Talk:Jerry Quarry vs. Buster Mathis

Buster Mathis was another well-placed opponent for Jerry Quarry. Quarry's career had been built on wins over an older Floyd Patterson, who could not hurt him, and , an overrated Thad Spencer, who came at Quarry with slower hands. Mathis, who was 6'5 , was a ballyhooed amateur who edged Joe Frazier to make the 1964 Olympics. Since that point, the talented jabber/boxer had several health issues. Frazier had pounded him convincingly for the New York State Title, the de facto world heavyweight title at that time. Like Spencer, Mathis was said to take a page from Muhammed Ali for this fight. Legend has it he went up to the Quarry training site to call out Quarry and perhaps psych him, just as Ali had done to Sonny Liston. Quarry, a veteran of numerous street and bar brawls, reacted in a manner Mathis did not expect, chasing Mathis back to his car. Again, this is legend, and only those there know the truth. In any case, it appeared to be Quarry who had Mathis intimidated at fight time. Mathis, again, was already battling health issues. Quarry established himself early and spent the rest of the fight waiting for a reluctant Mathis to fight back. The point of the matchup was to get the attention of Joe Frazier, whose belt Quarry wanted a shot at. Their match would soon follow this one, so it proved to be a good move for Jerry Quarry to fight Mathis.