Jerry Quarry

Jerry Quarry (May 15, 1945 – January 3, 1999), nicknamed "Irish" or "The Bellflower Bomber", was an American professional boxer. During the peak of his career from 1968 to 1971, Quarry was rated by The Ring magazine as the most popular fighter in the sport. His most famous bouts were against Muhammad Ali. He is often seen as being one of the Best Heavyweight Boxers never to be Champion. He beat Heavyweight Champion Floyd Patterson and top contenders Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers, Brian London, Thad Spencer, Buster Mathis, Randy Neumann, Jack Bodell, Mac Foster and Eduardo Corletti. He accumulated damage from lack of attention to defense against larger men at the top level, no head guard sparring, and attempted comebacks in 1977, 1983 and 1992 resulted in Quarry developing an unusually severe case of dementia pugilistica.
Boxing career
Early life
Quarry's family includes three other pro boxers (his father and two brothers). Jerry's father first put gloves on his son when Jerry was five years. Jerry fought first as a Junior Amateur, winning his first trophies at the age of eight. Later, he contracted nephritis, a debilitating illness which sidelined him for years.
Quarry came to notice by winning the 1965 National Golden Gloves championship in Kansas City at age 19. Weighing just 183 pounds, Quarry knocked out each of his five opponents in the tournament, a feat unmatched. Quarry had over 200 fights in his amateur career. He turned professional in 1965.
In 1960s
Despite starting in May, Quarry had 14 matches in 1965 at the start of his pro career. Many of his early career fights took place at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, where he became established as a draw. Quarry supplemented meager boxing pay by working as a tire changer at a Greyhound bus terminal. He had three draws on his record by the time of his first loss, which came in his 21st bout in July 1966 against crafty spoiler Eddie Machen, known for his feat of breaking Sonny Liston's run of knockouts.
Quarry had various television roles in series TV of the period. One notable role was as himself, in the episode "The Strongest Man In The World" of I Dream of Jeannie, which aired on November 18, 1968.
Championship Tournament
In mid-1967, the World Boxing Association (W.B.A.) held a tournament to replace Muhammad Ali, who had been stripped of his title for refusing induction into the military after being drafted. The tournament was expanded to include eight heavyweights, and did not include Joe Frazier, who had accepted a title belt outside the WBA.
When the tournament was expanded, Quarry was included. Quarry's first tournament bout was a rematch of his fourth draw fight earlier that year against former world champion Floyd Patterson.
In both matches, Quarry dominated the early rounds with multiple knockdowns of Patterson, but faded in the latter stages. He hung on better in the second bout, and was given a split-decision victory. His second tournament match was a KO win against fellow Californian Thad Spencer, who was highly lauded and ranked coming into the match. In the final against crafty ex-middleweight Jimmy Ellis, Quarry prior to the bout sustained a broken back from an injury on the diving board at a pool that later developed into gangrene.
Ellis was wary of Quarry's unorthodox tactic (displayed to great effect against Patterson) of retreating into the ropes then catching his opponent with a sudden two-fisted attack and Quarry lost a majority decision. After a layoff of six months, Quarry returned after the Ellis loss to post another streak of wins. Notable among these was a lopsided 12-round decision win over 1964 U.S. Olympian Buster Mathis. The win over the ranked (and much bigger) Mathis positioned Quarry for his second title shot.
Frazier and Chuvalo
Joe Frazier had not yet KO'd Ellis, but was considered by many to be the most legitimate heavyweight champion. Quarry met Frazier June, 23rd, 1969 at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where Quarry could count on fan support. Back in Quarry's home state of California, The San Bernardino County Sun proclaimed him the latest "Great White Hope".
Frazier's high-tempo pressure came to dominate the fight. In the 7th round, Quarry was bleeding from his nose and had a very large cut under his eye when he took a series of hard punches without moving away or hitting back. The fight was stopped with a Frazier TKO. Ring Magazine named it the fight of the year.
Returning quickly after the loss to Frazier, Quarry won two bouts before meeting Canadian George Chuvalo in December 1969. The bout against Chuvalo, then unranked, would be the subject of controversy. Quarry was well ahead, when in the seventh round, Chuvalo knocked Quarry down. Quarry rose at the count of four, then took a knee but on rising exactly at the count of ten, he found referee Zach Clayton ruled a KO.
In 1970s
Quarry returned quickly after the controversial loss to Chuvalo to post another streak of wins.
Noteworthy among them was a 6th-round KO win over fellow Californian Mac Foster. Foster came into the bout ranked #1 with a record of 24–0, with all 24 wins by KO. Quarry was ranked #6, and weighed 195 for the bout. Foster weighed 215. It was a very impressive, dominating win by Quarry which figured to put him back in line for another title shot.
At this time, exiled former champion Muhammad Ali had successfully sued to win the right to return as a professional boxer. Ali approached every one of the ten ranked heavyweights for a match. Quarry was the only one willing to face him, and so got the nod for the first bout against Ali in his return. The bout received tremendous publicity and arguably remains today as Quarry's most famous bout.
