By Jim Amato
Super Fights.. It is a very over used term these days. Some of the PPV “Super Fights” of today would have been nice Saturday afternoon feature bouts on ABC’s Wide World Of Sports in my day.
There were several bouts from the late 1960′s to the early 1980′s I wish would have been made. These are bouts that actually had been rumored in the making or someone’s wishful thinking. If some of these bouts had taken place it could of altered the history of boxing forever.
In January of 1973 big George Foreman disrupted the plans of an Ali – Frazier rematch. George gave Joe as one sided a whipping a you’ll ever see. One month later a “washed up” Jerry Quarry derailed the Ron Lyle express to the championship. Then in March Ken Norton broke the hearts of Ali fans while cracking the jaw of the “Greatest”.
Just like that, in a span of three months the whole top tier of the heavyweight ranks had been seriously shuffled. Ali and Frazier were no longer the kings of the hill. There was a couple of new kids on the block named George and Kenny. Also a grizzled old veteran had returned to town.
To me the one fight that should have been made from this abrupt restructuring of the big boys was Jerry Quarry -vs- George Foreman. The ever popular Irishman had lost to Frazier in 1969 and to Ali in 1970 and 1972. Still Jerry always found a way to stay in the thick of the heavyweight picture. The win over the previously unbeaten Lyle made Jerry a major player again.
This bout would have sold out Madison Square Garden in no time at all. On paper it looked like it would have been a relatively safe defense for George. Add to the fact that George was much bigger and stronger then Jerry. It is hard to believe that this fight was not made. Quarry pleaded for a shot at George and he gave the impression that he was very confident that he could whip Foreman. It was rumored that Jerry had once handled a then young George with relative ease in a sparring session.
To the surprise of many the Foreman camp semed to be uninterested in a lucrative bout with Quarry. Frazier was still beat up and Ali had to mend his jaw and then his reputation in a return with Norton. Lyle was eliminated so Jerry seemed to be the the logical choice. Instead George would meet and defeat Joe “King” Roman in his only other 1973 appearance.
Later in 1973 Ali would win a narrow decision over Norton. Quarry would close out 1973 by halting the feared Earnie Shavers in one round.
In January of 1974 Ali and Frazier would finally meet again with Ali taking the verdict. In March Foreman would turn back the challenge of Ken Norton in less then two rounds. Quarry was on the outside looking in as Foreman and Ali announced they were meetng each other later that year in Africa.
In June of 1974 Jerry would again meet Joe Frazier in an elimination bout. Although many gave Jerry a good chance to win it was he who was brutally eliminated in five rounds. It sure would have been nice if Quarry and Foreman would have met some hot summer night at Madison Square Garden in 1973. What a fight that may have been !
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
Here’s another I wish was made, although I could have only seen a film of it: Tony Zale vs Sugar Ray Robinson when Zale was in his prime. I think it would have been a very good battle.