Eddie Machen beat Jerry Quarry by decision in 1966, it was Quarry's 21st pro fight. Machen only fought 4 more times after beating Quarry, going 1-3 and losing by KO twice... the only win was a decision over a fighter with a losing record. Machen's win over Quarry was his 60th pro fight. He had lost a decision to Sonny Liston in 1960. This was not a prime Eddie Machen. On the other hand Quarry had not yet peaked. Both men at their very best, who wins? Machen beat guys like Howard King, Nino Valdes x2, John Holman, Johnny Summerlin, Joey Maxim x2, Bob Baker, and Tommy Jackson. He drew with Zora Folley and later lost a decision to him. He was dropped 3 times and stopped in the 1st round by Ingemar Johansson in Sweden. He beat Willi Besmanoff and Alex Miteff. He lost a decision to Sonny Liston. He beat Wayne Bethea and Mike DeJohn. He lost a close decision to Harold Johnson. He beat Mike DeJohn again, he beat Brian London, Doug Jones, and Bert Whitehurst. He drew with Cleveland Williams. He lost decisions to Floyd Patterson, Ernie Terrell, and Karl Mildenberger (in Germany)... all this before he fought Quarry. In his 62nd pro fight he was stopped in the 10th round by a young Joe Frazier.
I went with machen via decision. I realize jerry was green in their first meeting which shouldn't be held against him too much. But Eddie was pretty shot and had seen better days. Prime for prime I think you'd get the same result out of both guys. Machen wasn't the sort of slow moving hitter who would have walked into quarry's counters as so many did. He had pretty good boxing skills and movement too which I think he'd frustrate jerry with.
Eddie may have, in any era, been a bad fight for Jerry. pvp IMO Jerry's only hope would have been to land some solid shots, put Eddie on the defensive, and cop a decision. As I've said, Jerry never put any top-flight contenders OUT. He wore down opponents. And boxers with good chins could out work him win or lose. Look at all his draws...5 or so. With his exceptional counter punching skill, he was at his best with a slugger that came right at him...except for Joe and Foreman which (fortunately we never saw). Machen via decision in a fine s c r a p.
