BoxRec

If anyone could find out about former heavyweight contender who fought future champions like George Foreman and Ken Norton and contenders like Cleveland Williams and Ron Lyle? How good was Jack O'Halloran and his skills?

O'Halloran was a clubfighter, a rugged B-level guy at best. He was worthy of a top 20 rating (possibly even a top-15 berth) in his prime, but really no better. For the most part, O'Halloran was stepping stone -- a test -- for up and coming contenders like the young versions of George Foreman, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, Joe Bugner, and Mac Foster.

O'Halloran's biggest accomplishments as a pro were his victories over Henry Clark, a decent fringe contender, and the veterans Al "Blue" Lewis and Cleveland Williams. He also beat a fading Manuel Ramos at some point,

The victory over Lewis capped a six bout winning streak for O'Halloran in 1972-73. Consequently, there was talk about matching O'Halloran with Ali. But O'Halloran wasn't consistent enough to continue his winning ways, and the Ali fight went out the window when Jack was beaten by the obscure Jimmy Summerville.
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scorpio83 wrote: ↑10 Jul 2018, 05:42 If anyone could find out about former heavyweight contender who fought future champions like George Foreman and Ken Norton and contenders like Cleveland Williams and Ron Lyle? How good was Jack O'Halloran and his skills?

Segments of the Lyle fight are available on youtube. Check out the Ron Lyle documentary. I think that's the only O'Halloran film clip out there, however.

Unfortunately giant Jack doesn't like talking about his boxing career. I don't know why, but Dan Hodge is the same way. The business end of the fight game i think really hurts alot of people, and makes them feel ashamed. O'Halloran was good, just not world class good. He was on the fringe, on the cusp, but never beyond that... And maybe that's something that was too painful to want to remember also. To almost have been.

Al "Blue" Lewis may still have been a top ten contender when O'Halloran beat him in 1973. If so, then that would have been O"Halloran's 15 minutes of true fame. Possibly, for a few months, O'Halloran it made into the ratings. And again, there was the glory of people talking about an Ali fight. Just briefly. Like a scene straight out of a Rocky movie.

Have got to give O'Halloran credit for that one peak performance.

As I see it, O'Halloran would have made a great fight with Chuck Wepner. Same approximate physical size, same talent level, same kind of career paths. An East Coast vs West Coat fringe contender thing.

If anyone could find a footage of O'Halloran's fights other than Ron Lyle from his documentary, do you think his wing span in reach is around 80 to 82 inches and was his jab that good?

He was good enough to take over the White House.

its just too bad it wasn't done back in 2009.
( Man,they just can't make movies like that anymore)

Oh the Superman II joke

Anyways, I bet Jerry Quarry in his prime would out-box and punish O'Halloran. Agreed?

ron4972 wrote: ↑10 Jul 2018, 10:28 O'Halloran was a clubfighter, a rugged B-level guy at best. He was worthy of a top 20 rating (possibly even a top-15 berth) in his prime, but really no better. For the most part, O'Halloran was stepping stone -- a test -- for up and coming contenders like the young versions of George Foreman, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, Joe Bugner, and Mac Foster.

O'Halloran's biggest accomplishments as a pro were his victories over Henry Clark, a decent fringe contender, and the veterans Al "Blue" Lewis and Cleveland Williams. He also beat a fading Manuel Ramos at some point,

The victory over Lewis capped a six bout winning streak for O'Halloran in 1972-73. Consequently, there was talk about matching O'Halloran with Ali. But O'Halloran wasn't consistent enough to continue his winning ways, and the Ali fight went out the window when Jack was beaten by the obscure Jimmy Summerville.
'''

He lost to Jimmy Summerville the gay dude from Bronski Beat?

scorpio83 wrote: ↑10 Jul 2018, 05:42 If anyone could find out about former heavyweight contender who fought future champions like George Foreman and Ken Norton and contenders like Cleveland Williams and Ron Lyle? How good was Jack O'Halloran and his skills?

He lost most of the time he stepped up in class. A good journeyman, nothing beyond that.

He would not pass a top 30 box rec rating today at his high point.

Its too bad he doesn't like to talk boxing, most of the fighters from the 1960's to mid 1970's are no longer with us.

Jack O'Halloran was a journeyman fighter or a fringe contender, no more than that.

