WHAT WERE THEY LOOKING AT?

August 7, 2006 - by Ron Borges

An old adage says some folks can't see the forest for the trees.

Saturday night in New York three boxing judges couldn't see Ike Quartey for the Forest.

Vernon Forrest that is.

The showdown between the two former welterweight champions had been dubbed "Now or Never'' by the show's promoters because each has reached boxing middle age at 36 and 35 respectively and both were coming off long layoffs with only limited testing since their return to the ring this past year. This fight then was presumed to be a measuring stick for both, a match that would very likely determine if either had a future in the very competitive 154-pound division presently ruled by world champions Oscar De La Hoya (WBC), Cory Spinks (IBF), Jose Rivera (WBA) and undefeated Sergei Dzindiruk (WBO).

Quartey had spent the past five years outside the ring building up what his handlers claim has been a successful real estate and construction business empire in Accra, Ghana, his hometown, where he is presently building a hospital among other things. Forrest, meanwhile, had not fought for two years before launching his recent comeback because of the lingering effects of a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder that required two surgeries and delayed his meeting with Quartey earlier this year.

Obviously many questions needed to be answered about both men and after 10 rounds spent in each other's company in The Theatre at Madison Square Garden some were answered but others lingered on. What was clear is that neither is what he once was but both remain legitimate contenders in the division. What was not clear was how judge Tony Paolillo came to the conclusion Forrest was a 96-93 victor.

His fellow judges, Melvina Lathan and Steve Weisfeld, both had Forrest winning 95-94, giving Forrest a unanimous victory that at first stunned and then angered the small crowd of 3,012 on hand. I had Quartey a 95-94 winner by virtue of a one point deduction against Forrest in the ninth round when referee Arthur Mercante, Jr. erred, in my opinion, and took a point away from Forrest for a low blow when it was actually the result of Quartey pulling down on Forrest's head as he was launching a body punch.

Regardless, since Quartey appeared to be winning the round by virtue of his aggression and Forrest's passivity, it made the round 10-8 and that was enough to turn the decision in Quartey's favor on this card. But all three judges at ringside had Forrest winning that round and thus Quartey gained no advantage. What he did gain was a growing sense that the business he should pursue is no longer inside a boxing ring.

"Why?'' Quartey (37-3-1, 31 KO) hollered toward the crowd after the decision was announced. He got no answer but did receive a measure of satisfaction when that crowd almost unanimously began to boo and holler leather-lunged criticism at the decision. Among the loudest was Quartey's bombastic promoter, Lou DiBella, who took it a bit far, as he tends to do in defense of his fighters, when he launched into an obscenity-laden critique of the decision before saying, "When they said Vernon Forrest, I thought I was hallucinating. I thought the fight was over (before the final round). I thought Vernon needed a knockout to win.''

That illusion was probably the result of the fact Quartey was the aggressor throughout the fight, constantly walking forward and scoring with a stiff left jab and some hard hooks behind it. But much of the time he was wading in ineffectually against the constantly retreating and circling Forrest. Because so little damage was done the two styles made the fight difficult to score, ultimately degenerating into somewhat of a referendum on what kind of boxing you favor.

If one likes attempted aggression and awards points to the man trying, at least, to make the fight, Quartey wins. If you favor movement, the kind of soft flurries many boxing old-timers would have called "shoe shining" because of their fast but delicate touch, you would lean toward Forrest. Compubox's punch stats illustrate the difficulty of such a distinction in scoring such a match.

According to Compubox, Forrest threw over 300 more punches than Quartey (818 to 481). If being busy counts, as it does with some judges, it becomes difficult to ignore Forrest. Yet Quartey landed more blows (201 to 184, meaning his accuracy rate was 42 per cent to Forrest's 22 per cent) according to Compubox and that certainly bolsters the argument of Quartey's supporters that the wrong man got the victory. But what the numbers really tell you is that this was a difficult fight to score and one that was probably no more than a 95-94 difference one way or the other and the judges saw the other, meaning Forrest (38-2, 28 KO). The crowd and, not surprisingly Ike himself, saw Quartey.

