Venue: Municipal Auditorium, Atlanta, 26th October, 1970.
During his forced exile from
boxing even Muhammad Ali had doubted that he would enter the
ring again. Ali was under no illusions about the task taht
now faced him. If he lost he would have to listen for the
rest of his life the bad things the press would write about
him.
Facing Ali was Jerry Quarry,
a rough and tough white Heavyweight who had known plenty of
hardship in his life. Quarry was not intimidated by Ali or
the crowd and for the first time Ali entered the ring against
a younger man than himself and one who was more than capable
of winning the Heavyweight Title now held by Joe Frazier.
Plenty of people had advised
Ali to take an easier fight on his return, yet their fears
looked unfounded as Ali set about Quarry from the opening
bell like the dancing master of old, circling and flashing
out his jab. For the opening three minuted it seemed like
the years outside of the ring had left Ali unscathed.
But in round two Quarry, a pressure
fighter, bore in woth some solid body shots that forced Ali
onto the ropes where he seemed content to stay. It was a tactic
Ali would contine to use in his return from exile. Even in
the third round, Ali got the better of a close exchange of
infighting. When Quarry stepped back, there was a deep cut
above his left eye. The referee, Tony Perez, halted the bout
when the cornermen could not close the cut between rounds
three and four. Quarry was bitterly disappointed and rushed
towards Ali to be stopped by Drew Bundini Brown.
Muhammad Ali's comeback fight
had raised more questions than it had answered.
Watch the
boxing video of Muhammad Ali vs Jerry Quarry now:
