Former WBC Welterweight Champion Oscar De La Hoya has revealed some ordeal he went through after fighting Ghanaian boxer Ike Quartey in February 1999.
The two boxers were engaged in a fight which took Las Vagas by storm with the enthralling display by the duo in the ring.
De La Hoya who held the World title after defeating American boxer Pernell Whitaker in 1997 almost lost his title to the Ghanaian (Ike Quartey) who gave the Mexican a run for his money.
Quartey, an African Champion in the era took the fight to the highly-rated De La Hoya and knocked him down on two occasions.
The Ghanaian proved a match for his opponent (De La Hoya) who had to rely on the last round to pick up points and eventually emerge as winner of the fight.
A statistic according to CompuBox punch saw De La Hoya throwing as many as 69 punches in the final round landing 41 as against the Ghanaian who threw lesser punches due to fatigue.
In an interview with American-based Radio station Power 105, the former Olympic Champion singled his fight with Quartey as one of his difficult encounters.
“I fought with this guy from Africa, he was from Ghana and he gave me a hell of a time,” he said.
“I could remember I couldn’t do anything after the fight. I had to sleep and stay in the room for weeks.
“I couldn’t walk and it was a difficult time for me. His punches were so heavy but I was able to stand them and made sure I did what was important and tried to win that fight. He knocked me down twice and I knocked him down three times.
“So after that I asked myself what I would do after boxing then I decided to get into boxing promotion.”
De La Hoya however made a whopping $9 million in the bout whilst Quartey who had not being in the ring for 16 months prior to that particular fight earned $4.5 million.
The Mexican American however refused to give Quartey a re-match after the fight.
By Frank Darkwah
