Boxing

February 9, 1973, Quarry Upsets Streaking Lyle

By Kent Appel

Though he was the older of the two fighters going into their twelve round bout by almost three years, Ron Lyle, who was just two days short of his thirty-first birthday, seemed to be going in a completely different career direction than 27 year old veteran war horse, "Irish" Jerry Quarry. Lyle, a relative newcomer to the fight game after getting a late start due to losing most of his twenties because of a prison sentence, had not been subjected to the ring wars that Quarry had been through and he seemed to be the fresher of the two. Lyle was on a roll with nineteen wins in nineteen professional bouts with seventeen of his wins coming by knockout, including his last eleven opponents in a row. Lyle seemed to be a rising star in the heavyweight division, an ex con who had made good and who was on the threshold of a title shot. While Quarry seemed to be on the way down after a recent seven round beating at the hands of Muhammed Ali and eight years of epic battles with the division's finest, a perfect "big name" opponent for Lyle's resume, on his way to bigger and better things. But something happened on the way to Lyle's stardom. Someone forgot to tell Jerry Quarry that he was merely a stepping stone for Lyle.

Jerry Quarry had heard it all before. After all he was supposed to be cannon fodder for one Mac Foster just three years previous. He had proved the naysayers wrong then by suddenly coming to life in the sixth round and knocking Foster out and through the ropes with a devastating barrage of punches in a bout that was even after the first five rounds. Foster, who had entered his fight with Quarry undefeated with twenty-four wins in a row, all by knockout, never was the same after his loss to Quarry. Quarry was also not supposed to beat number one contender Thad Spencer in the semifinals of the WBA tournament to determine a new champion during Ali's forced retirement. Spencer, fresh off an upset win over former WBA champion Ernie Terrell, was another up and comer who was dominated by Quarry and who never was the same again. But had Quarry bit off more than he could chew in the form of Ron Lyle? Had all of the ring wars with the likes of Frazier, Ali, Patterson, Chuvalo, and many more finally taken their toll?

At the weigh in for the Lyle/Quarry bout the size difference between the two men was very apparent. Lyle at 6'3" had tipped the scales at 219 pounds and he seemed to dwarf the 6'0" 200 pound Quarry. The size difference was also noticeable as the two stood face to face during the referee's instructions in the ring before the bout. There was probably one important difference though between Quarry and Lyle's other previous opponents and that is, Quarry stared back unafraid of the menacing presence in front of him. Was this just foolish bravery on the part of Quarry or had he noticed a chink in Lyle's armor?

The bout started with Lyle missing with a wild right hand which Quarry easily avoided. Quarry boxed beautifully in this first round by moving in and out and he scored well with left-right combinations to the head and with the exception of absorbing a hard left hook by Lyle late in the round, Quarry seemed to set the pace for the entire fight with his excellent movement in and out of range and with his counter punching style. There were times in the fight when Lyle landed some very hard shots but by and large he never seemed to be able to follow up on his momentary advantages because Quarry for the most part didn't let Lyle get set to throw his bombs. Quarry frustrated Lyle with his speed and boxing ability and his ability to take a punch. While at the same time, he landed enough hard punches of his own to keep Lyle honest. In fact it was Lyle who was hurt badly after being driven into the ropes by a hard left hook from Quarry near the end of the eighth round and the bell sounded with Lyle taking a battering. One other important factor in Quarry's performance was that his old nemesis, the cut, was nowhere to be found and the outcome was never really in doubt as Quarry cruised to a twelve round decision victory in one of the finest performances of his career.

Jerry Quarry would have only one more significant victory in his career, a first round knockout over another powerful slugger, Earnie Shavers. After the Shaver's fight he would never again defeat a top contender and he would soon suffer devastating TKO losses to both Joe Frazier and Ken Norton ending his dream of winning the heavyweight championship of the world.

Ron Lyle would go on fight an epic bout with George Foreman as well as to score victories over such fighters as Jimmy Ellis, Joe Bugner, Oscar Bonevena, and Shavers. He would also put on a fine performance against Muhammed Ali for the heavyweight title in which Lyle was ahead on the scorecards after ten rounds only to be stopped by Ali in the eleventh round.

One thing for sure can be said about Lyle's fight with Jerry Quarry. At least on this night, Jerry Quarry was not ready to be put out to pasture.

 

 


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