Ike Quartey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Statistics
Ike Quartey
Real name	Isufu Quartey
Nickname	Bazooka
Weight	Light Middleweight
Nationality	Ghanaian
Birth date	November 27, 1969
Birth place	Bukom, Ghana
Style	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	42
Wins	37
Wins by KO	31
Losses	4
Draws	1
No contests	0

Ike "Bazooka" Quartey (born November 27, 1969 in Bukom, Ghana) is a former WBA welterweight boxing champion.

1 Professional Career
2 Statistics
3 Amateur Career
4 Personal
5 External links

[edit] Professional Career

Quartey entered boxing in 1988. He won the WBA Welterweight title on 4 June 1994 against Cristano Espana of Venezuela, with a KO in 11. He defended his title successfully seven times. Among his foes were Alberto Cortes and Oba Carr, who had managed to knock down Quartey's co-champion, Felix Trinidad. As well as Vince Phillips who would knockout Kostya Tszyu in his very next fight to win the IBF junior welterweight title. In october of 1997 he fought Jose Luis Lopez to a draw. The decision was originally read as a win for Quartey but reversed when a flaw was found in the scoring. Although Quartey was down twice, most observers felt that he deserved the victory and his reputation suffered little damage. Personal, business and health issues kept Quartey out of the ring until february of 1999. His inactivity led him to be stripped of his WBA belt, but he challenged WBC champion Oscar De La Hoya at the Thomas & Mack center in Las Vegas, Nevada. De La Hoya came away with a controversial split decision. Quartey would remain inactive for the next year, eventually jumping up to the junior middleweight division to challenge then undefeated Fernando Vargas for his IBF title. Quartey would lose an unanimous decision. He would leave the ring for the next five years.

Quartey returned to the ring in January of 2005. He won the first three bouts of his comeback. On August 5, 2006, he would lose a close and extremely controversial unanimous decision to former Welterweight champion Vernon Forrest at the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York. Most boxing pundits called it an egregious robbery which once again shows how the judging system in boxing often does not produce adequate results. Quartey's next opponent was Ronald "Winky" Wright on December 2, 2006 in Tampa, Florida. Fighting on Wright's home turf, Quartey put on a courageous display against Wright, battling back against Wright to win some of the later rounds, albeit losing a unanimous decision.

Quartey was known mainly for his "Bazooka" like jab. His jab was considered by most experts to be the best in all of boxing while he was in his prime. Quartey was relatively short and heavily muscled for a welterweight. He primarily relied a "peek-a-boo" or "clam-shell" defense, which consisted of him allowing punches to land on his arms, elbows and gloves which he kept held tightly to his cheeks and ribcage.

Preceded by Crisanto Espana	WBA Welterweight Champion 4 June 1994– October 1998 (Title vacated)	Succeeded by James Page

[edit] Statistics

Reach = 71"
Height = 5' 8"
Record as of August 2006: W 37 (31 ko's) | L 3 | D 1 | Total 41

[edit] Amateur Career

Claimed an amateur record of 50-4
1987 3rd place at Junior World Championships in Havana, Cuba. Lost to Lászlo Szücs (Hungary) on points

Represented Ghana as a Light Welterweight at 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

Defeated Saisozema points
Lost to Grahame Cheney (Australia) on points (5:0) in third round

[edit] Personal

He is a member of Accra's Ga tribe. Ike is the youngest of 27 children. His father reportedly had five wives. His older brother Isaac Quartey won a silver medal in the 1960 Olympics.