"You saw what happened with the fight,'' a disgusted and shocked Quartey said after it was over. "I don't know why it keeps happening. I don't know what happened. I thought I won the fight. The fans thought I won the fight. It happened before with De La Hoya (who was awarded a split decision over Quartey by virtue of a 12th round knockdown that seemed to make the difference in a closely contested match). It happened with (Jose Luis) Lopez. Now it happened again.''

Quartey was so disgusted he hinted he might go back to the construction business and get out of the hurt business for good because at least on a construction site in Ghana he can control the outcome with his acumen and hard work without having to rely on judges who don't see things his way. In the end however, Quartey's comeback was not hurt by the outcome and in fact the most lucrative fight for both men may now very well be a rematch, perhaps underneath one of the junior welterweight champions, with the winner getting a guaranteed shot at the title.

"Ike won the fight,'' an angry DiBella said. "I don't care what the judges say. Why does an entire room see a fight one way and three people see it another way? I'm not saying anything funny happened but how does that happen? We'll give Forrest a rematch any day of the week if he'll take one.''

Although one could question the judges' decision, nothing went on during the fight that should give Forrest pause to ponder the wisdom of whether or not he should do it again with Quartey. Though considered the more powerful puncher by many, Quartey never hurt Forrest despite his constant pressure. Certainly his left jab caused some swelling on Forrest's cheek and he landed some solid body shots that were matched by similar ones from Forrest on the inside but Forrest was never in any real trouble.

The same could not be said for Quartey however. Forrest rocked him with a stiff right uppercut in Round 3 that had him hurt and holding on enough to elicit a warning from Mercante but Forrest was unable to capitalize on the situation. As the fight wore on, Quartey seemed to tire noticeably after Forrest began to turn up his own body attack, his head starting to come up too high as his body grew stiffer and less flexible.

Forrest found no way to take advantage of that however, using his left hand only sparingly throughout much of a fight in which he would land only 50 jabs despite throwing over 400 mostly pawing ones with a left he clearly was not fully confident in.

Forrest was noncommittal after the decision was announced when he was asked if the left shoulder had given him problems but he was adamant about one thing - Ike Quartey hadn't.

"I thought I won the fight,'' Forrest insisted. "I did what I had to do. It was a hard-fought decision but Ike is a one-handed fighter. I got hit with a lot of jabs. I knew my jab isn't better than his jab but I was better overall. He's a consistent fighter but he's not a great fighter.''

What will come of this for both remains to be seen. Although the match was not officially an elimination bout for a No. 1 ranking, Forrest believed it was the kind of fight that should take the winner into a championship fight in short order. With De La Hoya not fighting until next May and looking primarily in the direction of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., there would seem to be no shot available at the WBC title but one would imagine any of the other three nondescript champions would agree to face him because he has a far bigger reputation than any of them.

Yet might Forrest make more money agreeing to a rematch with Quartey to settle the score and end the controversy created by Saturday night's unpopular though unanimous decision in his favor? Perhaps but at 35 Vernon Forrest understands time is no longer his ally. If he can take this victory and turn it into a title shot he would have his chance at redemption after the two stunning losses to Ricardo Mayorga that derailed what was once a promising career.

Win such a fight, he knows, and the possibilities would be endless.

There could be a third fight with Mayorga perhaps or a third with Shane Mosley, who he has twice beaten already. Or then a well-timed rematch with Quartey that would be far more lucrative for Forrest with a title belt around his waist than it would be now.

Where Forrest goes next not even he cannot be sure about yet, but where he wants to go he made clearer after his night with Ike Quartey than he did his margin of victory over him on Saturday night.

"You got two former world champions fighting each other so how can the winner not get a No. 1 (ranking)?'' Forrest asked after his hand was raised. "You got two of the best fighting each other. They didn't bill this as an elimination bout but it should be one.''

Maybe so but who, exactly, was eliminated?

"The fans aren't the judges,'' Vernon Forrest quite rightly pointed out.

Good thing for him.