- Chuck Johnston

what was the highest postion he was ever ranked in the top ten and when ? (if ever)

Caractacus wrote: ↑16 Jul 2018, 16:36 what was the highest postion he was ever ranked in the top ten and when ? (if ever)

Check out my post above for O'Halloran's likely ratings history. I didn't start following boxing until 1975, when O'Halloran had quit. But I had lots older boxer magazines, and I never saw O'Halloran's name in the top ten or top-15. I'm speaking from memory.

I speculate that O'Halloran might have been ranked in the top ten very briefly, just for a few months, in 1973. That's because he scored a surprise decision victory against Al "Blue" Lewis, who was a contender. But again, O'Halloran lost to ham-and-eggers after getting that achievement.

At best, O'Halloran likely had no better than a top 20 rating during his prime. He was a stepping stone for up-and-coming contenders. Not much more.

scorpio83 wrote: ↑14 Jul 2018, 05:08 Oh the Superman II joke

Anyways, I bet Jerry Quarry in his prime would out-box and punish O'Halloran. Agreed?

Yes, easily. At any point in his career, Quarry would have beaten O'Halloran. Possibly by knockout too.

scorpio83 wrote: ↑12 Jul 2018, 07:44 ...was his jab that good?

O'Halloran was never known for his jab, as best as I know. In his prime, he might have had a reputation for good punch resistance, but I'm speculating.

Mostly O'Halloran was known for his size. By 1970s standards, he was a giant.

Most likely he was ranked somewhere in the Top ten just shortly after October 1969 when he knocked out Manual Ramos
who was earlier the number one ranked contender.
( or at least was in June 1968 just before he fought Joe Frazier)
(BTW it was around that time the producers of the film THE GREAT WHITE HOPE wanted him to come to Spain
to play the Jess Willard type role,but he declined and Jim J. Beattie played it instead.)

Caractacus wrote: ↑17 Jul 2018, 12:33 Most likely he was ranked somewhere in the Top ten just shortly after October 1969 when he knocked out Manual Ramos

I know for a fact that O'Halloran wasn't in the top ten during the 1969 to 1970 period. Beating Manuel Ramos was a good win for O'Halloran, but at the time, Ramos was falling fast and hard because of his knockout loss to Joe Fraizer. Almost overnight, after losing to Frazier, Ramos fell from the ratings and became a stepping stone for other hopefuls.

I've followed Joe Bugner's career very closely, and I know that in 1969 the British promoters brought O'Halloran to England as a stepping stone for Joe. Bugner was expected to win, but people were interested because O'Halloran represented Bugner's first live opponent. Bugner won on points. When reading the newspaper articles of that fight, I never saw any mention of O'Halloran having any standing in the ratings. He was depicted as being a big, rough, American club fighter, nothing more.

If you want to get an idea of O'Hallorans glory days, you should research the ratings following O'Hallaron's upset decision over Al Blue Lewis, which happened on March 1, 1973 in Detroit. That was a big surprise, especially since it happened in Lewis's hometown of Detroit. Lewis was coming off his gritty showing against Ali from 1971, and had a record of 27-5. I've heard that Lewis may have punched out Oscar Bonavena that same year down in Argentina (Oscor won by DQ in his hometown). So, for O'Halloran to knock out Lewis in March 1973 must have been a sensation and a surprise.

I personally haven't researched the O'Hallaron-Lewis fight. Not yet at least.

Years ago, someone put a film of O'Halloran's fight with Foreman on youtube. It's since been taken down. I would have loved to see that.

That O'Hallaron even lasted five rounds against Foreman tells something about Jack's durability. Reaching the fifth round while taking Foreman's bombs is remarkable.

That fight took place in January 1970. George was 14-0 on that night, and it looks to as if O'Hallaron may have been his toughest opponent to date. Held in Madison Square Garden. O'Halloran entered the ring with a decent 18-5-2 record. O'Halloran also outweight Big George by 20 pounds.

Prior to meeting O'Halloran, Foreman's most significant opponent was the rugged Check Wepner of New Jersey, and George scored a TKO that night. I don't know if Wepner was better than O'Hallaron. Very tough call.

