Ringside Report Looks Back at Heavyweight Contender Noel Quarless
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By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart
His final fight was in 1990 and up against the man we believe was the best heavyweight, so far, that was associated with the United Kingdom, Lennox Lewis. He began as a professional some 9 years earlier in 1981 and in 31 professional fights, Noel Quarless, 19-12, 11 KO’s managed to revel in the limelight, grab those opportunities that came his way and then fade as the lights dimmed and the career faltered before he gave Lewis his 7th straight win as professional fighter.
That final night came in the spiritual home of British boxing, a small hall with a big heart, the gateway to dreams and the source of many failures; York Hall in Bethnal Green London. There have to be many such halls up and round the United Kingdom but this one has the balcony close to the action, limited numbers of seats in the house and no limits on the volume and the enthusiasm that appears in the crowd as they goad and cheer the fighters to get close, up personal and knock each other out. If you want to be known as a fighter in the UK, you have to box at York Hall.
Quarless managed that and many other things too including fighting in his home town of Liverpool, capturing the hearts of the City who followed his career filled with the hope and dreams that comes with a man who promised much – in the ring and out his mouth!
Quarless was a heavyweight fighter with the movement of a much lighter man. When you see the way that Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury can move, Quarless could sue for copyright infringement.
Coming from that fighting city of Liverpool, Quarless was a man that many thought would finally deliver to Liverpool a heavyweight champion. The city had many fighters from other weight divisions to respect, admire and revere but a big man was the holy grail. Quarless was considered to be that man; except he wasn’t.
His history is littered with being a bit part.
Despite having taken the European title against Anders Eklund in no more than 70 seconds, he was to be John L Gardner’s last opponent, less than 2 weeks later in 1983! Quarless took Gardner apart in that fight so his reputation was really beginning to build. It was a reputation built on a journeyman style existence. Quarless was winning but he was also losing.
The Gardner fight was his 13th, he had won only 9 of them. The next 3 fights had saw him lose another 3 times. Nevertheless, in the 1980’s he was the man that was being mentioned on the lips of those in the know. It was helped by his every talkative mouth. When he talked, he could talk a good game and certainly in the ring he was mostly delivering.
That mouth was in fine fettle when he commented on sparring with Michael Spinks, “I certainly didn’t learn anything. In fact, I reckon I taught him a few things,” he was to comment afterwards.
Such bragging though was the precursor to things going all wrong for the big man.
He got disqualified in his next fight, against Conroy Nelson in 1984 and his stamina waned. Along with punch resistance starting to go, the time was becoming increasingly wrong for him. He was fighting, he was winning but he was still losing.
In a British title eliminator against Horace Notice he was stopped in the 7th round whilst gassing badly. It was 1985 and the end was nigh.
It was not to be an ending without a fanfare as he recorded a win against John Tate in 1988 though by then Tate was his own shadow as well as his own self – a massive 281 pounds! Tate was a former world champion, Olympian and should have been THE scalp on Quarless’ record; instead it was a sad and sorry sight for all to see.
The final flourish was a fight against another up and coming fighter, Lewis in 1990. He talked of stopping Lewis in 3; instead Lewis stopped his career in 2, once again in that mecca of British boxing, York Hall.
In Liverpool Scousers still remember him fondly and many have compared his career to that of David Price who may echo the fights that Quarless had, the hype that Price enjoyed and the collective disappointment that has followed his professional career. It’s NOT a bad analogy nor is it a terrible one for Quarless was fearless.
His legacy though is much more than just his record as his nephew, Nathan Quarless has taken the step to go professional as cruiserweight for the Salisbury ABC in Liverpool. The Solly, as it is known, also brought Olympians like David Burke and David Price, future world champion Derry Mathews and ABA champions including James Dickens, Stephen Burke, Courtney Fry and David Mulholland to our attention so there is a cracking pedigree. To date, Nathan is a 3 fight winner in 2018 and we may get a big guy who can dominate like a fellow Scouse cruiserweight looks to do to…
Let me leave the last word to the Liverpudlian boxing legend and WBC Emeritus Cruiserweight champion, Tony Bellew who reflected in an article a few years back he wrote, “ Noel is a great guy who also saw something in me and put a fair bit of work into me. Noel was a good heavyweight himself in his day fighting the likes of Lennox Lewis, Funso Banjo and beating the likes of Anders Eklund and John L. Gardner, not to mention boxing the head off former world champion John Tate in a points win and also working as a sparring partner for the great Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes.”
Liverpool may be a city that occasionally sleeps but it never forgets.
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