Death of Jack Quarry

Jack Quarry, patriarch of the fighting Quarry clan, passed away at 4am on Saturday morning. A well known character in the fight game for many years, Jack was instrumental in steering the successful careers of sons Jerry and Mike Quarry in the sixties and seventies.

Jerry Quarry established himself as one of the great heavyweight contenders of the era with victories over Floyd Patterson, Thad Spencer, Buster Mathis, Mac Foster, Earnie Shavers and Ron Lyle. He also fought two epic losing battles with Smokin’ Joe Frazier and lost twice to Muhammad Ali in a golden era for heavyweight boxing. Jerry died from pugilistic dementia in 1999 at the age of 53.

Brother Mike Quarry was a top ranking light-heavyweight of the seventies who scored quality wins over Tom Bethea, Eddie Owens, Mike Rossman, Jimmy Dupree and Andy Kendall. Mike challenged unsuccessfully for the world crown when he was knocked out in four rounds by the great Bob Foster at the Convention Center in Las Vegas in 1972. A year later, Quarry dropped a decision to English star Chris Finnegan at Wembley.

Jack Quarry’s death was reported by Jerry’s first wife, the former Kathleen Casey.