Within months of KO'ing O'Halloran, Foreman steamrolled ranked fighters George Chuvalo and Boone Kirkman. That tells us something about how tough O'Hallaron was.

bollocks wrote: ↑15 Jul 2018, 07:40He lost to Jimmy Summerville the gay dude from Bronski Beat?

Some accused Jimmy of running and turning away to win it on points.

check out this photo from April 1969 before Jack O'Halloran's acromegaly became really apparent.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Joe-Bugner-wit ... 2397422868

Caractacus wrote: ↑17 Jul 2018, 12:33 Most likely he was ranked somewhere in the Top ten just shortly after October 1969 when he knocked out Manual Ramos
who was earlier the number one ranked contender.
( or at least was in June 1968 just before he fought Joe Frazier)
(BTW it was around that time the producers of the film THE GREAT WHITE HOPE wanted him to come to Spain
to play the Jess Willard type role,but he declined and Jim J. Beattie played it instead.)

I just read an interview somewhere and Jack O'Halloran said that after he knocked out Ramos,he was
Ranked number 2 in the world".

Caractacus wrote: ↑17 Jul 2018, 17:17
Most likely he was ranked somewhere in the Top ten just shortly after October 1969 when he knocked out Manual Ramos
who was earlier the number one ranked contender.

I just read an interview somewhere and Jack O'Halloran said that after he knocked out Ramos,he was
Ranked number 2 in the world".

Where did you read that? I would like to see it. Remember, shortly before this fight Ramos was KO'd in five by George Chuvalo. Even when Ramos challenged Joe Frazier for the title, I think he was ranked in the lower top ten. Certainly never a top one or two contender. Losing to O'Halloran put the nails in Ramos's coffin as far as world class contention was concerned.

After losing to Frazier, Ramos's record was a mediocre 4-23-1, just to put things into perspective. Prior to that, Ramos was runnning at 20-6-2.

yeah, I read it on the pop-geeks interview with Jack O'Halloran.

Caractacus wrote: ↑17 Jul 2018, 17:45 yeah, I read it on the pop-geeks interview with Jack O'Halloran.

I had just knocked out Manuel Ramos at the Forum in L.A and was ranked number two in the world.
https://popgeeks.net/pop-geeks-flashbac ... ohalloran/


I remember reading this interview a while ago, but I thought O'Halloran was embellishing, maybe for effect. For the reasons I explain above, O'Halloran never had that high of a rating with alphabet organizations or with the magazines.

Just check out O'Hallaron's boxing record, and focus on his record in the year leading up to the Ramos victory, which took place on October 17, 1969.
http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/109

During that period, starting in September 1968, O'Halloran was defeated by Charlie Harris (3-3-1), Jose "King" Roman (18-5-1), Joe Bugner (14-1), and Tony Doyle (24-5-1). None of those guys were rated at the time. Of all of them, only Doyle had made any kind of impression on the world scene, as he had drawn with Quarry. Bugner was an inexperienced up-and-coming prospect, Roman was just a scrappy club fighter, and Harris was unheard of. It looks like O'Halloran was beaten decisively by Doyle too (a shut out decision in Las Vegas).

Worse yet, in the summer of 1969, O'Halloran was KO'd in just three rounds by Al Jones (27-1-1), a highly touted Florida fighter who, for whatever reason, never made the big time. Getting stopped this quickly by Jones established, once and for all, that O'Halloran was a trial horse. Nothing more.

So, going into the Ramos fight, O'Halloran was just an opponent. Not top ten material. The fight was held at the Ingelwood Forum in Los Angeles, which was Ramos's home territory. My guess is that the California promoter was trying to rebuild the popular Ramos, who was rebounding from losses to Joe Frazier and George Chuvalo. O'Halloran was the "B" side, a tune-up for Ramos, the "A" side fighter with the big reputation and the Mexican fans pulling for him in LA. When the shock upset occurred -- as I said before -- it really meant that Ramos's career was broken. He was probably dumped by his promoter for that loss. The win didn't turn O'Halloran into a contender.

Jack's reward for beating Ramos is that he was lined-up to test two of boxing's hottest, most devastating power punchers in the aftermath. One was George Foreman, and the other was the unbeaten West Coast KO artist Mac Foster. Both Foster and Foreman were getting lots of ink in the boxing magazines. We know the outcomes of their encounters with tough but limited Jack O'Halloran.