Jerry Quarry vs Oscar Bonavena: Wonder why this fight was never made since both were popular in New York?
Bonavena broke his left hand and fight was cancelled. Bonavena was also supposed to fight Norton, but again, hurt his hand, and Quarry was called in as last minute substitute. Lyle, who fought both, said that Bonavena hit harder, but that Jerry was better all around fighter.
Quarry was the better career fighter and had more accomplishments. But something tells me Oscar's style would give him problems.
Oscar in my books, had an excellent chance of upsetting Jerry...he was bull strong, excellent at dealing with "not so big" opponents, like Frazier,...manipulating big strong guys like Chuvalo with that bizarre "boxing style" of his...and he was an excellent puncher, as he prove vs both Frazier and Chuvalo...who I am convinced made a trip to the canvas from a punch BTW. Oscar may have upset the apple cart with Jerry...outpointing him, or at the very least, maybe decking Jerry..winning or losing by a close decision. A VERY underrated fighter that Oscar Bonavena...a lot cleverer than many give him credit for being.
He sure would have, in my opinion. Oscar wasn't an unimaginative, straight ahead brawler like Chuvalo was...he was the very soul of unpredictability..
Yes would of been good fight. "Depends" when they were matched. "LUCK" very well may of determined outcome here. By the way....,,to let the folks here -know- the Jerry Quarry Foundation "letters" yet - Open. Very few posters THERE. All here are invited. Thank you. John Wilkinson [I fought Jerry Quarry in his 10TH fight..look up my name. And I also fought Mike a month before he fought Bob Foster..... "kidding"! : ) 24-15-1 amateur..]
It would have been a big deal and I think it would have been a good fight too. Quarry would be favored. Quarry was the better overall boxer in many ways but Bonavena was tough to beat. Oscar went 58-9-1 (44) and was only stopped once... LTKOby15 to Ali in 1970. He lost 2 decisions to Frazier... he dropped him twice in their first fight and lost by SD after 10 rounds, he lost a 15 round decision to Frazier for the NYSAC HW World Title. Early is Oscar's career he lost a clear decision to Zora Folley, he beat Folley in their rematch. Early in Quarry's career he lost a clear decision to Eddie Machen. Oscar has a win and a draw with the difficult G. Peralta. He beat Chuvalo by decision (Chuvalo dropped Quarry and Quarry just missed getting up in time). Oscar did lose to Lyle, Patterson, and Ellis by decision. Lyle was a bit green vs. Quarry when he lost to him. Patterson's loss and draw to Quarry could have been wins for Patterson without too many complaints. Ellis got a close win over Quarry. It is what it is, doesn't really mean much. Power? Bonavena Strength? Bonavena Durability? Bonavena Speed? Quarry Overall boxing ability? Quarry Defense? Neither man was hard to find. I'll pick Bonavena by split-decision. I'm sure plenty of people will have a problem with that opinion though. They will probably come back with something like this- Quarry was a great counterpuncher. He had an easy time with fighters like Bonavena. What do you mean Bonavena was more durable than Quarry? ...and so on and so forth.
Maybe but only by the narrowest of margins. I tend to give Bonavena a little more credit for his career and the way he handled himself against Frazier and Ali. Absolutely. :good
Excellent post.. I've never believed that Quarry was more durable than Bonavena and I don't know why anyone would. Their failures against common conquerors just don't support it. Quarry was cut to shreds inside three rounds against a three year laid off Ali, while Oscar took that same version of Muhammad 15 rounds.. Quarry was stopped in five by Frazier and again in 7 in their rematch.. Oscar lasted the full distance with Joe in two fights. Bonavena defeated George chuvalo in a long fight. Quarry was dropped and while there's some controversy about how he timed the count, the fact is he didn't make it up in time so he got knocked out.. Tough luck but those are the facts. I still Beleive Quarry had he better resume with wins over Lyle, Shavers, Mathis, foster, and his controversial win over Patterson. But Oscar was the type of fighter who just kept coming forward, was a nightmare to beat on the inside, and hit pretty hard.. I think he's a problem for a guy who did his best work at mid range and had the tendency to cut and bleed frequently. While both men were decked exactly 7 times each ( quarry 7 times in 66 fights and Oscar 7 times in 68 fights ) I see Jerry being he one spending more time on the canvas as Oscar hit harder and had the right style to turn the trick.
I certainly feel Jerry has the Mix of Toughness and versatility to 'Matador' Oscar for long periods, In some quarters Oscar has something of a Rep as a great Toe-to-Toe Slugger, but this was born of the two Frazier Fights, and of course it was Frazier who was forcing the Issue, For a big Barrel-Chested Block it was interesting to see Oscar Hang Back, Throw a few Sembalence Jabs then walk off to the side.. Before 'Bullrushing' in, And thats when Oscar was most Dangerous, During those Intermittant Bullrushes, Maybe he could of had more Success with Ellis and Folly first time round if he hadnt of left them those inbetween breathing spaces, So you have a highly dangerous man ...Intermittantly, against a Man capable of being Dangerous, but also with the versatility to Bag Rounds/points with his footwork and skill when opening up, I would not be at all surprised to see Oscar Picking himself off the Canvas along the way, He had appalling Balance when Bullrushing in and did leave his chin up when looking to charge an opponent against the ropes and bomb away, 2nd class opporsition usually couldnt find that Barn Doorin the eye of this short storm, Ellis Did it and as stated i think Jerry Could to When i watch Jerry Rip into Frazier in their first Fight of the year Meeting, If Oscar Thinks Jerry cant Stand with him Mano-on Mano he would probably get a nasty surprize from the Quicker Irishman, But the idea is to make a potentially tough dangerous assignment easier, As long as Jerry sticks to the Lyle Or Chavulo (First eight Rounds !) Blueprint then i think he his home and dry, As Jerry Catches Oscar coming in he might even breed a bit more hesitancy in Oscar who might spend longer periods Following Jerry around the ring and Looking for that perfect 'Bullrush' Moment..That never Comes... A desperate Oscar is a dangerous Oscar but i feel his Intermittant Danger will not be successful against the consistancy of an on song Jerry, Irish Jerry Quarry Hard fought on occassions but Clearly on Points.
I would not have been surprised Quarry stopped Bonavena !, anyone with two left feet that came to Jerry, was in for either a long (Ron Lyle) or short (Earnie Shavers) evening ! Jerry had a much better record vs top ten 8-7-1 4 KO'S Opposed to 4-7-1 zero KO'S ! AND 4 very dubious top ten wins, Oscar never knocked out anyone in the top ten, of course to you mugs he'll Ko Quarry! Lets face it, had Bonavena "Really been confident of a victory!" The bout would have been made- for $$ if anything else! At least 3 times Oscar shunned the bout! One he stated he did not have time to train (1973), and I believe him, he probably did need more time to train!-these guys were warriors!!.
Oscar was hard to time as he had that herky jerky weaving style. You never could tell what he was going to throw and his punches had power. Certainly Quarry was the far more skilled fighter. You would have to go with Quarry with his jab and counters winning via decision in a rough bout.
