Hall of Fame and Death
Jerry Quarry was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995. He attended the ceremony with the help of one of his brothers but as a TV documentary showed he seemed barely aware of the events, the dementia already being severe. His professional record was 53-9-4 with 32 KOs. He had been lauded by countless younger boxing stars as a true star of the sport and an inspiration. Said Joe Frazier " A very tough man. He could have been a world champion, but cut too easily ". His brothers Mike Quarry (deceased) and Bobby Quarry also were pro boxers. Mike lost to Bob Foster by knockout for the world light heavyweight title in 1972, but defeated several top light-heavyweights including Mike Rossman. Bobby fought 23 times as a professional heavyweight, once losing to high-ranked 1990's contender Tommy Morrison. Quarry was hospitalized with pneumonia on December 28, 1998 and then suffered cardiac arrest. He never regained consciousness and died on January 3, 1999. He is interred at Shafter Cemetery in Shafter, California. A foundation was established in his honor to battle boxing-related dementia, a condition that has afflicted many boxers and brought Quarry's life to an early end. Years later, Quarry still has a loyal legion of fans.
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Famous quotes containing the words hall, fame and/or death:
“While there we heard the Indian fire his gun twice.... This sudden, loud, crashing noise in the still aisles of the forest, affected me like an insult to nature, or ill manners at any rate, as if you were to fire a gun in a hall or temple.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Celebrity-worship and hero-worship should not be confused. Yet we confuse them every day, and by doing so we come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all real models. We lose sight of the men and women who do not simply seem great because they are famous but are famous because they are great. We come closer and closer to degrading all fame into notoriety.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)
“I want Death to find me planting my cabbages, neither worrying about it nor the unfinished gardening.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)