# Ike Quartey

Isufu "Ike" Quartey (born 27 November 1969) was a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2006. He held the WBA welterweight title from 1994 to 1998, and challenged once for IBF junior-middleweight title in 2000.

## Early years and amateur career

Quartey is a member of Accra's Ga tribe. He 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. He was born in Bukom where fighting was a hobby. He fought on the streets and trained in the same gym as Azumah Nelson.
Quartey had an amateur record of 50–4, and represented Ghana as a Light Welterweight at 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

## Professional career

Quartey turned professional in 1988, a day short of his nineteenth birthday. He started his boxing career under the guidance of Yoofi Boham, without doubt the most successful manager in Ghana, and also father-in-law of former World boxing champion Azumah Nelson.
Boham got Quartey recognized as a boxer on the international scene. Boham managed Quartey alongside Alfred "The Cobra" Kotey and gave them the names Bazooka and Cobra. Quartey and Kotey were so close that many thought they were brothers.
Quartey began his professional career with a 2nd-round knockout of Mama Mohamed. Most of Quartey's early fights were staged in Ghana, before he relocated to France.

### WBA welterweight champion

In Quartey's 26th fight he was given a shot at the WBA welterweight title, held by the then undefeated Crisanto España of Venezuela. Quartey knocked out España in the 11th round. At the time of the stoppage one judge had Quartey ahead, one had him behind and a third judge had the fight even.
He defended his title successfully seven times. Among his foes were Alberto Cortes, Vince Phillips, and Oba Carr. In October 1997 he fought José Luis López 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 1999. His inactivity led him to be stripped of his WBA title.

### Quartey vs. De La Hoya

Quartey returned from a 14-month absence to challenge Lineal/WBC welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya at the Thomas & Mack center in Las Vegas, Nevada on 13 February 1999. Quartey was floored in 6th and 12th rounds, with De La Hoya also down in the 6th round. De La Hoya came away with a close, albeit controversial split decision. Quartey’s interest in boxing waned after this defeat.

### Quartey vs. Vargas

Following the defeat to De La Hoya, Quartey would take another 14-month hiatus from the ring. He returned in April 2000 to challenge Fernando Vargas for the IBF light-middleweight championship. Quartey was defeated by a unanimous decision with scores of 116-111 twice and 114–113.
Following this fight, Quartey would not fight for another five years.

### Return to the ring

Quartey returned to the ring in January 2005. He won the first three bouts of his comeback with victories over Clint McNeil, Verno Phillips and Carlos Bojorquez. On 5 August 2006, he lost a close unanimous decision to former welterweight champion Vernon Forrest at Madison Square Garden, New York by scores of 93–96, 94–95, & 94–95. CompuBox stats showed Quartey outlanding Forrest (201 out of 481, 42% for Quartey; 184 of 818, 22% for Forrest), and Forrest was docked 1 point for a low blow in the 9th round. The decision was deemed controversial by most ringsider reporters, HBO's ringside commentators (including "unofficial scorer" Harold Lederman), and much of the crowd in attendance, who responded with a semi-raucous chorus of boos and repeated chants of "Bullshit!" after the fight. On 2 December 2006, Quartey's fought former undisputed light-middleweight champion Ronald "Winky" Wright at the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida. Quartey was down once in the fight and went on to lose a unanimous points decision.

## Boxing style

Quartey's best weapon was his jab, which was considered to be one of the best in boxing while he was in his prime. He primarily relied on 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.

