Pernell Whitaker vs Ike Quartey 1998, the fight that never happened

As much as I love Quartey, I don't like him against even an old Pernell. Unlike Oscar, Quartey was not all that quick of a guy and not really a KO puncher like Tito or Oscar. Ike liked to work behind his jab in a slow, methodical and high pressure style. I don't think he had the feet or handspeed to contest Pernell and Pernell was one of the best at taking away the jab which was Ike's entire offense.

One other thing that often gets overlooked about Pernell was his exceptional body punching. I bet Pernell watched film of Ike's high guard and was licking his chops. I think Pernell wins over 12 rounds against a bitter Quartey who thinks he got robbed again.

 

1998? Whitaker was already overrated in his prime, but by then was already well past getting out performed by Vazquez and Rivera. Quartey would punch a hole through him.

 

Out of curiosity, but which fighters have you actually picked Whitaker to beat in hypotheticals? I swear I've never seen you pick Whitaker in a H2H.

 

When I first saw this thread I automatically would've picked Quartey without hesitation. But your write up gave me something to think about that made me a bit more hesitant with my original prediction.

What I would say though is that Whitaker even a few years before 1998 was looking alot more beatable.

I thought Rivera beat Whitaker in their 1st meeting.

Whitaker also needed an uncharacteristic brutal KO late on vs Hurtado to rescue the fight after being behind on points.

So Whitaker was starting to slow down and look alot more beatable.

I'm not sure I'd have the confidence in the 1998 version of Whitaker beating a big powerful imposing Welterweight in his prime like Quartey.

I know it's harder to make the jab work vs a southpaw especially a very tricky one like Whitaker.

But I still think Quartey's straight accurate punches would find the mark now and again against a faded Whitaker. And he'd do enough to win a decision maybe dropping Whitaker once in the process.

 

I know my take is not going to be popular especially with how vulnerable Pernell looked around that time and how beastly Ike was at that time. It's a stylistic thing that I am going with. I honestly think Tito is an easier matchup for Ike than Pernell. Tito had a tendency to get jabbed silly but Pernell was one of the best at navigating that punch from a conventional stance.