Мэргэжлийн боксын алдартан Оскар Де Ла Хоя карьерынхаа туршид тулалдсан боксчдоос Мэнни Пакьяог бус, Айк Квартейн цохилт хамгийн хүнд байсныг онцоллоо.
Оскар Де Ла Хоя 2008 онд Мэнни Пакьяотай тулалдаж, наймдугаар раундад техникийн нокаутаар ялагдал хүлээсэн нь түүний карьерын сүүлчийн тулаан болсон юм. Тухайн үед тэрээр жин хасах гэж ихээхэн хүч зарцуулсан нь биеийн байдалд нь сөргөөр нөлөөлсөн гэж үздэг. Тэрээр үүнээс өмнө 2004 онд Бернард Хопкинс, 2007 онд Флойд Мэйведер нартай хүч үзэж байв.
Гэвч Де Ла Хоя 1999 онд WBC аваргын бүсээ хамгаалах үеэр Айк Квартейн цохилтыг хамгийн хүчтэй нь байсан хэмээн дурссан байна. Тэрээр Квартейн цохилтыг “тоосго шиг хүнд” хэмээн тодорхойлж, тулааныг “Рокки” киноны үйл явдалтай зүйрлэжээ. Уг тулаанд Квартей зургадугаар раундад Де Ла Хояг нокдаунд оруулсан ч, Де Ла Хоя мөн раунд бүрт хариу барьж, 12 дугаар раундад өрсөлдөгчөө нокдаунд оруулснаар шүүгчдийн шийдвэрээр ялалт байгуулж байв.
WBA-ийн аварга асан Айк Квартей нь нийт 42 тулаан хийхдээ 37 ялалт байгуулсны 32-ыг нь нокаутаар дуусгасан хүчирхэг боксчин байсан юм. Де Ла Хоягийн хувьд энэхүү тулаан нь карьерынх нь хамгийн хүнд сорилтуудын нэг байсныг онцолсон байна.
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Oscar De La Hoya claims to have faced a more formidable puncher than Manny Pacquiao, even describing his opponent as having bricks for hands.
The Mexican-American collided with ‘Pac Man’ in 2008, suffering an eighth-round stoppage defeat in what proved to be the final fight of his Hall of Fame career.
At that point, De La Hoya was certainly past his best and, to make matters worse, had boiled himself down to 145lbs after competing at higher weights in previous fights.
Against Floyd Mayweather, for instance, the ‘Golden Boy’ lost a split decision at 154lbs and, prior to that, had suffered a ninth-round knockout defeat in his middleweight clash with Bernard Hopkins in 2004.
It was back in 1999, however, that De La Hoya reckons he was hit the hardest by any opponent, despite managing to defend his WBC world title with a split decision victory.
Standing in the opposite corner, meanwhile, was Ike Quartey, who certainly troubled the welterweight champion by scoring a sixth-round knockdown.
Describing their encounter as a “Rocky movie”, De La Hoya has told Showboy Sho all these years later that Quartey packed an even harder punch than Pacquiao.
“I thought he had bricks in his hands. That’s how hard he hit. He would hit me and I’d be like, ‘Oh, damn’.
“It would hurt different; it was painful. [But] it was a fun fight. It was like a Rocky movie – he dropped me once … then I dropped him [twice].
“The fight was even [on the judges’ scorecards] going into the last round. So I got him in the corner, threw like 35 punches – hit him in the face – and he was still throwing back.”
In response to getting dropped, De La Hoya floored Quartey in the same round before scoring a 12th-round knockdown and ultimately winning on points.
Quartey is a former WBA welterweight champion, ending his career with a record of 37 wins from 42 fights, 32 of those wins by knockout.
