UPSET AT THE GARDEN!

It looked like a night for the Africans. With Kasim Ouma hailing from Uganda and Ike Quartey from Ghana, both fighters came out in full force, both looking to prove themselves against determined and distinguished fighters. Ouma faced the undefeated Sechew Powell and Quartey, veteran junior middleweight Vernon Forrest. And though Ouma's persistence paid off with a well-deserved victory, the audience tonight at The Theater at Madison Square Garden was shocked by a surprise upset. It was a night for African dominance, just not the night of African victory that most fight-goers had begun to expect.

In the first fight of the doubleheader, Kasim Ouma maintained his established tactic of delivering punch after punch, chasing Powell across the ring. What he seemed to lack in power, Ouma made up for with diligence. While Powell's punching power was more effectual than Ouma's, with the fighter landing better shots into the second round, the African fighter marshaled across the ring after Powell, throwing punch after punch.

Fourth round. Ouma drove consistent shots to the head, landing a flurry of punches, putting Powell against the rope. Again in the fifth, Ouma began the same plowing of Powell to the rope and turned up the heat against a plaintive Powell, who seemed to be looking for an opening while fading fast. Powell, while fighting well, tired into the late fifth. The sixth round proved no better for Powell, leaving the boxer flushed and frustrated against the ever persistent Ouma.

In the end, Powell's power doesn't match the consistency of Ouma's approach. The few punches that has was able to land effectively, lacked the strength and affect on Ouma, who walked through every effort delivered by Brooklyn fighter.

Perhaps the best display of the night for Powell was the furious last four punches in the final seconds of round 10. That was the tale of that tape for Powell, who lost to Ouma in unanimous decision, ending his undefeated reign and handing the African hopeful another victory.

The other African story of the night was the astonishing unanimous decision, handing Vernon Forrest a surprise win, astonishing the crowd and devastating Ike Quartey, who not only appeared to win nearly every round but three out of ten, but who also saw history repeat itself after suffering a traumatic split decision against Oscar De La Hoya.

What transpired between Ike Quartey and Vernon Forrest for much of the fight appeared to be a turf war. Both fighters came out punching, looking for a vantage point to the other fight, with Forrest looking for action in the first, shooting uppercuts and right hands, but without any real result.

Quartey showed excellent generalship of the ring, landing left jabs and left hooks, keeping Forrest constantly backing away from the dominate boxer. Forrest tried to maintain a semblance of balance in the fight, working hard to keep Quartey at a distance. This tactic eventually paid off into the third, with Forrest nearly changing the fight with a brutal upper cut into the open space between Quartey's gloves. The punch left a wounded Quartey clinging to Forrest, causing referee Arthur Mercante to issue a warning to the fighter for excessive holding.

But this action was short-lived. Neither fighter could close the distance, Quartey unable to get closer to Forrest and Forrest unable to keep Quartey at the right place to land anything worthwhile. He was more interested in keeping away from Quartey during the 6th round and throughout the rest of the fight. It seemed a clear win for Quartey with only one single round clearly going to Forrest.

Fight continued along the same route throughout the fight, with a low blow in the 9th round, causing a removal of a point from Forrest. This penalty could have proved to be a decisive advantage for Quartey, who had been for the most part winning the majority of rounds. Quartey's constant punching, landing 42% of his punches and 53% of his power punching, was set to land him the payoff. But in a surprise ending to the fight that shocked everyone in the audience, the judges scored the fight unanimously in favor of Vernon Forrest, who made it clear that "Fan's aren't the judges." A shocked Quartey, holding his head against the ropes could only muster a stunned response,"I won the fight, clearly." It was a sad repeat for Ike Quartey and an important win for Vernon Forrest, whose career has been regardless notched with a win against a formidable opponent.