I just watched this fight for the first time the other day. Not a bad scrap at all, I was pretty entertained throughout. Why was there never a rematch to clear up the Draw from their first fight?
Quartey owned a bunch of businesses back in Ghana and I think that kept him occupied. From what I've read his mentality was that he had paid his dues (which he had) and that he deserved huge paydays and he was only really motivated to get up for superfights.
I think Quartey was gunning for Oscar or Tito, too. The biggest of the big paydays available, and he landed Oscar not TOO long after Lopez, I thought.
That was a killer fight. I really liked both guys and thought both underacheived... tho Lopez definitely overachieved on his underachieving.
Well after that fight Quartey/Pea were set to fight and Quartey got malaria did he not? So the fight got scrapped and he waited on the Oscar fight for early-99.
Lopez wasnt a high profile fighter, plus he had serious weed problems and couldnt stay off it long enough to stay in the ring. Lopez was a high risk for a fighter once he got on the HBO elite level and thats probably why he was sort of a gatekeeper for the fighters who were going to face the Oscar and Tito level PPV fighters before they took them on.
No point rematching someone you clearly beat,especially when there's very little to gain in doing so.He had fights with Whitaker,Trinidad and De La Hoya all fall through in 1998.
Thanks for the info guys. I never knew Lopez had substance abuse problems. I hope he has gotten those demons under control so that he can enjoy the next phase of his life. As for Quartey, I heard he owned a bunch of businesses in his native country and that he was doing great financially, but that was several years back. Is this still the case with Quartey?