BoxRec

Alot of matches didn't take place in the 1970s, and this was one of them.

How do you see this going down in a 12 round, or even a 15 round contest?

Alot of variables and factors to consider in this fight considering both men had so many common opponents, and both were of the same mold: well conditioned, tough, offensive style, very strong, hard hitting, and lacking in strong defense. So let's match them up head to head.

Jerry Quarry

Best Wins

Earnie Shavers (KO1st)
Jack Boddell (KO1st)
Mac Foster (KO6th)
Floyd Patterson (W12)
Buster Mathis (decision)
Thad Spencer (KO12)
Brian London (KO2)
Ron Lyle (decision)

Notable Losses

Muhammad Ali (2x's on cuts)
Joe Frazier (2x's cuts/rare kayo stoppage)
George Chuvalo (rare kayo loss)
Ken Norton (rare kayo loss)
Jimmy Ellis (due to cuts)


Oscar Bonavena

Best Wins

Leotis Martin (decision)
Zora Folley (decision)
Karl Mildenberger (decision)
George Chuvalo (decision)
Gregorio Peralta (decision)
Tom McNeeley (KO5)
Dick Wipperman (decision)
Alvin Lewis (disqualification)

Notable Losses

Muhammad Ali (KO15)
Floyd Patterson (decision)
Joe Frazier (2x's decision)
Jimmy Ellis (decision)
Ron Lyle (decision)


Very hard fight to pick; a kayo win for Quarry wouldn't of come quickly, that is for sure. Bonavena wasn't necessarily a fast starter either, he built up as the rounds went. Both men had great recuperating powers. Quarry had the faster hands, and was a good counter puncher. Bonavena used his bull strength and rushes, round houses to wear someone down. Quarry had very thin skin, Bonavena was like an anvil. Very hard fight to decide a winner on, it isnt that cut and dry. It has the potential to go all fifteen rounds.

JQ all day long

Quarry skill early, but Argentine bull just too much. world bad ass title goes to Ringo by split.

tough pick for two tough mothers - jerry wins close-ish decision. no knock downs. i reckon jerry would have beaten the ali of the bonavena match up.

Quarry by wide decision for me in a tough fight.

BoxBuzz wrote:JQ all day long

x2

i can see this fight going either way
these are two of the toughest sob's of the 70's

i can not make a call on this one but i would of paid top dollar to see it

Quarry was as tough as Oscar but has a decided skill and speed advantage. Quarry by wide but hard-fought decision.

I think it goes a few ways:

A) Quarry goes gangbusters from the start and stops Bonavena early

B) Quarry's work rate simply out does Bonavena's work rate and decisions him

C) Both men fight to a razor thin decision with Quarry more than likely winning

D) Bonavena catches Quarry late and opens up a wide deep cut

Can't see either one actually KO'ing the other. Most likely result; Quarry at his best was an excellent counter puncher (see Ron Lyle) and wins by solid decison. Second most likely; Quarry gets cut and loses by TKO. Third: Quarry on occasion ran low on gas and Bonavena edges him in a very close decison.

2nd most likely is definitely not Jerry losing on cuts. He lost on cuts how many times? Twice? His proneness to cuts is vastly over-rated.

I believe 3 times. Twice against Frazier and the first Ali fight. He was stopped by Ali and Norton by the referee, and counted out against chuvalo. lost by decison to Patterson, not on cuts.)
Bonavena was only stoped once in 66 fights, so him losing by stoppage is not likely.

So it is a possibility, but considering he had 68 fights it's not that likely that he would get stopped on cuts by Bonavena. If Quarry boxes, he probably wins a decision. If he tries to pressure Bonavena, he probably loses a tough fight. Most likely he does some of both and squeaks by in a competitive fight.

Two rugged guys but Quarry with the shorter punches gets there first in the frequent exchanges. Irish Jerry with the UD.

That could have been a very interesting match-up. I'd pick Quarry to take a decision. Jerry had more solid overall boxing skills, Bonavena sometimes looked too wild. Anyway those two were tough, their fight would have most likely become a grueling slugfest. As mentioned before, stoppage was not likely to happen, unless Jerry sustained a cut.

I'd favor Jerry on points too. Dr. Duke described what would likely happen pretty well.

I see this one as an exciting, hard-fought, grueling affair in which Quarry would come out on top via a 12 round decision. But, it would be a tough go for him & he might have to pick himself up off of the floor to do so. Bonavena wasn't the sharpest puncher of his day so I don't think he'd have busted up Quarry's eyes too badly but he was a thudding puncher of the sort that may have dropped Jerry once or twice during the course of the bout. Of course, Quarry was no slouch in the punching department himself & he had some sharp counters that could have dumped Bonavena as well.

This is Quarry's kind of fight...phone booth fighting. He can take advantage of his short counterpunching prowess and give Bonavena a drubbing. Oscar was tough, but Quarry would've worn him out. IMHO.

If Oscar cut Jerry's eyes first then he would have a chance of stopping him in 10 rounds with his powerful punches. Had they fought during the Golden Age of the Heavyweights they would have their strong resume each.

Oscar in an 8-7, or 8-6-1 fight. Jerry could win, but, for some reason, I think he finds a way to blow it near the end.

Oscar never stopped a ranked opponent, but he's gonna beat Quarry? Boxing styles for top pro's, nobody with two left feet, and came to Jerry was in for either a long (Ron Lyle) or short (Earnie Shavers) Evening!

I lean towards Quarry. Tough SOB and somewhat underrated by history. I know this, I would love to see this fight!