Ike Quartey Was A Monster

Favourite fight with quartey was the one against Espana.That was him at his best imo, though Espana maybe took him lightly at the time.He'd had some troubles leading up to the fight and a fever of some sort.

Still, he was an underrated hard hitting technical boxer-puncher who wouldn't have been a sure win for DLH, Pea, McGirt, Tito and co.

Ike deserves credit for that one.

 

Ike is one of my favorites.
Wish I had more of his fights in my collection.

 

Ike was a hard fighter to figure. Arguably his biggest achievements were fights that he officially lost, vs. DeLaHoya and Forrest. I thought he definitely beat Forrest (which surprised me, as I felt Quartey was the older and more faded of the two), and I thought he might've just shaded Hoya or at least got a draw. At the same time, I thought his fights with Lopez and especially Vargas, when he still should've been in or near his prime, exposed his limitations.

 

Espana was getting the better of Ike throughout most of their match. He was just a more fluid, varied combination puncher than the stiffer, more one-dimensional Ike. He lacked the durability to last with Ike in the later rounds, though.

Anyways, Ike was a very good fighter, short of great though, mostly due to his lack of variety and limited skill-set. I'd never in my life favor him over Trinidad. He'd probably cause the slow starting Trinidad trouble early on with the jab, at least while Tito was warming up his engine. Once he got going, that'd be all she wrote for Ike, who just didn't have what was needed outside of the jab to keep him off, in particular lateral movement. Not to mention the punch Ike was most susceptible to, the left hook, was Tito's bread and butter. 8th or 9th round KO for Tito.

 

It's a shame Espana retired, though i think he got a detached retina after the Quartey fight anyway.

He could possibly have won a rematch once he knew what he was up against by pacing himself a bit better.

 

Wasn't it after Quartey when Forrest was thanking God, his family, his trainer etc when Larry Merchant told him "Shouldn't you also thank the judges?"

 

quartey had one of the best jabs of that era i think the trinidad fight is a hard one to call if quartey stayed behind his jab i cant see why he wouldnt be able to walk away with a decision however wild exchanges like the one in the de la hoya fight would get him KO'd trinidads skillset was somewhat limited IMO he was exposed by de la hoya who was a one handed fighter i think quartey was more rounded then hoya

 

I saw the Quartey-Phillips fight a month or two back on youtube. I expected it to be a good fight, especially given that I could judge from the commentary that it was before Phillips upset Tzysu. So I was shocked at the way Ike steamrolled Phillips.

A great example of a fight that you'd think should have been competitive, (especially given the workrate and punching power of Phillips) but just wasn't.

As for Quartey-Trinidad, I always go back and forth on who I think would win that one. Quartey's jab would be a major problem for Trinidad, but considering that Quartey was not the most mobile fighter in the world, could he keep from getting caught by an accurate series of punches from Trinidad the whole fight?

Ultimately that one rests on how long you think Quartey could neutralize Trinidad behind his jab.

 

Damn. I really admire the way that Ike fought and brought that lethal jab to the ring. I would also have loved to see him put Trinidad on his back>



Having said that, I don't think Ike could pull it off due to



1. Drops his hands. He does this repeatedly in fights and it will cost him dearly against a deadly and accurate puncher in Trinidad. Felix has some very harsh overdraft fees in the form of straight rights and left hooks.


2. Stamina and chin. Sure, the punchers that did drop him were some of the best in the division but Trinidad was arguably the best puncher in all of 147. Better than Jose Luis Lopez himself, who nearly took out Ike when the mood struck him. Tito seemed to never get tired and while he was dropped a few times at 147, it took almost a whole fight before a middleweight great in Hopkins stopped him.

This does not bode well in a war of attrition for Quartey.

3.Trinidad Sr. He is an underated trainer who knew his fighter inside and out. They
would formulate a game plan to neutralize the Ghananian's jab and end matters early.

 

ive always thought this was a very underrated win for oscar. better than the vargas and trinidad performances
ike was a very very good fighter and probably would have beaten almost any other fighter around the weight that night.

hes like the john mugabi of his generation..