Quarry took the fight on short notice, was shot, had been parting it up in Hawaii doing booze and cocaine, and still managed to rock Norton. Its weird how much credit Norton gets for this win. Quarry looked terrible against Scrap Iron Johnson in his previous fight, a guy he had stopped in two rounds nearly 9 years earlier when Johnson was in his prime.
As already mentioned, Jerry Quarry had gone down hill by 1975. But while I believe the Quarry of a few years earlier was much better I’d probably still favor Ken Norton to win. I don’t like Quarry’s style against Ken and don’t feel had the right tools to beat him
Yep, Jerry was def. shot by then but he still had some moments and did appear to wobble Ken at one point - with the left hook IIRC. The ultimate beat down is hard to watch - no man should take that degree of punishment.
Just rewatched and I agree. He was A LOT worse than I remember. I was very surprised to see he was still in his 20s. I wouldn't have second guessed anyone who said he was in his 40s.
I haven't watched it in awhile but other than that great left hook which sent Norton into the ropes his punches lacked steam, I think in the 4th round he was throwing lots of punches and Norton was taking them without much effect though.
In addition to all the above, Quarry had a bad back and was on drugs, both prescribed and street. This was far away from Quarry's prime. His decline was precipitous after 1972.
I liked both fighters. I never gave Ken alot of credit for this fight because Quarry was absolutely shot to peices in my book. Interesting that Ken wanted nothing to do with an irate Quarry later that evening after running his mouth.
