Jerry Quarry vs

[Caractacus]

yeah,but do you really think Jerry Quarry would have been as well regarded in retrospect if he hadnt fought
during the "Golden Age of Heavyweights"?

[badkatt]

Quarry could and would beat Norton in his prime.

i disagree totally

[ronnyrains]

Quarry was in fact :past his prime" when he fought Norton, over 60 wars, how many bouts did Norton have? about half that? Just because they were both 29, means nothing! Ok Jerry should not have took the bout on such short notice (he had $185,000 reasons. I think it was actually maybe 17, 18 days notice At the most ,-Jerry was in Hawaii, They intial Promotion was FOREMAN-BONAVENA, THEN NORTON-BONAVENA, THEN NORTON-YOUNG (Garden did not think Young was a big enough name! Then Jerry came to their rescue. Norton was like #21 and Quarry like #27 or #28 alltime top 50 Ring Magazine heavyweights. i would go with that, both had great careers!

[BoxBuzz]

Quarry could and would beat Norton in his prime.

i disagree totally

I am in total disagreement of that which you totally disagree with back 5 years ago.

Klompton was....and is correct in his assessment. And he wins the clock radio.

Alp will drop back in to assert that that their similar age, not their disproportionate wear and tear were per-eminent in Norton's victory, and would be just as wrong now as he was then. Time does not affect this matter.

[Ambling Alp II]

How come we didn't hear about Quarry's "wear and tear" before the fight? (Or for the next 25 years for that matter.)

With Quarry is is often a story of excuses and how he would win this fantasy fight or that one that of course never actually occurred. He was a good fighter who could sometimes beat other good fighters. However, he could not compete when he had to move up to the next level.

[Caractacus]

Ken Norton was ranked #4 and Jerry Quarry was ranked #5 going into that fight.

BTW Not that it matters to you and not to make excuses ,but after his second loss to Joe Frazier in 1974,Quarry started using cocaine
and some other substance abuse problems and (according to Jerry Quarry himself)was actually drunk when he recieved
the phone call to be a last minute replacement on the Ali/Wepner closed-circuit fight.

YOU DON'T SAY ?

[Seamus]

As late as 72, I'd say Quarry beats Norton.

[Caractacus]

[gilgamesh]

Jimmy Young
Ernie Shavers
Ken Norton

Everybody is prime and the fights are 15 rounds. What happens?

Young by decision
Quarry by KO
Norton by KO

[robbydecker]

This isn't fair to Norton. If we are going to use crybaby excuses for Quarry in this instance, you can really make a excuse for almost anyone in almost any fight. Norton beat him fair and square.

It's not really a crybaby excuse to say that Quarry was out of shape, he simply was. Quarry had seen better days but he was not washed up, Norton was probably in his absolute prime. It is perfectly ok to think that 69 Quarry could have beaten 75 Norton. I will happily grant you that Quarry had stamina problems throughout his career. I wouldn't bet the farm on 69 Quarry either but I think he could have beaten Norton. It's a close call either way.

Quarry should've kept his hair neat and short, but he obviously naturally gravitated to that 1970's Beach Party Surfer look.
I guess that was just a typical natural thing of desire, especially being that he was a Californian through and through.
I can just tell that he looked overall sharper in his 1960's bouts with the shorter haircut.
He was just simply quicker looking and also physically fitter looking in general.
He did develop a thing for the BarFly life, did he not..?

I know he wound up injuring his back just before the Jimmy Ellis bout.
I always somehow pictured him injuring his back from getting into some sort of Horsing around bar-room scrap.
Growing you're hair out all Shaggy Surfer style like he did in the 1970's simply does usually take you're fighting edge away.
That's also the same time-frame when he gained the excessive weight, and it did Not look like muscle-weight either.

In conclusion, Quarry Probably really just simply didn't have the best management.
It's a thing of similarity/reminiscence with Tommy Morrison, if I'm doing a deep dive analysis of boxers who probably likely fell short of they're true highest potential.
Yes, discipline is a big huge responsibility for a Boxer, whether naturally gifted or naturally mediocre, when going about maximizing one's own Ultimate individual potential.

[yancey]

Good to see this thread that I started long ago pop back to page 1.

Unfortunately for Jerry, he came along in an era where the division was ultra-deep.