The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Jerry Quarry for Not Winning the Heavyweight Title

[butterfly1964]

The great White Hope was Just another "Great White Hype".

Coming up on "The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame"...

Quarry has had too many dissappointing bouts, and then you wonder, was he just overrated?

That ball was on the line!

It gets by Buckner!

Michigan can't take a timeout!

Tunney is down!

No good, wide right!

The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Jerry Quarry for Not Winning the Heavyweight Title

Hello, I'm butterfly1964, and Welcome to The Top Five Reasons You Can't Blame. A show that takes a look at boxing personalities and establishments who have made questionable decisions, controversial comments, or unpopular stances, and take a deeper look into these matters. My job is not to further villify these individuals, but to challenge conventional wisdom, and reexamine what has been accepted as fact. In this episode I'm counting down the top 5 reasons why you can't blame Jerry Quarry for never winning the heavyweight title, or at least one of the titles. Quarry had a lot of promise and was given the title, "The Great White Hope" in anticipation that a white man would once again win the heavyweight title. However, his career was full of disappointments, and heartbreaks. Before I count down the reasons why you can't blame Quarry, Here's some evidence supporting this claim.

Jerry Quarry had talent, no doubt about that. He also had heart. But he just didn't have that certain swagger, and convergence of events that could lead him to winning the title.

Quarry was a hot prospect. He was really hyped up to be something special, but when you struggle to beat guys like Tony Doyle, you can't really be hot stuff!

Quarry liked to brawl, but he was a good boxer, and sometimes he wouldn't use his skills and just act on instinct.

When you are hyped up like that, you have to seal the deal. Quarry didn't seal the deal, yet, he had three chances against first Ellis, then Frazier, and then Ali.

Quarry was disappointing in a lot of his fights. So, the great White Hope was Just another "Great White Hype".

Back then, fans were seething an anger about Ali and his antics, and they felt that if a white man came back and won the title, then that would restore glory to boxing.

Quarry has had too many dissappointing bouts, and then you wonder, was he just overrated?

Before I count down the top 5 reasons why you can't blame Jerry Quarry for Not Winning the Heavyweight Championship, here's some reasons that didn't make the top five. I call them, "The Best of the Rest".














Best of the Rest

1. Supersized Heavyweights Surfaced in the 1970s - Even though Jerry Quarry was a great prospect, at between 195-200lbs, he wasn't a full sized heavyweight. And in the 1970s, more and more fighters appeared on the scene that weighed in at well over 200lbs.

You have the George Foreman's, and the Ken Norton's and the Buster Mathis', the Mac Foster's. Of course there's Ali and Frazier.

He gave up weight to fight a lot of these guys, so it's not suprising that the bigger guy might win.

Another Best of the Rest...

2. Bob Foster - On June 27, 1972, Foster, the light heavyweight champion put his title on the line against Jerry Quarry's brother, Mike Quarry. Foster knocked out Quarry so hard, that he was out cold for a long time and had to be hospitalized. This light heavyweight title fight was on an undercard for the main event, a rematch between Jerry Quarry and Muhammad Ali. Concern for his brother might have caused Jerry's concentration to be shaky, and in turn would hurt his chances at getting another title shot.

Imagine watching your brother get knocked out cold, and then right after you got to fight somebody. That's got to be a big distraction!

Coming up next on The Top Five Reasons You Can't Blame, we'll discuss what Quarry's family has to do with all this.

[Verstyle]

u have to much time on your hands butterfly.waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much time

[butterfly1964]

Welcome back to "The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Jerry Quarry for Not Winning the Heavyweight Championship.

Now we are ready for the countdown, starting with Reason #5.

















5: The "Quarry Clan" - Jerry Quarry was managed by his family, in what came to be known as the Quarry Clan. However, many people thought that this was bad for Quarry. A lot of things happened behind the scenes that might have affected Quarry mentally before fights. They would constantly bicker toward one another, and even fight one another in the back of parking lots, next to where Quarry would be having his fights. Many times, these "Battle Royals" would upstage Quarry's actual fights.

The Quarry Clan didn't seem to be together in and of itself. The father and other relatives would argue about everything, and disagree on a lot of things, and sometimes messed up the contracts of some of his fights, and you wonder how Quarry became as successful as he did with that kind of support group behind him.

The Quarry Clan should share some of the blame for Jerry's disappointments.

How did that sound. If you are still not satisfied, here is Reason #4.




















4: Quarry Cuts Easily - Quarry had certain facial features that made him very suceptible to cuts. This cost him dearly in two very important fights.

One of those fights was against Frazier for the Championship. Quarry was giving Frazier a good work over early on, but Joe managed to open a cut, and he just hammered away at that face, untill the cut was so bad they had to stop the fight.

The other fight was against Muhammad Ali in Muhammad's highly anticipated comeback in 1970.

Quarry's plan was to weather the storm in the early rounds, then in the mid to later rounds, take the fight to Ali. But Quarry didn't get a chance to do that. Ali kept pounding away at that eye of Quarry and caused a cut so bad, that the referee Tony Perez was able to see Quarry's eye bone. He saw this white stuff, the bone! So that fight was halted there.

