Joe Frazier's Big 5: Bringing the champion to his knees

Joe Frazier's Big 5: Bringing the champion to his knees

The victory over Jerry Quarry that foreshadowed the success of "Smokin' Joe"

Joe Frazier is one of the most legendary boxers. A man who achieved a lot in an extremely short time. We're not just talking about success, we're also talking about fan love, spectacular fights, quality fights that are talked about for years after they ended, and memorable performances regardless of the outcome of the fights. For 37 matches in the professional ring, it is difficult to identify any of them that do not enter the category of exciting, but certainly a number of them stand out significantly. Therefore, we decided to focus on five of them and recall the fights of one of the best boxers in the late 60s and early 70s of the last century. We've already mentioned that his two best fights were against Muhammad Ali in 1971 and over Jimmy Ellis a year earlier. In third place, there is an exciting fight before Frazier becomes world champion.

It's a fight where "Smokin' Joe" is challenged by a young Jerry Quarry to defend his New York State title. It happened on June 23, 1969, when Quarry was just 23. Frazier gladly accepted to make the fourth defense of his state heavyweight title in less than a year. The triumph with this award was achieved against the undefeated Buster Mathis by knockout, so it is only logical that Joe enters the match against Quarry as the favorite.

The only thing that could serve as a plus for the state title contender in the division is his excellent defense and his counterpunches. This is the foundation on which a not very tall, but quite talented competitor is ready to fight the best in the heavyweight division. Also on his side is the fact that just three months before his meeting with Frazier, Quarry managed to defeat Buster Mathis by unanimous decision. This is only the second loss of Mathis' career, so Jerry seems like a good option for an opponent for "Smokin' Joe".

And indeed, the match is not at all disappointing. Although physically, in terms of experience and in terms of variety of options, the state champion is favored, the match seems extremely even. It's also full of action, a constant exchange of punches and a number of moments that make boxing fans enjoy Quarry's unexpectedly good resistance.

The very first round shows that the myths about the defensive boxing of the challenger can be dispelled, because he is ready to attack no less than Frazier. The bout is set to be one of the most ferocious you'll see in the heavyweight division. The high tempo was maintained in the first three rounds until Quarry's freshness ran out. From the start of the fourth quarter, it looked like he was looking for the clinches and the difference in power between the two began to show. The truth is, Jerry is ready to box with a classy competitor like "Smokin' Joe," but he can't match his pace for a full match.

In the fifth and sixth quarters, Quarry took heavy blows from the state champion, who opened a serious gash under his opponent's eye. The doctors' attempts to close this wound are unsuccessful, and in the seventh part, another heavy hit that Jerry receives leads to the stoppage of the meeting, because his nose is also bleeding. However, due to his fragile age, not particularly great experience and apparently weaker physique, Quarry creates a lot of worries for Fraser.

Still, Joe made another defense of his state heavyweight title, and the bout was named the 1969 Match of the Year by boxing magazine The Ring. It's a match that shows Frazier is ready for the tough fights for world titles, and the future in the sport is more than secure with competitors like Quarry.