The bout took place at the City Auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia on October 26, 1970. Ali dominated the first two rounds, moving well and scoring with his left jab and combinations. Quarry was able to land only a handful of punches, most of them glancing blows. In the third round, Quarry was badly cut by a right hand over his left eye following an exchange with Ali. Trainer Teddy Bentham, a veteran cutman, realized the cut was too severe for Quarry to continue, even though he argued to continue. Referee Tony Perez waved the bout over before the start of the 4th round, which was ruled a 3rd round technical KO. Quarry disputed the decision and demanded a rematch against Ali, which he would later receive.
Following the loss to Ali, Quarry had his second six-month layoff. He focused on television roles during this period, appearing on a number of television shows. In June, 1971, he returned to start another streak of wins. Noteworthy among them was a revenge of his earlier draw against tall Tony Doyle at the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with a lopsided decision. He then KO'd British and European champion Jack Bodell in the first round. That fight was held in London. His second fight there during this streak was against Larry Middleton. Middleton was the kind of tall, quick boxer with long reach who often gave Quarry trouble in bouts. Quarry won a very narrow, controversial decision against Middleton.
By then, Quarry had lobbied long and hard for a rematch against Ali. He finally was allowed that rematch a month after the Middleton bout. The second bout against Ali took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center on June 27, 1972. Their match was the headlining bout of a fight card that Ali called "The Soul Brothers Versus The Quarry Brothers." Bob Arum promoted the fight, with Ali playing up the obvious racial differences between his black fighters and the white Quarrys. In an earlier bout, Jerry's brother Mike, a high-ranked light heavyweight contender was KO'd by Light heavyweight champion and devastating puncher Bob Foster, and seriously injured.
Ali weighed 216 for their bout, Quarry 198. The bout was eventful. At the opening bell, Quarry rushed Ali, got under his shoulders and lifted him briefly off the canvas before referee Mike Kaplan separated the fighters. Ali dominated most of the fight, using his jab. Visibly tired at the end of the 6th round, Quarry came out for the seventh and was hit by a half-dozen shots by Ali, who waved the referee in to stop the fight, which Quarry protested. Nevertheless, the fight was stopped in favor of Ali.
Bouncing Back
After Ali, Quarry, now managed by Gil Clancy, bounced back to post another streak of wins. He seemed to mature as a fighter here, and 1973 was perhaps his greatest year as a heavyweight.
Despite deterioration in his movement and reflexes, and now having very scarred facial tissue, Quarry gave possibly the two best performances of his career next. After defeating Randy Neumann (21-2) in January, Quarry was placed into a bout similar to his previous Mac Foster match, as a ranked tune-up for a higher ranked contender. Ron Lyle was 19–0 with 17 knockouts, and the tough ex-convict was in line for a title shot when he met Quarry in February. The 6'3" Lyle weighed 219 for the bout, Quarry 200. Despite trailing early on, Quarry took control of the fight in the middle rounds and thoroughly outboxed Lyle for a lopsided 12-round decision win in an action packed fight.
During this time, Quarry got a chance to show off his athletic ability. On the ABC television show The Superstars, he competed against other heavyweight boxers in a series of athletic contests. Winning that competition, he qualified for the Superstars final that year, and finished fourth to three NFL football players, an impressive showing. Noteworthy in those performances was his ability to hit a baseball.
Two wins later, Don King brought Quarry in to meet hard-punching Earnie Shavers in December. Shavers was 46–2 with 44 KOs. In another bout filled with the same racial overtones as the second Ali bout, Quarry surprised Shavers. After receiving a few hard shots, he landed a big punch in the 1st round and followed that up to win a stunning first-round KO win. King reportedly left Shavers in the ring and tore up his contract to manage him. Heavyweight champion George Foreman was in attendance, and negotiations for a title bout were already in motion for mid-1974. After the Shavers bout, Foreman reportedly backed away from that proposed bout. He later claimed to have dodged Quarry, whom he never formally met in the ring.
Quarry later claimed to be 'locked out' of big-opportunity fights in 1974 by King, and found himself desperately looking for quality opponents that might get him a title shot. In June 1974, he agreed to rematch Joe Frazier. Quarry was the same size as at their first bout, but Frazier, now 212 pounds, was bigger. Quarry attempted to box Frazier this time, but due to the years of punishment, even in the recent wins against hard hitters Lyle and Shavers, he was more open to Frazier's shots and less mobile than he used to be.
Straight away, a determined Frazier began to connect hard punches at the physically diminished Quarry who couldn't muster the movement to evade Frazier. Staggering him with a trademark left hook at the end of the first round, Frazier then began landing solidly with both hands to Quarry's head and body, beginning a sickening beat down. Quarry was already on wobbly legs when Frazier dropped with a hard left hook to the stomach just before the bell ending the 4th round. Quarry was visibly injured by the blow, but tried unsuccessfully to continue. The fight continued, with Frazier backing away from Quarry after opening up bad cuts over both eyes. Joe Louis, however, waved Frazier back on. After landing a few more clean head shots, Louis finally stopped the fight early in the 5th round, a one-sided thrashing. Louis never refereed another fight.
