Tag Archives: Tyson Fury

Does Size Matter?

Super Size Heavyweights

Are Nothing New

by Bobby Franklin

It is a chorus heard over and over again, “Sure, guys like Dempsey and Louis were good in their day, but today’s giant heavyweights would just be too big and strong for them. The old-timers would wilt under the power they would be facing.”

I guess before the 21st century we were living in a world of small people.

I guess before the 21st century we were living in a world of small people. Those who believe the Klitschkos and Furys of today would beat the greats of the past because they are so big just can’t be convinced differently. They think bigger is better and refuse to take into account boxing skill, something that is sorely missing in today’s game.

I am including some photos with this article along with details that show very big heavyweights have always been around, and there have been plenty of giant killers to accommodate them.

Dempsey Willard
Dempsey Willard

Jack Dempsey is always the first to come to mind with his brutal destruction of the 6’6 ½ “ 245 pound Jess Willard. Take a look at the photo of this bout I have included and tell me Dempsey would not have been able to reach the jaws of today’s slow moving behemoths. Dempsey at 187 pounds and standing 6’1” used his speed and power to make Willard’s size a liability for the Pottawatomie Giant. Not only did Dempsey defeat Willard, but it was one of the most brutal beatings ever handed out in a championship boxing match. And don’t tell me Willard was a bum. A few years before he had defeated the great Jack Johnson while going 45 rounds in the blazing Havana sun. Sure, Johnson was not in his prime, but he was still a great fighter. Plus, battling in temperatures that reached over 100 degrees is something not many today would be able to do, especially for over two hours.

Dempsey and Big Bill Tate 1919
Dempsey and Big Bill Tate 1919

Dempsey beat two other fighters who were much bigger than he was. The 6’4”Carl Morris, who weighed 226 pounds to Dempsey’s 187, lost three times to Jack. Once by decision, once by DQ, and once by first round knock out.

In 1923 Dempsey defended his title against South American champion Luis Firpo in a bout that will be remembered for Dempsey being knocked out of the ring. Firpo outweighed Jack by 24 pounds and was as strong as they come. While Dempsey’s rather awkward exit from the ring makes this sound like it may have been a close fight, the reality is Dempsey administered almost as savage a beating to Firpo as he did to Willard. Firpo was down 7 times in the first round and twice in the second on the way to being knocked out. Dempsey hit the canvas one time on top of the trip outside of the ring, but those knockdowns were caused more by the rushes from the Wild Bull of the Pampas.

Oddly enough, while Dempsey was truly a giant killer he did have some trouble with a fighter smaller than he was. When the champion defended the title against Tom Gibbons in 1923, Jack had a 12 pound weight advantage. The very smart boxing, and survival minded Gibbons, moved deftly and tied up Dempsey for the 15 rounds while losing a unanimous decision. This is one of Dempsey’s most interesting fights to watch in that you see what great boxing moves the Manassas Mauler possessed. He was well taught by the great trainer Jimmy DeForreset.

Louis Carnera
Louis Carnera
Louis vs Carnera 1935
Louis vs Carnera 1935

I will briefly mention a few others. Joe Louis was no stranger to fighting opponents who were much bigger than he was. He fought and beat Primo Carnera at 260 pounds to Louis’s 196, Buddy Baer who came in at 250 to Joe’s 206, and Abe Simon with Louis at 202 to Simon’s 254. The Brown Bomber had no problem reaching the jaws of any of these giants. Again, Joe had more difficulty with the lighter guys. Billy Conn, Max Schmeling, and Joe Walcott were all smaller than Joe.

Starkey and Carnera
Starkey and Carnera

Boston’s Jack Sharkey didn’t believe size mattered either. Jack, at 187 pounds, took on and beat the 6’3”, 220 pound George Godfrey. At 188 he beat Harry Wills who weighed 214, and in his first fight with Primo Carnera he easily beat the 260 pound strong man though only weighing 201 himself.

Again, it was the smaller guys who gave Sharkey more trouble. He lost to Tommy Loughran and Tony Shucco, both of whom he outweighed by a considerable margin.

Kid Norfolk
Kid Norfolk

I would like to conclude this piece by including another very great fighter of the past whom many of you may not have heard of. Kid Norfolk was a middleweight and light heavyweight who fought all comers including Harry Greb. At 5’8” and weighing 182 pounds he took on the 6’6” 235 pound Big Bill Tate and beat him soundly over ten rounds. Tate was a sparring partner for Jack Dempsey and looked formidable against Norfolk. The Kid used his speed and great boxing ability to run rings around Tate. This fight is available on Youtube, and I strongly urge you to view it. Norfolk vs Klitschko or Fury? My money is on Norfolk any day of the week.

Does size matter? I guess you good say it does, but often to the benefit of the smaller man.

