74: Jerry Quarry-Boxing

Sports' Forgotten Heroes

Jerry Quarry was one of boxing’s most gifted fighters. But, he had two major flaws that were impossible to overcome: his size and his “thin” skin. First, his size. Most heavyweight boxers fought at weights that surpassed 200-pounds. Quarry was smaller and fought most of his fights between 175 and 185 pounds. As for the “thin” skin, that’s the best way I can describe how easily he cut. Those two flaws, certainly affected Quarry’s chances to win a heavyweight championship. As an amateur, he won the Gold Gloves. But as a professional, he fought for a heavyweight belt four times, but in each instance he lost. Quarry, who was 53-9-4 as a professional, could punch with anyone. Whether he hit you with his right or left, both were powerful. He was technically smart, and he offered brutal beatings of Ernie Shavers, Floyd Patterson and Ron Ellis – all top contenders. Quarry, who started to train in a boxing ring at the age of six, came from a family of boxers. He fought 200 times as an amateur, and basically lived his life in the ring. But, by the time he was 56, his body gave out and he succumbed to dementia pugilistica. A sad end to a wonderful life, and career. And that career saw him step into the ring against the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. In fact, his bout against Frazier on June 23, 1966 was named Fight of the Year. During Quarry’s days in the ring, there was a period of time where he was named as the most popular fighter in the world by “The Ring Magazine”, spent some time on TV as an actor appearing in such popular shows as Adam-12 and I Dream of Jeannie. But, Quarry’s mission was to win the heavyweight championship. Sadly, he never realized that goal. Perhaps, had there been a cruiserweight division when he fought, Quarry might have had a much different career. But, that weight division didn’t exist, and Quarry had to step into the ring against some of the sport’s most legendary boxers and the beating he took were brutal. George Thomas Clark, who appeared on Sports’ Forgotten Heroes for discussions about Teofilo Stevenson and Archie Moore, returns to SFH for an in-depth discussion about “The Bellflower Bomber” – Jerry Quarry.

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