By Carl Wade Thompson: One of my favorite pastimes is to watch fan-created highlight reels of great boxers, cinematic narratives which capture both the love of the sport and fighters who inspire. Over the years of watching highlight reels, I have learned of many new fighters and their accomplishments, some of which never reached the height of the sport by winning a world title. On one such night while browsing through highlight reels, I noticed one called “Jerry Quarry Tribute” posted by ElBingoBoxing.
Now, I knew of Jerry Quarry, mostly from the people who beat him, boxing luminaries such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and Jimmy Ellis. But as I watched the highlight reel, his great skill as a pugilist, the scenes than take a saddening turn when it shows the retired Jerry Quarry who suffers from pugilistic dementia. With scenes taken from a news broadcast before Quarry was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame, the famed fighter can barely speak in coherent sentences and cannot even spell out his own name. Cared for by his family 24 hours a day, this once heralded challenger was now in the final phase of the disease that would eventually claim his life. However, over the course of the tribute reel, one of the things that stand out, as Quarry is being interviewed by a journalist, is though his mind is mostly gone, his body still knows the boxing craft that led him to such great heights when he demonstrates a still swift and fearsome left hook, his trademark punch. As the video flashes back to his triumphs in the ring, paralleling them with his inauguration into the Boxing Hall of Fame and his inability to write the letter “Q”, I feel both a mixture of awe and sadness at this man who gave it all up for the fans and the sport he and his family loved so much.
After watching the video, I reflected on those fighters who achieved great heights but were never champions, many of which sacrificed their minds and lives in the pursuit of pugilistic excellence. Many times those we call journeymen are viewed in a derogatory fashion, never seeing them as the people who make boxing such a great sport. Often we are only mesmerized by the champions and do not see the people who trudge on through numerous defeats, always striving for championships they will never win. As fans, it is important to remember those who gave it all but never achieved gold, the fighters who champions built their careers fighting. Reflecting on Quarry, a heavyweight contender of the golden era of heavyweight boxing, we should remember that his story and countless others not be forgotten. For without the stories of the journeymen who were never champions, there would not be no boxing at all.