Quarry Defeats Klitschko And Fury On The Same Night

Jerry Doesn’t Break A Sweat

by Bobby Franklin

Now that November’s Fury vs Klitschko so called heavyweight title fight is history I thought most fight fans would have finally accepted the fact that neither of these guys know how to fight. They don’t even have the basics down. Well, it turns out I was mistaken. If I can believe what I read on the various on line boxing sites there still is a very large number of self described boxing experts who believe Wladimir and Tyson should be ranked among the best of all time. The most common reason cited is their size. Typical of the comments you will read is “Sure, guys like Dempsey, Louis, and Marciano were good in their day, but they were way too small to stand up to the giants that dominate the division today.”

Quarry Lands jab On Foster
Quarry Lands jab On Foster

I have already written about that fight, and I still stand behind my statement that it was the worst heavyweight title fight in history, and that there was not a single former champion from Holmes going back to Sullivan who would have lost to either Fury or Klitschko. There are many who have voiced disagreement with me. What I would like to do with this column is ask my readers to go back not too many years and examine a fighter who never won the title, but one who had a number of victories over opponents bigger than he was and who were murderous punchers. You can watch many of these fights on Youtube. Set emotion aside and take some time to examine Jerry Quarry in these fights. After doing so, watch a replay of the Wlad vs Tyson fight. If you still believe either of these guys could have beaten Jerry send me a case of whatever you are drinking.

 

Jerry Destroys Shavers
Jerry Destroys Shavers

Many believe Jerry Quarry’s best night was his one round knock out win over the murderous punching Earnie Shavers. Jerry was beautiful that night in Madison Square Garden and completely demolished Shavers in a little over two minutes. Earnie entered the ring riding a 33 fight win streak with all but one of those victories coming via knockout. This was a stunning and outstanding win for Jerry, but it was not some fluke. Quarry took on and defeated many other great punchers.

The other two fights to watch are Jerry’s bouts against Mac Foster and Ron Lyle. Foster was undefeated in 24 bouts with all his victories coming via knockout whle Lyle also had an unblemished record of 19 straight wins with 17 knockouts. Both were fearsome punchers who had a hundred times the ability and skill of Fury and Klitschko.

Watching both of these fights you will see Jerry performing as the consummate boxer/puncher. He is cool and methodical as he calmly slips the bombs being tossed at him by both of these opponents. He pivots and throws left hooks to the body in order to get his foes to lower their guards. In the case of Foster he is able to stop him in the sixth round. Against Lyle he handily wins a decision. By the way, both of these men were bigger than Jerry.

Quarry Drops Patterson
Quarry Drops Patterson

Jerry was a brilliant counter puncher who could fight off the ropes. He dropped Floyd Patterson four times in two fights with at least two of those knockdowns being the result of counterpunches thrown while Quarry had his back to the ropes.

Jerry could move on his feet, feint, had terrific head movement, work both the body and the head, and he was able to set traps to ensnare his opponents. The modern day boxing fan might not recognize a lot of this when watching film of these fights. The reason for this lack of understanding involves a few things. First, very few if any fighters today know how to do any of these moves, never mind having a full repertoire in their arsenals, so today’s fans have never seen these things. Two, the commentators, with some exceptions, do not know what these moves are so would be unable to point them out even if they were happening. And three, today’s trainers do not know enough to teach these techniques. This is wildly evident when watching Klitschko and Fury. They do not even have the basics down.

So, let’s transport Jerry Quarry to the present day and have him step into the ring with Wlad and Tyson. In the case of Klitschko, the former champ would come out standing straight up in that very tight wide stance which is all he knows. He would begin pawing with his ponderous jab. At first Jerry would probably be hesitant thinking that he is being lured into some sort of a trap. He would soon figure out what was going on because when he feints Wlad he would see him flinch and close his eyes. After that the end would come quickly as Jerry would slip the jab and land monstrous left hooks to the body that would double Dr. Hammer up. At that point Jerry would easily finish him off.

Having now ended his match against Klitschko, the promoters could immediately bring Tyson Fury into the ring. After a brief introduction the bell would ring for the first round. Fury may last a little longer as he would begin running as fast as he could while the sound of the bell is still lingering in the crowd’s ears. This fight would end in one of two ways. Either Fury is counted out after being hit by the first blows Jerry lands, or he is disqualified for turning his back and attempting to turn a boxing match into a 10K road race.

I am not trying to be sarcastic here as I have no doubt this is what would happen. Jerry Quarry was a top fighter in an era of great fighters. He was a complete professional who had spent years learning and perfecting his craft. Letting him step into the ring against any of today’s heavyweights, and I don’t care how big they are, could be considered a criminal act because Jerry would be bringing in a full arsenal against unarmed men.

If you want to see a fighter who knows his craft don’t waste your time watching the current crop of contenders, check out Jerry Quarry performing his craft. That boy could fight!