Mike Quarry ~ Forced To Fight On By Father ~ 'Road To Palookaville'

[Bill Paxtom]

Tuesday ~ June 13, 1978

Ice World ~ Totowa, New Jersey

* Mike Quarry - 60-10-5 {15 KO's} ~ 5' 11" ~ 177 lbs. ~ {Age; 27 years, 3 months}
vs.
* Kevin Smith - 11-2-0 {9 KO's} ~ 6' 0" ~ 176 lbs. ~ {Age; 20 years, 2 months}
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Billed as;

The Pro versus The Kid


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~ The Skinny ~

Mike Quarry >
Despite getting 'flattened' {L KO 5} by Pete McIntyre on March 10, 1978. Mike was still supposed to go
ahead and fight Michael Spinks.

The 'original' date of March 31st, was pushed back 7-Days to Friday Night - April 7th to give Mike Quarry
an extra week to recover from the Knockout Loss. The bout was still set for Las Vegas.

But, Michael Spinks 'pulled out', due to a hand injury. That left Mike Quarry 'available'.

Enter > Lou Duva

Lou Duva was the 'Manager/Trainer' of the 'highly-touted' Kevin Smith of Jersey City, New Jersey. The
20 year-old 'Ballsy Irish Kid' was super popular in North Jersey, and was one hell of a puncher.

Lou Duva felt that his fighter needed a 'name win' on his record to get Kevin Smith into the Top 15 of
Ring Magazine's World Rankings.

Lou contacted Jack and Mike Quarry in mid-May 1977, and offered them a Fight Purse of { $5000 },
a Percentage of the Gate, plus '3' Round-Trip Airline Tickets and {Hotel Expenses} to come to
Totowa, New Jersey to battle Kevin Smith on the June 13th bout.