Does past-prime Quartey's performance v Oscar say to you that prime Ike...

He'd give them all hell in his prime, but I don't think we can draw the conclusion that he would have been the best of the lot, especially given that Oscar had been on a fair paddock the last year and a half prior to their fight, doing his version of the bum of the month tour and was way above his proper weight on fight night.

As it goes, I think he beats Shane, think he beats a prime Vernon, holds his own with peak Oscar and maybe gets stopped late against Tito. All speculation tho.

 

I've no reason to believe that Ike Qurtey wasn't in his prime when he fought Oscar De La Hoya.He looked as sharp and as well-conditioned as any fighter that I've seen come off of a lengthy layoff to fight an elite fighter.Besides a brief scare late against Lopez,he had a relatively easy session in soundly outboxing him in his last fight before that,and with the possible exception of his bout with Espana,he had been in no truly tough,gruelling fights at that point,either.



I can't say he was better than Mosley,Forrest and Trinidad,as we never saw him fight those names at that weight.That said,I had him beating De La Hoya by enough points that should have secured him a victory.

 

I think he may well have been the best of the lot. I'm not sure if he was prime against Oscar or not, he had malaria and was very inactive, he didn't look as good, but then again you are not likely to look as good against. Still he clearly outboxed Oscar for my money, KDs or not

Quartey against Mosley should much like Winky against Mosley, as should Quartey against Trinidad. Quartey probably beat Forrest, although Forrest was more past his prime, that 1 prime for prime is a toss up.

Quartey imo would absolutely outbox Pacquaio if was around today. Not many in history should be picked clearly over him at WW. So overall he had amazing ability but won't go down as a great WW

Quartey - Great or just Very Good????

 

I think what hurt Quartey was the fact that he had a one year layoff prior to taking on Oscar, then had another one year layoff before he fought Vargas. His problems came from inactivity in the ring. He probably should have moved up in weight, too. He faded too much in fights.

 

Forrest Vs Quartey prime for prime is very interesting, both of them had quality, quality jabs. Quartey was way past it by the time they fought, but had those hooks that you couldn't miss Forrest with, as well as a speedy, consistent jab of his own.

 

Forrest was strong enough to deal with Quarteys size. He would have schooled Quartey with better movement and punches if his shoulder wasnt screwed up. Oscar I think always beats him too. He was too quick and his footwork was too good.
I think Tito punches too hard and Quartey would be right in front of Tito like he likes his opponents to be. So really I think Quartey loses to all of them best for best. He was just too limited and one dimensional compared to all those guys. Maybe he beats Mosley if any of them and always gives Oscar a good fight because of the size factor.

 

Supposedly Arum kept promising and tieing up Quartey. Quartey himself liked taking time out, drinking his Remy Martin and smoking his cigars. He was living comfortable from, after Oscar he certainly became a nonchalant semi-pro, he wasn't a gym rat and not dedicated in his time out. Some one of his level really should have beaten Vargas, even at 154, supposedly Vernon Forrest bossed Vargas in sparring, who in turn Quartey outjabbed. Quartey could have forced a DLH rematch with a win there. Then he stops boxing for 5years.....

I'd pick Mayweather, I rate him higher than most here, I think his better speed and skillset sees him win through, 154lbs certainly wasn't his weight though. Quartey would be the best pure boxer FMJ had faced though

He had great peak ability, he didn't get the decisions or big fights to allow us to see the best of him. This was partly his lack of fanbase, partly being avoided and partly a lack of desire.

A bit like the case for Marcel, with the ability against the best versus the lack of depth

 

quartey in his prime would have lost to pea IMO. tito v quartey back then is 50/50 but the run tito was on, it'd take a special performance to have defeated him.

 

Looking at Quartey's technique against Vargas, it is clear that he didn't train as much as he should have. He went from being a puncher to being a slapper. His late fades in the Oscar, Lopez and Carr fights could also be attributed to lack of proper training. The guy clearly had a load of natural talent, but sometimes this can work against a fighter. Some don't like to do what they need to do to reach the pinnacle. Quartey could have had a much better resume, I feel. Had he reached down, stayed busy, and trained more, he could have been right up there with Oscar, not slightly below him.

 

I think that was always his problem. He lost a lot of power pushing his righthand and kind of winging it. He really never consistently threw a good straight righthand and it hurt his power, and thats why I think Tito would probably win if they went at it. Quartey was a solid puncher, but he probably could have been better if he corrected some of those technical errors. His jab was top notch though.