The rematch between Jerry Quarry and Muhammad Ali. Ali had beaten Quarry on his return to the ring in 1970 following his 3 year exile when Quarry was forced to retire after just 3 rounds because of a bad cut. (Watch that fight here - • Muhammad Ali vs Jerry ... ) Quarry never really got the chance to show what he could do so he was biting at the bit for this rematch. More info below...
Since returning to the ring in 1970, Muhammad Ali had only lost 1 fight, that was against Joe Frazier for the World Heavyweight Championship in 1971. Although not a career killing loss, Ali still needed to rebuild himself and focused on the NABF Heavyweight title instead for the next couple years. Winning the NABF belt initially in 1970 by stopping Oscar Bonavena, Ali vacated it so he could face Joe Frazier, so his first step was to regain it, which he did against old stable mate, Jimmy Ellis, in July 1971. Ali successfully defended the title against Buster Mathias and George Chuvalo both by decision while in-between also traveling to Japan and Switzerland to pick up non-title defense wins against Mac Foster and Juergen Blin. Ali's record at the time of his rematch with Quarry was 36-1.
Quarry had recovered well from his original loss to Ali in 1970 by picking up 6 wins in a row against MOSTLY reputable competition. He knocked out the European, Commonwealth and BBBoC Heavyweight Champion Jack Bodell within 1 round and then did the same to former South American Heavyweight Champion,
Eduardo Corletti! In his most recent fight, Quarry outpointed talented black fighter Larry Middleton over 10 very close rounds. His record heading into the rematch with Ali was 43-5-4.
Quarry is a fighter never to take lightly. Although not the most technically sound and he was easy to hit, Quarry did possess a decent a chin, heavy hands and he had that Irish fire in his heart, he would never give up. Quarry was always looking for the knockout, and he was not content to settle for points, he liked to fight in close and make things a brawl. Muhammad Ali on the other hand was, although unorthodox, technically superior and arguably the most talented boxer of the 60's and 70's. Ali didn't have instant knockout power, but he did have the best chin in the division, the fastest hands in the division and near endless stamina. Ali was not a brawler like Quarry, he was an out-boxer, jabbing from a distance and always moving, never staying in one place making himself elusive as possible. It was very much a clash of styles. Quarry started strong, trying to bully his way in close and even lifted Ali off his feet in the opening seconds during a clinch, almost as if to show Ali that he was not afraid of him. Ali barely reacted however, and stuck to his game plan of jabbing and moving. As the rounds went on, Quarry was starting to get overwhelmed by the number of punches Ali was throwing and losing energy from all of his own missed or blocked punches (which there were many). By round 7 Quarry looked absolutely spent, breathing heavy and struggling to raise his hands to protect himself. Ali saw this and literally WALKED forward to end it, appearing confident and unconcerned with his arms down, even beckoning the referee over to try and get him to stop the fight, before landing a series of heavy hooks and uppercuts with Quarry on the ropes which spelled the end. As Quarry stumbled backwards, the referee stopped the fight, awarding Ali a 7th Rd TKO in one of his best performances since returning to the ring.
28 окт 2019
