Should Jerry Quarry Be In The International Boxing Hall of Fame?

I would vote for him if he was on the ballot. People here get way ahead of their skis with him as far as his capabilities but he was absolutely a significant presence and participant in one of the sport’s major eras.

 

I love watching Quarry but he is absolutely not a hall of famer. He was a top contender in a tough era, but falls short of a hall of having a fame caliber resume.

Imo, he needed to beat at least one of Ali, Frazier, Norton or Foreman. He does have a close decision win over an old Floyd Patterson and impressive wins over Shavers, Lyle etc. But beating one hall of fame fighter isn't enough.

 

By my standards of what a HOFer is yes. By the strictest standards no. Should probably get to Hart and Carnera first.

 

No. 0-4 vs Ali and Frazier. And too many off nights like Chuvalo. He does have deep resume though.

 

Talk about a guy who could have benefitted from a Cruiserweight division.

 

My initial instinct is "no, not even close." But if he'd won just that one fight against Jimmy Ellis, with the rest of his career playing out exactly the same, he'd probably have been voted in a long time ago.

 

I agree. That fight was his big chance and he blew it by not being aggressive enough.

 

Nah...

 

I got to digging into Newspapers dot com about Quarry a while back. It was enlightening.

Found some comments by Gil Clancy after Quarry died. He said Quarry was very frustrating to deal with … that he had all sorts of chops and incredible power for his size, but he was incredibly stubborn, despite his outward shows of self-confidence he really was insecure and was always worrying whether he could have done more in training or if he was too heavy or too light, and that he had this nasty habit of when the punches started flying doing what popped into his mind or what he felt like doing instead of what he had been prepared to do in training. For example, trying to box when he needed to slug and vice versa. Sounds like along with bad luck and size issues there might have been some head case issues with the guy too?

Quarry would be a good subject for a book. Philly Daily News boxing writer said after Quarry died that at one point he and Jerry were collaborating on an autobiography, which had the prospect to be pretty good because the stories Quarry told not just of his boxing career but his life were great. But it fell through because Quarry had already signed a contract with someone else to do an autobiography, then that one fell through when Quarry’s mind went.

 

Sometimes it must be hard to follow instructions in that ring.

I mean they are prepared professionals who have been training for months but when you think you have a chance for ending it you take it and there might lie one of the problems. on the other hand you get hit hard, you back off a bit and try to box and that might throw you out of your rythm as well.

Imagine doing that against Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers, Jimmy Ellis, even the old Floyd Patterson, etc....

 

I understand that but I can also understand Clancy’s feelings too given that he was the one tasked with preparing Quarry to fight as trainer.

 

I saw that April 27 1968 WBA Title encounter final between Jimmy Ellis and Jerry Quarry live on ABC's Wide World Of Sports, good fight, I thought Quarry won the fight but I guess the lack of aggressiveness did cost him in the scoring in Oakland, California, it was a majority decision win for Ellis.

 

I think that Jerry Quarry deserves to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame. He was part of the heavyweight history of the 1960's and 1970's. Quarry started off to a good start to his boxing career after working as a mechanic for a local bus line, replacing tires on those big traveling buses in California. Then came a decision loss to veteran Eddie Machen on July 14 1966 at the Olympic Forum, Quarry continued his career, his first match against ex champion Floyd Patterson ended in a 10 round draw on June 9 1967, many in the media thought that Quarry had won, then the two met in a rematch on Oct 28 1967, as part of the WBA Tournament to find a successor to champion Muhammad Ali, who had been stripped of his boxing license and title, Quarry won by decision in 12 rounds in an exciting bout. Quarry would go on to stop Thad Spencer in the twelfth round on Feb 3 1968 to line him up at the finals against Jimmy Ellis, who had beaten Oscar Bonavena on points in Dec 1967, in an action packed contest, Ellis was declared the WBA Champion in 15 rounds, both fighters did suffer facial damage. Quarry suffered a rather shocking defeat, after going 7 rounds in a losing effort with 5 state champion Joe Frazier on June 23 1969 in Madison Square Garden, a KO loss to perennial contender George Chuvalo in Dec 1969. Quarry had a victory over heavy hitter Mac Foster in 1970, then suffered a TKO 3 loss to the come backing ex champion Muhammad Ali in his first bout in 43 months on Oct 26 1970. One of Quarry's biggest wins came on Dec 14 1973, when he knocked out knockout puncher Earnie Shavers in round 1. Quarry earlier in the year won a 12 round unanimous decision over Ron Lyle in Feb 1973. In March 1975 Quarry was stopped by top contender Ken Norton in 5 rounds in Madison Square Garden.