Jerry Quarry vs. Earnie Shavers

Jerry Quarry 202 lbs beat Earnie Shavers 210 lbs by TKO at 2:21 in round 1 of 12

• Date: 1973-12-14
• Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA
• Referee: Arthur Mercante
• Judge: Jack Gordon
• Judge: Bill Recht

Pre-fight comments

• "I think it will last three rounds. I can knock him out in one round if he comes to fight." -Jerry Quarry

• "It'll be our easiest fight." -Don King, Shaver's co-manager

• "It'll be the shortest 12 round fight in history." -Teddy Brenner, MSG Director

"Jerry Quarry, 202, disdaining the shouted instructions of his handler, Gil Clancy, to "box him, Jerry, box him," instead elected to slug it out with the 210 lb. Earnie Shavers. A minute and a half into the round Quarry caught Shavers against the ropes and hit him eight or nine times, belting freely with lefts and rights to the head. Shavers escaped and fled to Quarry's corner where Jerry caught him with a tremendous left and dropped him with a following right. Shavers barely beat the count and Quarry immediately swarmed all over him. Referee Arthur Mercante called a halt at 2:21 of the 1st round." -United Press International

• This bout was originally signed to take place in July, but Shavers suffered a broken jaw in sparring with stablemate Jeff Merritt. The bout was then rescheduled for December in order for Shavers jaw to properly heal.
• Attendance - 14,962
• Gate - $201,564
• Purses: Quarry - Guaranteed $40,000 against 30% of the gate, Shavers - Guaranteed $30,000 against 27 1/2% of the gate.

Post fight comments

• "Well, Quarry just caught me a good shot early, and I just never recovered. When he finally knocked me down, I should have stayed down and taken the count. But the round was almost over and I thought I could last the final seconds." -Earnie Shavers

• "Quarry surprised me by mixing it up with Shavers. Quarry showed me he's really a tiger." -George Foreman