It was the hey day of boxing when the heavyweight ruled supreme... Ali, Frazier and Foreman were the kings of the ring in the 70's but there were plenty of contenders who wished to ascend to the throne. One of them was Jerry Quarry who in a different era may have been a champion but in 1974, he was not at the level of the titans of the sport.
In a brutal beating at the hands of Smokin' Joe, Quarry suffered another loss in his quest to rise to the top of the sport. At the age of 29 he was clearly done as a fighter, no longer a contender to the crown he so desperately wanted. And yet, he would fight for another 17 years taking beating after beating until he died prematurely at the age of 53 from dementia pugilistica which is a neurological disorder from too many hits to the head.
He was literally beaten to death.
Steve Springer is a veteran LA Times sportswriter and author of 14 books, including the co-author with Blake Chavez of " Hard Luck: The Triumph and Tragedy of Irish Jerry Quarry" joins us to talk about what could have been for Jerry... how he never met a fight he wouldn't take... and how that would lead to his early death. Steve says Jerry had real talent as a fighter... he just came around at the wrong time. And how Jerry hated being known as "The Great White Hope."
Steve covered the fight game for years and tells us about the time Will Smith, while filming "Ali", asked him if he could be a real boxer, what he saw at ringside of the infamous Tyson-Holyfield biting ear fight that grossed him out, and why the daughter of "The Greatest of All-Time" isn't a fan of this reporter.
It was a time when boxing ruled and Steve had a seat in the front row... and he's got the stories to prove it.
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