Jerry Quarry vs Jimmy Young.

[KOJOE90]

Jerry Quarry vs Jimmy Young was of course one of the few match-ups that didn't happen during the 70's Heavyweight golden era.

By the time Young was a top contender and in his prime Quarry was very much on the slide and say around 1977 I would heavily favoure Young on points.

However......

If both fighters could have met each other in their respective primes who would have won?

[Steve McV]

I think Young's speed would have been enough to get him the win over 8 or 10 rounds. But longer than that... I dunno. In a 12 or 15 rounder? I'm not sure what would have happened had Young run out of gas and had to go toe-to-toe. Jimmy had no where near Quarry's punching power.

I'll take Young by UD up to 10 rounds. Beyond that, I think Jerry might have pounded the hell out of him in a longer fight and won by a late TKO, or dominated the last rounds enough to offset Young's earlier advantage and win a decision.

A hell of a good match up in any case, one I would pay a bundle to see.

Ah, where's the road to Valhalla?

[The Shoemaker]

Talk about an eyesore ! First off, ANY fight with Young isn't going to be fun to watch unless the other fighter applies the pressure. Jerry Quarry was a counter puncher, so was Young- that spells bad news, sinceneither wants to lead. Eventually Quarry would be forced to lead and that's why Young would win a snoozer. Plus Jerry always had trouble defending against the jab, which means that Young being the faster handed could land it. but neither one were big hitters and both had good chins, so unless Quarry gets cut, there isn't going to be a KO or stoppage. Jerry did have quicker hands than Lyle did, so it will be a closer fight, but he doesn't come in low or swarm like Frazier (who would destroy Young), so i can't see him wearing Young out. I'd take young in a boring UD.

[robertk]

Agreed.

And another tough matchup for Jerry. Sure seems like he gets his fair share of them but he'll always hang tough even in a loss---has that commander vander in him win/lose/or draw.

And aside from a smokin joe frazier/marciano type pressure, jimmy young in that 76 timeframe is pretty much going to be very difficult to look good against and would have a fair amount of upsets on his dossier.

[Mr E]

Bad match-up for Quarry, but I think he could win this fight if he really wanted to. I could see this being a repeat of Ellis-Quarry, in which the classic boxer outpoints, but never hurts, the counter-puncher on the strength of the left jab alone. But, if Quarry really went after him, he could wear Young out and stop him late. I'd say Young gets the nod 7 or 8 times in any 10 fights, but every once in a while, Quarry would do what it took to win.

[gregbeyer]

don't really know. the ellis anaology seems right but i would love to see youngs reaction to quarry digging that BIG lefthook to that soft middle. if young can take that then he probably takes a close decision.
greg

[The Shoemaker]

Young's soft middle did hold up against norton, who really hit him with some viscious body shots (a fight that Young got jobbed in) same with Foreman. One thing going for Jerry is that Young does get out hustled in rounds from time to time, so Jerry could steal some and in a close fight that would help. Jerry's a professional, but he'd prefere to counter. But with two counter punchers, someone's got to lead. i think Jerry would be more bothered by the booing, than Young would because Young's used to getting booed. So young would basically be dictating the terms of the fight. Still winable for Jerry, but I'd still go with Young in a close boring fight.

[TIP]

Jimmy was pretty slick but couldn't punch hard enough to get any respect from Jerry. Quarry only lost against top guys who could punch. I think Quarry would have landed enough hooks to the body to either get the dec or Ko. TIP

[kenmore]

Young was a spoiler, and assuming he fought Jerry Quarry while each was at his best, I'd pick Young by decision.

It would be a close, boring fight, with neither fighter accomplishing much of anything. Young's light jabs would land more than Jerry's punches, I'm guessing.

Quarry would be the more aggressive fighter by far, and he would have started the fight trying to pressure Young energetically. But I think Young's negative style would have left Jerry swinging at air.

At some point early Quarry probably would have stopped pressuring Young and focused on counters. At this point the bout would turn into a chess match, with Jimmy gaining a slight edge.

By no means, however, do I pick Young with complete confidence. Quarry was an intelligent fighter, and he had quick hands. He could take a punch and he would have had the confidence of knowing that Young couldn't hurt him. Hence, Jerry might have found a way to sneak the right punches in every now and then, sometimes stealing the play from Young, and racked up points that way.

The left hook to the body might have been Jerry's best chance at solving the riddle of Young's style, and that punch would have enabled Quarry to make the most out of his considerable punching power. Forget about Quarry scoring to the head.

Quarry wasn't a flat-footed plodder like Ron Lyle, so arguably Young might not have had as easy a time playing patty-cake with Jerry.

But still, I'd go with Young by decision. I'd give Jimmy a 65% chance of victory here to 35% chance of a Quarry win.

My guess is that Young would score with a lot of cute little punches, thus tipping the rounds in his favor. Jerry would probably find himself following Young around the ring in frustration.

This bout would probably be another controversial decision, regardless of how it went or who the judges picked.