Who was the best '70s heavy outside of top 4?

Outside of Quarry it's a bunch of average contenders--with Patterson too old, if he was Patterson of 1950's he's be second to Quarry, or maybe over him.

 

I always thought Patterson got better as a fighter after the losses to Liston. He took on fighters that weren't recommended by Cus. Floyd fought a fight plan that took on all comers instead of easy pushes.

 

Young by a distance

Wins over: Foreman, Lyle (twice), Garcia

Arguably has wins over: Ali, Norton, Shavers

Jimmy Young maybe the most underrated HW of all time, many have him beating 2 top10 HWs including the greatest a top20 HW (norton) and 2 top50 hws (Shavers/Lyle)

 

For me there's no question, it's Jimmy Young.

Quarry always came up short in his biggest fights, Young beat Foreman and Ali in my eyes. He had some rough moments with Shavers who Quarry stopped in one, but Young was still green there and avenged it in the rematch.

Quarry was excellent but in the end he was second-tier. Young proved himself against the best.

 

It's hard to seperate Quarry and Young IMO.

Young gets credit for "beating" Ali, but Ali was in the worst shape imaginable, like when he fought Leon Spinks, and Young still resorted to some shitty untidy spoiling tactics.

Quarry has some good wins but was over-matched against Ali, and ultimately beaten quite badly by Frazier. He couldn't go the distance with these guys. Against others he looked superior in lots of areas though.

 

I pick Jerry Quarry. Although He lost easily to Ali, Fraizer, and Norton, he at least fought the best versions of those guys or at least close. He also defeated Shavers, Lyle, Patterson, Foster, Mathis and Zanon which is probably a better collection of wins than anyone outside of the top 4. Some very good arguments have been made for Jimmy Young, but mostly what I'm seeing are things like robberies against an aging Ali, etc. Sure he beat Foreman and Lyle which was huge, but I don't think Young had as many quality wins as quarry, and lost far more fights as a whole.

 

Young for the reasons listed by others.

 

Young has some better wins but Quarry sits comfortably better in the losses department, and i'm not counting silly totally over the hill losses either. Young reached greater heights i'd sum it up as but Quarry didn't hit his lows. Young will have the majority support i'd say but Quarry's only a bee's dick behind.

 

Nobody ever spanked Muhammad Ali.

I'll go with Jimmy Young also, even though his so-called victory over Ali came when Ali was way past his prime and shadow of his foremer self. Still, he handily defeated Foreman and that's quite a feat.

 

Holmes.

Anyway, Young, and then Quarry.

Young gets credit for beating Lyle, but Quarry was the first to do so.

He also took apart a streaking Shavers in one.

People seem to forget Quarry's fights with Patterson, not to mention that Quarry would have a win over Chuvalo as well if the ref wasn't an idiot.

 

Agree with the majority here in that it's Young or Quarry. Maybe Jerry's very best came at the end of the previous decade so have to go for Young.

 

I am a bit surprised that Shavers did not get any votes. Shavers of course owns a KO win over Young, and a draw. He also gave Ali a tougher fight than Young did, Ko'd Jimmy Ellis in one round, Ko'd Kenny Norton in one round, and TKO's Joe Bugner in two.

 

Yeah but Shavers basically fought those guys outside of their primes. Young was something like 7-3 when he knocked him out. Norton was over the hill as was Ellis. Bugner was past it, not to mention that fight didn't happen until the 80's making it moot. Quarry dusted a prime Shavers in 1 round, beat a prime Lyle, who shavers couldn't beat, and had other wins over guys like Mac Foster and Buster Mathis. In addition, Shavers lost to some pretty **** poor fighters like Bob Stallings when at or near his best.

I fully respect Earnie Shavers, but he simply does not qualify as a contestant for the #5 spot in the 70's.

 

Many feel he beat Ali.