COMPUBOX PRE-FIGHT ANALYSIS

August 2, 2006 - by Bob Canobbio

In a junior middleweight crossroads fight, former two-time welterweight champ Forrest, 37-2, 28 ko's, is a 7-5 favorite over Quartey, 37-2-1, 31 ko's, who held a welterweight belt of his own from 1994-'97.

Forrest, 35, has won two straight following a two-year layoff due to surgeries on his left shoulder and left elbow. Quartey, 36, was inactive for 57 months following a disappointing, one-sided loss to the then 22-year-old Fernando Vargas in April of 2000, in just Vargas's 18th pro fight. Ike's 3-0 on the comeback trail.

They were originally scheduled to fight on April 15 before Forrest's elbow acted up again.

Vernon last fought in October, when he ko'd the 18-3 Elco Garcia in a wacky tenth round. Forrest dominated the fight, outlanding Garcia 148-70 in total punches, averaging 48 punches thrown per round. After Garcia appeared to have stunned Forrest with a right hand in the 10th, Forrrest countered with a right hand, then stumbled to the canvas. Forrest got up, sprinted across the ring and nailed the unsuspecting Garcia, who was walking, head down, from his neutral corner. Two more hard left hooks dropped Garcia and the fight was stopped. Forrest also averaged 26 jabs per round, landing 22%. Vernon also played some D, as Garcia landed less than 20% of his total punches.

Prior to his two-year layoff, Forrest lost successive fights (and the weltetrweight title) to Nicaraguan wildman Ricardo Mayorga. In their first meeting, Forrest was a 6-1 favorite, coming off two straight wins over then pound-for-pound king Shane Mosley. Forrest controlled the first round, then got caught up in Mayorga's macho tactics and found himself on the canvas in round three.

A 2-1 favorite in the rematch, Forrest fought a more cautious fight, averaging just 40 punches thrown per round, landing just 24%. Mayorga, not respecting Forrest's punching power, had a 105-66 edge in power connects and was rewarded with a (116-112; 115-114 114-114) majority decision win.

In January of 2002, Forrest strode into the ring at The Theater in Madison Square Garden (site of the Quartey fight) a 5-1 'dog and proceeded to give Shane the worst beating of his career. He nearly decapitated Sugar in round two with a vicious uppercut, dropping him twice. He then controlled the fight into the tenth, badly hurting Mosley with a body shot. Forrest outlanded Shane 25-8 in power shots in the round enroute to a 115-110; 117-108; 118-108 upset decision win. How dominant was Vernon? Mosley landed in single digits in 9 of the 12 rounds, as Shane landed just 103 total punches all night- the same Mosley who landed 284 punches vs. Oscar delaHoya in their first fight- the most punches landed on Oscar in 28 fights of his tracked by CompuBox.

Forrest made it three straight wins over Mosley in the rematch (he also defeated Shane in the amateurs) six months later. Mosley fought a more cautious fight (22 punches thrown per round) and as a result Forrest needed to throw just 37 punches per round, outlanding Shane 120-114. Again, Forrest's defense was the difference, as Shane landed in single digits in 7 of the 12 rounds.. The scoring went 115-113; 117-111 & 116-112, all Forrest.

Last June, Ike had to get off the canvas in the 9th round to secure his decision win (95-94; 95-94; 96-93) over durable former champ Verno Phillips. He outlanded Phillips 153-115 in total punches, averaging 53 punches thrown per round. He also got off 21 jabs per round vs. Phillips, landing just 22%. Remember Ike holds the all-time CompuBox record with 313 jabs landed in his draw with Jose Luis Lopez in October of '97, landing a whoppingt 52%. Phillips, who had just 20 ko's in 49 fights, landed 33% of his power shots vs. Quartey.

Forrest will be Quartey's third fight in the past 14 months. Not exactly a bum of the month club pace , however, the activity can only help Quartey, who fought the two biggest fights of his career coming off inactivity periods of 14 months (L 12 Vargas) and 16 months (L 12 spl delaHoya).

After losing to delaHoya for Oscar's welterweight title in February of '99, Ike moved up seven pouinds to challenge Vargas, following a 14 month layoff. The youthful Vargas fought the fight of his life, landing 43% of his 76 punches per round. Vargas even outjabbed Ike, landing 132 of 305 (43%) to 122 of 290 (42%) for Quartey. Vargas had a 389-272 edge in total connects, winning a 116-111; 116-111 & 114-113 decision.

Sixteen months after the Lopez draw, Quartey and delaHoya traded sixth round knockdowns (Quartey's been down 5x in his career, Forrerst 2x), before Oscar, who dropped Ike in the 12th, escaped with split decision win. Oscar had a slim 206-201 edge in total connects, with Ike landing 117 of 398 jabs (33 thrown per round, 10 landed) to 91 of 278 for delaHoya, who had a 115-84 edge in power connects. Scoring went: 116-112 D; 116-113 D; 115-114 Q.

Ike's 10/97 defense vs. the reluctant Lopez, (who "nobody wanted to fight" said Ike, who would find out why) was a statistical abberation. Quartey had a 387-104 edge in total connects, however 313 (or 81% of his total connects) of those were jabs. Ike had just a 74-71 edge in power connects. Those crazy numbers, plus, Ike was down in rounds two and eleven, produced a majority draw on the judges scorecards (116-112 Q; 113-113 & 114-114). Lopez, who possessed one of boxing's all time "sneaky right hands", threw just 46 total punches thrown per round, while Ike averaged 51 jabs thrown per round. On top of that, Quartey was originally announced the winner before the error was corrected to read a majority draw.

Quartey won his welterweight title in June of '94 with a 11th round ko of Crisanto Espana. He successfully defended that belt six times before the draw with Lopez. Among those defenses were a ko win over former champ Vince Phillips (KO 3) and a decision win over perennial contender Oba Carr.

Ike landed 61% of his 82 punches per round vs. the over-matched Phillips, including 53% of his 49 jabs per round. He landed half of his 67 total punches per round vs. Carr and 44% of his 36 jabs per round. Carr landed 46% of his power shots, Phillips 39% of his non-jabs.

Okay, so who wins? Good question. Too close to call. Who's got more left in the tank? Who's more motivated? Both have been inactive. Forrest due to injuries. Quartety due to non-interest. Ike's easier to find. Both throw around the same amount of total punches, while Quartey's been busier and more accurate with the jab and probably hits harder than Forrest. Don't tell that to Shane Mosley though- he was nearly ko'd by Forrest but beat delaHoya twice. Forrest lost twice to Mayorga, who was destroyed by delaHoya, who narrowly decisioned Quartey.

Confused? So am I... How's a draw sound?