## Professional boxing record

| 42 fights | 37 wins | 4 losses |
| By knockout | 32 | 0 |
| By decision | 5 | 4 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 42 | Loss | 37–4–1 | Winky Wright | UD | 12 | 2 Dec 2006 | St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida, US | |
| 41 | Loss | 37–3–1 | Vernon Forrest | UD | 10 | 5 Aug 2006 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US | |
| 40 | Win | 37–2–1 | Carlos Bojorquez | TKO | 10 (10), 2:12 | 3 Dec 2005 | Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, US | |
| 39 | Win | 36–2–1 | Verno Phillips | UD | 10 | 18 Jun 2005 | FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee, US | |
| 38 | Win | 35–2–1 | Clint McNeil | TKO | 8 (10) | 14 Jan 2005 | Azumah Nelson Sports Complex, Accra, Ghana | |
| 37 | Loss | 34–2–1 | Fernando Vargas | UD | 12 | 15 Apr 2000 | Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, US | For IBF junior-middleweight title |
| 36 | Loss | 34–1–1 | Oscar De La Hoya | SD | 12 | 13 Feb 1999 | Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, US | For WBC welterweight title |
| 35 | Draw | 34–0–1 | José Luis López | MD | 12 | 17 Oct 1997 | Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, US | Retained WBA welterweight title |
| 34 | Win | 34–0 | Ralph Jones | KO | 5 (12), 1:08 | 18 Apr 1997 | Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, US | Retained WBA welterweight title |
| 33 | Win | 33–0 | Oba Carr | MD | 12 | 4 Oct 1996 | Paramount Theater, New York City, New York, US | Retained WBA welterweight title |
| 32 | Win | 32–0 | Vince Phillips | TKO | 3 (12), 2:31 | 12 Apr 1996 | Atlantis Casino, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles | Retained WBA welterweight title |
| 31 | Win | 31–0 | Jorge Ramirez | TKO | 4 | 3 Feb 1996 | Palais des Sports Marcel-Cerdan, Levallois-Perret, France | |
| 30 | Win | 30–0 | Andrew Murray | TKO | 4 (12), 0:44 | 23 Aug 1995 | La Palestre, Le Cannet, France | Retained WBA welterweight title |
| 29 | Win | 29–0 | Jung-Oh Park | TKO | 4 (12), 2:55 | 4 Mar 1995 | Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | Retained WBA welterweight title |
| 28 | Win | 28–0 | Bobby Butters | TKO | 3 (8) | 4 Feb 1995 | Palais des Sports, Castelnau-de-Guers, France | |
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | Alberto de las Mercedes Cortes | TKO | 5 (12), 2:03 | 1 Oct 1994 | Arena de Cosets, Carpentras, France | Retained WBA welterweight title |
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Crisanto España | TKO | 11 (12) | 4 Jun 1994 | Palais des Sports Marcel-Cerdan, Levallois-Perret, France | Won WBA welterweight title |
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Lonnie Smith | PTS | 10 | 16 Oct 1993 | Palais des Sports Marcel-Cerdan, Levallois-Perret, France | |
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Moises Rivera | PTS | 10 | 24 Jun 1993 | Vélodrome, Bordeaux, France | |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Mario Morales | UD | 8 | 6 Mar 1993 | Palais des Sports Marcel-Cerdan, Levallois-Perret, France | |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Floyd Williams | KO | 4 (8) | 6 Feb 1993 | Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, France | |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Martin Quiroz | KO | 4 | 20 Jan 1993 | Avoriaz, Morzine, France | |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Jose Lugo | KO | 1 | 5 Dec 1992 | Palais des Sports, Berck, France | |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Steve Barreras | TKO | 3 (6), 2:50 | 21 Oct 1992 | Riviera, Winchester, Nevada, US | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Alfredo Horacio Jaurena | TKO | 1 (12) | 25 Jun 1992 | Acquaflash, Licola, Italy | Retained WBC International light-welterweight title |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Juan Carlos Ceferino Villarreal | TKO | 5 (12) | 15 Apr 1992 | San Pellegrino, Italy | Retained WBC International light-welterweight title |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Dindo Canoy | TKO | 1 (12) | 7 Mar 1992 | Accra, Ghana | Won vacant WBC International light-welterweight title |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Kelcie Banks | TKO | 7 (10), 2:05 | 2 Nov 1991 | Fiscalini Field, San Bernardino, California, US | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Alafia Apovo | KO | 4 | 10 Aug 1991 | Accra, Ghana | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Sammy Clay | KO | 2 (12) | 4 May 1991 | Accra, Ghana | Retained African light-welterweight title |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Humberto Rodriguez | KO | 1 | 16 Mar 1991 | Pabellón Príncipe Felipe, Zaragoza, Spain | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Mohammed Muritala | KO | 1 (12) | 15 Dec 1990 | Accra, Ghana | Won vacant African light-welterweight title |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Jean Claude N'Kodo | KO | 1 | 28 Apr 1990 | Accra, Ghana | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Tubor Briggs | TKO | 1 (12) | 2 Dec 1989 | Accra, Ghana | Retained West African light-welterweight title |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Arc-Wash Johnson | KO | 2 (12) | 21 Oct 1989 | Accra, Ghana | Won vacant Ghanaian light-welterweight title |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Adenko Deka | KO | 1 (10) | 9 Sep 1989 | Accra, Ghana | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Simon Peter McIntosh | TKO | 4 (10) | 17 Jul 1989 | Accra, Ghana | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Anor Amissah | TKO | 8 (10) | 10 Jun 1989 | Accra, Ghana | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Aaron Duribe | TKO | 5 (8) | 29 Apr 1989 | Accra, Ghana | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Jaffa Ballogou | KO | 2 (12) | 22 Apr 1989 | Accra, Ghana | Won vacant West African light-welterweight title |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Steven Gabienu | KO | 1 (6) | 26 Dec 1988 | Accra, Ghana | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Mama Mohamed | KO | 2 (6) | 26 Nov 1988 | Accra, Ghana | |

## Pay-per-view bouts

| Date | Fight | Billing | Buys | Network |
| February 13, 1999 | De La Hoya vs. Quartey | The Challenge | 570,000 | HBO |