When I followed boxing really closely between 1995 and 1998 approx, before all chances of actually seeing any boxing were removed when Sky TV took on all broadcasting rights for the sport from terrestrial TV and my interest wained, nearly everything I knew as a fan was learnt through print - I subscribed to both The Ring and to Boxing News, a UK weekly magazine. With no internet then really and no TV coverage available to me as a teenager, there were scores of fighters who were big names then who I knew all about but had never actually seen fight! I remember seeing a three minute highlights package of Jones-Pazienza broadcast at 2am and thinking I'd gone to heaven! Now the flame is well and truly burning once again I'm taking the opportunity to interrogate Youtube and have a really good look at some of these boxers, as well as catching up with the very recent and current picture. One boxer I was interested in was Ike Quartey. I seem to remember his trainer being Azumah Nelson's father in law, or something like that. I also remember reading about his fight to win the WBA title against a Peruvian or Venezuelan, producing a knockout in a real close one. Probably the last thing I recall reading about him was losing in another close one to De La Hoya. Where can I look for the best of this fighter? PS - Just a note to say that finding this forum has been one of the best things to happen as I've rekindled my old interest in the sport. I felt that when boxing basically disappeared from the UK's airwaves that I didn't leave boxing, but it left me. Now, no matter what is or isn't broadcast, a few clicks and there it is on your hard drive available forever. In spare time I love trawling through this forum and adding to an ever growing list of fights I want to track down and fighters I want to know more about. Keep up the good work everybody...and expect more threads like these! :good
If you want to see why he's a consensus pick for having one of the hardest jabs P4P in the history of the sport, start with the Jung Oh Park fight. It's up on youtube. I don't think he matches up well with the historical elite at 147, but I firmly believe he got jobbed against Oscar, obviously jobbed against Forrest at 154, and dominates most of the recent crop of good to decent welterweights (Cotto, Margarito, Clottey, Berto, etc.) He mixed offense and defense well, threw creative combinations, and had a freaking wrecking ball attached to his left arm. You will enjoy what you see.
Quite a limited fighter but in a unusual sense- he did not really use angles and only punched in straight lines. Later on in the Forrest fight he developed a useful left hook. You saw his beat Espano, a good fighter who won the title by beating Meldrick Taylor I believe. As the above poster sais watch his fight against Park. Vargas and Oscar were nice fights to watch. Shame he never was matched up against Tito that would be brilliant
Pretty sure he'd have been stopped eventually (going off of the way even Oscar caught up to him eventually), but he'd have definitely taken some rounds from Tito in the process. I also wonder how well he would have dealt with Mosley.
