he was later. And then i found out that he and frazier had sparred together in 66 or 67 (67 i think). This, to me, would have been Quarry at his best. If this was filmed I had to see it because it had to be a better Quarry against Frazier. Lo and behold it was filmed and i did get it and lo and behold it was the exact same fight as their title fight. Quarry's youth, speed, and counterpunching meant nothing because Frazier was just THAT GUY. Frazier was, as Larry Merchant once said, a truth machine. He bulled Jerry to the ropes, glued himself to his chest, and banged away with left hooks. Quarry simply didnt have room to breath. I then realized it wasnt timing or anything else, Quarry just wasnt championship calibre. I wish he was but he was one of those guys that could compete at a certain level and no higher no matter what. It just wasnt in him. Im a huge Quarry fan but im also a realist.

 

^ Very nice assessment. One I agree with and I've only seen the commonly accessible footage of Quarry. I think those statements of him being able to be a champion in any other era are false. (Not that he couldn't pick up an alphabet strap in another era but he would never be The Man). I love his first fight with Frazier, even though as you say he brawled against type. He was deadly off the ropes. Great counter puncher, tremendous heart and chin but a shade below elite level status.

 

Just goes to prove how shallow the heavyweight pool was in the 70's.

 

Thanks for the info.:good