This Is Why Ike Quartey Had To Quit Boxing

For people who are ‘addicted’ to boxing, you will recall that, in 1988, one of the best world fighters who consistently put smiles on the faces of his fans with his astounding pokes in the ring, was Ike ‘Bazooka’ Quartey.

The WBA welterweight champion and Ghanaian professional boxer, was a delight to watch in the ring whenever he steps foot in the four corner ring. Fans were consistently not disillusioned since Ike conveyed and satisfied everybody with a Technical Knockout (TKO) or at worse, a draw.

The 50 year old, who held the WBA welterweight title from 1994 to 1998, additionally challenged once for IBF junior-middleweight title in 2000. His substantial punches consistently stun his opponents, hence the name ‘Bazooka’.

His shoulder-fired rocket grenade jabs helped him in winning a large portion of his bouts with technical Knockouts. Perhaps, the greatest and hardest battles for Ike was with ‘Sweet Pee’ Pernel Whitaker and Oscar De LA Hoya. In spite of the fact that it was a tought battle, Ike Quartey dropped Oscar De La Hoya when they battled in February 1999.

Ike Quartey was exceptional and was doing very well in the boxing ‘world’ until he completely lost enthusiasm for boxing. Obviously, after the bout with Oscar De La Hoya, he undoubtedly won the battle but split points decision by the appointed judges of the fight proclaimed De La Hoya ‘The Golden Boy’ as the champ.

Why Ghana Needs A Hall Of Fame!

He felt very cheated particularly when even observers clearly saw that Ike was the one to have been pronounced the victor. After this ‘big’ decision, he never truly found the opportunity to move on with boxing, regardless of fighting for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) crown in 2000 against Fernando Vargas. Truth be told, he was heartbroken, thus in 2006, he hanged his gloves.