Could Ike Quartey of Been Great?

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 20 Jul 2006, 13:18

only joking about the incorrect use of 'of'

I like Quartey. Wonderful jab, many feel he beat DLH who tried a desperation KO at the end of their fight. DLh looked just as spent as Quartey by the end and so many say dlh was fortunate to get the nod. Quartey also defended his title 7 times and beat an excellent fighter, Espana, to win the title, destroyed Vince Phillips in three. Seems he never reacted well to defeat, as he wasn't the same after not getting the decision v Oscar and then took about 5 years off after losing to Vargas. At his best, what an amazing specimen, and what a great jab...

glahn · Post by **glahn** » 20 Jul 2006, 14:47

I think Quartey WAS a great fighter, he just didn't have that one defining win on his record, which DLH would have been. I thought he should have had at least a draw in that fight, the last round of which was pretty amazing (even if the pace died a bit after the first minute). I still haven't seen the Vargas fight to this day, but the scores seem to indicate that Vargas won without too much controversy. Anyone care to comment on that one?

Whether he can still be a force at this point is anyone's guess, but a win over Forrest would definitely put him in position for one more big fight before he quits.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 20 Jul 2006, 15:41

glahn wrote:I think Quartey WAS a great fighter, he just didn't have that one defining win on his record, which DLH would have been. I thought he should have had at least a draw in that fight, the last round of which was pretty amazing (even if the pace died a bit after the first minute). I still haven't seen the Vargas fight to this day, but the scores seem to indicate that Vargas won without too much controversy. Anyone care to comment on that one?

Whether he can still be a force at this point is anyone's guess, but a win over Forrest would definitely put him in position for one more big fight before he quits.

I think he clearly beat Oscar. Ike dominated behind the jab, and I had him winning at least 8 rounds. and not all the other rounds were necessarily won by DLH. bad last round, but Oscar should have needed a KO

Goz · Post by **Goz** » 20 Jul 2006, 15:51

I liked Quartey. I thought the DLH fight was very very close and that Oscar probably nicked it but that Welterweight time was so frustrating and an example of what's wrong with boxing these days.

You had DLH, Quartey & Trinidad undefeated for years and not getting it on. I know they did in the end (the much derided De La Hoya taking them both on) but we could have had a series of super-fights between the trio, rematches the lot.

Instead we got a couple of close and relatively uneventful fights at the tail-end of their Welter careers when all 3 were stugling to make the weight and had lost that bit of snap.

Big shame....

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 20 Jul 2006, 15:57

dlh had total fits against another guy with a superficially similar style to quartey. it's almost absurd to compare quartey & sturm, but sturm also has that tight guard, and outstanding jab. if dlh would have dropped sturm he still should have lost convincingly. it baffles me that ppl think dlh beat Ike.

Maybe dlh won round 1, and a couple of the championship rounds, including a big last round. but no way should that make up for being essentially outclassed most of the way

i don't like oscar, but will concede that he deserved to beat whitaker and trinidad

glahn · Post by **glahn** » 20 Jul 2006, 16:15

The question is, do you assess fighters' legacy in their paper record or their actual performances? Most people use the former, when the latter is really the more instructive indicator. People will look at Quartey and say he wasn't a great because he lost his two biggest fights, but if he'd got the result his performance deserved against DLH his HOF status wouldn't even be up for debate, even taking into account the Vargas fight (which, as I say, I still haven't seen.)

Anyway, does anyone think Quartey still has one big win left in him, assuming he gets past Forrest?

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 20 Jul 2006, 16:51

I want him badly to get by Forrest

To me, Quartey is one of boxing's cult stars. Like Harry Simon. There's no limit maybe to how good he could have been. He put on some lovely perfomances in his reign as welter champ - come from behind KO of Espana, demolition of Phillips, boxed commandingly for the 1st 9 rds vs de la lucky. but he didn't end up with the body of work to match his talents.

imagine if he'd got the decision v dlh - which he should have, to me - and then died in a car crash or something, i wonder how well regarded he'd be then

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 20 Jul 2006, 16:54

Did you just compare him to Sanchez? tut tut

He could've been great, but not like Sanchez

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 20 Jul 2006, 17:06

look at Quarteys record... look at the draw he had... then you will see a fighter who could have been GREAT...so much talent, so little application

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 20 Jul 2006, 17:28

knockout wrote:look at Quarteys record... look at the draw he had... then you will see a fighter who could have been GREAT...so much talent, so little application

definitely had all the tools. and he took dlh to school for 9 rounds. but you can't help but expect that something extra: no way should he have buggered off for 5 years. jl lopez was a good fighter. they reckon quartey had malaria that night & proably should have nicked it via decision