Quarry could still attract crowds. He had made millions in the ring without ever being champion at a time when few had ever made that much money in boxing. He continued his television acting work, and had by now briefly helped road-manage the rock band Three Dog Night.
After a win in February, 1975, Quarry begged to be put in line for a fight with contender Ken Norton. When first choices Oscar Bonavena and Jimmy Young bowed out with injuries, Quarry was placed into the Norton bout on 18 days notice. Norton had been training for five months.
The Norton fight was Quarry's 62nd pro fight. Norton, who was about the same age as Quarry, was 32–3. The 6'3" Norton weighed 218 for the bout, Quarry 207 with little training beforehand. Clancy was once again in Quarry's corner. The fight took place March 24, 1975. The fight was a war of hard punches, with Norton connecting well early against Quarry with shot reflexes, a sitting duck for Norton's attacks. He was cut badly in the 3rd round, and attacked Norton so he would have a chance to win before the fight was stopped. Norton survived a tough Quarry attack and continued his assault. The fight was stopped in the 5th round after Quarry came under a barrage of clean shots to the head.
Retirement
Quarry retired for over two and a half years after the Norton fight. His career record was at 50–8–4 at this time, with 32 wins by KO. He had two losses each to Frazier and Ali plus one apiece to Norton, Chuvalo, Ellis and Eddie Machen to this point. He had been ranked as high as the No. 1 contender three times. At around this time, Quarry signed a contract with the ABC to be a boxing commentator.
In mid-1977, a return match was being put together which would put Quarry in against a ranked heavyweight. The ranked heavyweight would be Italian Lorenzo Zanon. The match was to be televised on ABC, where Quarry was contracted. But both fighters signed to have the bout televised on CBS. When Quarry, who often negotiated his own fight contracts, signed the bout to CBS, he lost his ABC contract.
The comeback match took place in November 1977, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Quarry, weighing 209, looked slow and a shell of his former self, was clearly outboxed over seven rounds by Zanon. But Quarry caught him with a hard right in the 8th round, and won the fight by KO in the 9th.
Despite winning, it was a poor performance, and Quarry retired again afterward, this time for almost six years.
During those years, Quarry was married and divorced twice. He also lost a great deal of his fortune in failed business investments. No longer doing television work, he decided to return to the ring. With the Cruiserweight division now created, Quarry returned in that weight class. When he returned in August 1983, he was 38 years old.
Quarry was already beginning to show the effects of his lengthy boxing career. A Sports Illustrated reporter was researching an article about health problems among retired boxers, especially among those who started as child boxers. The reporter met Quarry, and although he appeared to be in good health, Quarry's performance on several simple cognitive tests was shockingly poor.
He suffered from dementia pugilistica, atrophy of the brain from repeated blows to the head. A 1983 CT scan of Quarry's brain done for the article showed evidence of brain atrophy, including the characteristic cavum septi pellucidi found in many boxers with long careers.
Despite these developing facts, Quarry had two wins in 1983, but the fights accelerated his mental decline. He retired again and was inactive as a boxer from 1984 to 1992, but Quarry continued to decline physically and mentally. His entire boxing fortune completely gone by 1990, Quarry filed for Social Security at age 45.
Denied a boxing license in many states because of his condition, Quarry found a loophole in Colorado which allowed him to schedule an October 30, 1992 bout with Ron Cramner, a cruiserweight 16 years Quarry's junior. At age 47 years and 6 months old, Quarry provided nothing more than a 6-round punching bag for the younger fighter, losing all six rounds and the decision.
Last years
Within a few years of his final bout Quarry was unable to feed or dress himself and had to be cared for by relatives, mainly his brother James, Who was the only one of the four brothers not to box professionally.
Jerry's brother, Mike, who had contended for the light-heavyweight championship, was himself beginning to show signs of dementia pugilistica in his later years, and died as a result on June 11, 2006. Another brother, Bobby, has Parkinson's disease.
Jerry Quarry was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Death
Quarry was hospitalized with pneumonia on December 28, 1998, and then suffered cardiac arrest. He never regained consciousness and died on January 3, 1999, at the age of 53. His body was interred at Shafter Cemetery in Shafter, California.
Legacy
A foundation was established in his honor to battle boxing-related dementia, a condition that has afflicted many boxers and brought Quarry's life to an early end.
Quarry's overall professional record was 53–9–4 with 32 KOs. Frazier, in his autobiography, said of Quarry: "A very tough man. He could have been a world champion, but he cut too easily." Foreman similarly lauded Quarry.
Championships and accomplishments
Cauliflower Alley Club
Boxing Honoree (1993)
Professional boxing record
References
External links
Jerry Quarry Foundation web site
The Boxing Brothers
"pressure doesn't psych me" quote at Merriam-Webster
Boxer Jerry Quarry Remembered
1945 births
1999 deaths
Heavyweight boxers
American people of Irish descent
Boxers from California
National Golden Gloves champions
Sportspeople from Bakersfield, California
Boxing commentators
American male boxers
Boxers with chronic traumatic encephalopathy