FIGHTING ROOTS
We speak to the last-surviving Quarry brother about his career and siblings
‘IN THE END, JERRY WAS BETTER OFF DEAD’
BOBBY QUARRY is the last surviving member of the fighting brothers. Brother Jerry, who died in 1999 from complications with boxing-induced brain damage, is widely regarded as one of the roughest and toughest warriors the heavyweight division has ever seen. Mike – another of Bobby’s big brothers – was a light-heavyweight contender in a top era. He was dead by the age of 55. Bobby, 56, is not as celebrated but he’s alive. He loved to fight and, also like his brothers, he fell into drug addiction. He ended up in prison after his 10-12-2 (7) career concluded in 1992. He was reportedly diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease but, today at least, he is lucid and happy.
Tell us about the roots of your famous fighting family.
Yes, sir, it was instilled in us. My dad [ Jack Quarry], he started it all, he fought in the 1940s. He actually had a skin disease that he was real conscious of but, anyway, he would take fights on short notice; he would fill in when the main guy wasn’t available to fight. He’d get the call and he’d step in. He was a real tough guy.
Your professional career was short. What was your amateur record?
I had eight amateur fights, I was 6-2. I lost twice to the same guy, and five days apart, [fringe contender] Avery Rawls, who got a draw with James “Quick” Tillis in the pros. Myself, I didn’t have the determination or the sheer drive my brothers Jerry and Mike had. A lot of my fights, I just wasn’t in shape like I should have been. I did the best I could with the short notice I got for my big fights – the Tommy Morrison fight (KO by 2 in 1992) – I had 13 days’ notice. But it is what it is.
Given what happened to your brothers, was your short career a blessing in disguise?
I really believe that my brothers, the way they ended up and passed away, from too many hard and long fights, it is in the DNA, and I’m still here alive and well, speaking to you. I was saved from that by God, because I had such a short career and I never went through what they did. I am so lucky that I never suffered a brain injury the way my brother Jerry did. I had a different upbringing from my brothers, in that I was the youngest and my parents were divorced by the time I was an adult. I never had that ‘never give in’ attitude instilled into me the way Mike and Jerry did.
Jerry was a great fighter. Can you remember the last time you saw him?
Oh, of course. It’s a distinct memory. He was a momma’s boy, we all were. Every day, he would say to my mom, ‘I love you so much.’ And he began saying it to me, all the time, towards the end. He would say, ‘I love you, little brother, you mean so much to me.’ And then, just 30 minutes later, he would forget he’d said it, to my mom and to me, and he’d say it again. You know, it was sad when he passed away when he did, but I know he wouldn’t have wanted to have lived like that, not the way he was. Really, he was better off dead – that’s the way he would have wanted it.
And Mike?
With Mike it was more of a physical problem, more a problem with his dexterity and his physical ability. With Jerry, it was a brain issue. His long-term memory was always good, but his short-term memory was really bad. There’s no doubt he took too many punches. Myself, I had some tough fights, but they were mostly short. I was saved from that and I do feel it was down to God. You know, they [the media] like to say how I am brain-dead myself, but the fact is, no, I’m not – I’m talking to you, you tell me! But I guess a bad news story sells better.
You fought Tommy Morrison, some gatekeepers like Levi Billups and Jimmy Ellis. And there was that highlight reel KO of David Kilgour.
Yeah, I had actually had a long layoff due to me getting poked in the eye in a football game in a park where I live, and I only came back because they offered me such good money, which I needed at the time. I was off from 1983 to 1987. I lost partial vision in my eye and I only got through because I memorised the eye chart (laughs). I fought Billups because they offered me good money to fight in Japan. Morrison was very short notice. But the Kilgour fight, and we are great friends to this day, I knocked him out and ESPN rank that as one of the Top 30 greatest KOS they have ever shown. I tell that to every girl I meet!