He fought a good fight, but those cuts were something that really bit him bad.

Coming up on our countdown of the Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Jerry Quarry, we'll examine how the 1970's was an era to remember.

[butterfly1964]

You're watching The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Jerry Quarry for Not Winning the Heavyweight Title

Let's continue the countdown. Reason #3.



















3: Wrong Gameplans - When Muhammad Ali's title was stripped in 1967, the WBA set up an eight-man elimination tournament. Quarry breezed through the first two opponents, but in the Championship fight On April 27, 1968, he took on the slick boxer Jimmy Ellis, who was also Ali's sparring partner. Quarry used his boxing skills to try to win the fight, but came up short, and Ellis won the decision, and the title. However, many people believed that if Quarry took the fight to Ellis, that Ellis would eventually cave in, and that Quarry would have won. This was just a case of a wrong gameplan.

To make matters worse, one year later, when Quarry fought Frazier for the other half of the title, it was the exact opposite. Quarry instead of boxing and moving, slugged with Frazier. Many people thought that had Quarry boxed Frazier, he might have won that fight as well.

I couldn't understand it when I was watching it. Quarry wasn't moving at all. He moved against Spencer, and also Ellis. I heard him say he would take the fight to Joe, but I thought it was just pre-fight talk. I didn't think he actually would do it. He was just standing there trading punches, and making Frazier look like the baddest man in the world!

To box against Ellis was wrong, because Ellis was a better boxer than him. To brawl with Frazier was wrong because frazier was a better brawler than him. If he did the reverse it would have gave him a better chance in both fights.

How did that grab you? If you are still unsure, then try this one on for size, Reason #2.
























2: The 1970s Was the Golden Era of the Heavyweight Division - Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman are all recognized as top ten heavyweights of all-time. They also boxed in the 1970s. Never in history has a decade been surrounded by such talent, and not just those three, but also former champion Floyd Patterson, Ken Norton, Jimmy Young, and a host of others. These were great fighters, and there's no shame in losing to them.

The 1970s was the best decade of the heavyweight division, and one of the best decades in all boxing!

Quarry was just overmatched by truly great fighters in Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and Ken Norton, and also decent fighters in Eddie Machen, and Jimmy Ellis. If Quarry boxed in another era, you never know. He could have easily won the title then.

Not just Quarry, Ali, Frazier and Foreman, but even guys like Norton, Ellis, Young, and others would pick up a belt today!

Coming up, our top reason why you can't blame Jerry Quarry for Never Winning the Heavyweight Title.

[BigMKO]

Butterfly i really like these things but I agree wit Versatile you have WAAAAAY too much time on your hands.

[butterfly1964]

We're counting down The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Jerry Quarry for Never Winning the Heavyweight Title. Before we get to the last reason, here's a look at what we have so far.

Number 5: The "Quarry Clan"



Number 4: Quarry Cuts Easily



Number 3: Wrong Gameplans



and...



Number 2: The 1970s Was the Golden Era of the Heavyweight Division

Jerry Quarry was a very good fighter, he wasn't a pushover. But when you pin your hopes on something, you tend to put too much faith in that one thing. Here is Reason Number 1.
















1: Too Much Was Expected of Him - Quarry was hyped up to be a great fighter. However, if one thinks about it, there was never really any indication of greatness at all. Quarry was a good amateur, and had good skills, but nothing spectacular.

When they started calling him "The Great White Hope", Quarry hated that, cause he didn't want to be characteized as that.

Quarry wasn't as special as people were trying to make him out to be. I mean, Frazier was the won who won the Gold Medal in the Olympics, not Quarry, but all of a sudden, people were praising Quarry, but were unsure about Frazier? There's something wrong with that.

It was just a reality that many people were talking about Quarry a lot just because he was white. They hyped him up to be the next Rocky Marciano, and they really wanted a white champion, but they were simply just asking too much of him.

Many people were saying that Quarry would have no trouble beating Muhammad Ali when Ali made his comeback fight. But this is Muhammad Ali!

Quarry would be one of those guys that you would not classify as great, but merely a "good" fighter. That is all.

That will do it for this edition of "The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame". Maybe I've changed your mind. Maybe not. But hopefully, you'll look at this issue in a different light. I'm butterfly1964, thanks for watching.















Jerry Quarry after retiring, Quarry suffered many health problems, including "punch drunkenness". On January 3, 1999, he had a heart attack and died.


He was 53.

Butterfly Productions Inc.
© 2006

[butterfly1964]

How was that?

[Krucial]

i like these man
kinda tight

do this 1...
Top 5 Reasons you cant blame Zab Judah for losing to Kosta Tzyu

that would interesting

[BuddyChacon]

I loved it because I wanted to learn more about a fighter I liked. The odd thing is his tombstone say the Great White Hope on it. Strange being that he hated it.

[Hydro]

This one was good, except for #3. You can blame it on the corners but a fighter also should take some of the blame for not fighting a smart fight.