Among the finest fighters of his era, Oscar De La Hoya faced one in particular who stood out for his intense strength.
The American acknowledged this even though he was knocked out by Bernard Hopkins and had fought alongside boxing legends Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
When asked who the best puncher he had ever faced in his career was, De La Hoya nevertheless brought up Ike Quartey, with whom he had fought in 1999.
“His punches were like bricks,” De La Hoya told The Ring.
“He hit me and it would sting me. Every punch he would hit me with, it would rattle me.”
De La Hoya went on to suggest Quartey had the best jab of anyone he had faced, saying: “Not only was it powerful, it was very consistent.”
After a back-and-forth battle, Quartey stopped De La Hoya in the third round with two powerful left hooks.
However, “The Golden Boy” rallied and returned the favor by stopping Quartey in the sixth round, but De La Hoya was knocked out again in a matter of seconds.
During the last round of fighting, De La Hoya nearly took out Quartey by dropping him twice, but ‘The Bazooka’ managed to live to the final bell.
To defend his WBC welterweight world title, De La Hoya was handed the loss via split decision as the scorecards of the judges were announced.
After that, De La Hoya’s career saw ups and downs as he defeated top-tier fighters like Arturo Gatti, Fernando Vargas, and Ricardo Mayorga. However, he also lost to Hopkins, Mayweather, and twice to Shane Mosley.
De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather engaged in a titanic fight in May 2007 that brought in $130 million in revenue, making it the most lucrative boxing match in history at the time.
Despite setting a record with 2.4 million pay-per-view sales, “Golden Boy” was ultimately defeated by Mayweather’s unmatched talent in a split decision.
For the final outing of De La Hoya’s career, he came up against Pacquiao in 2008, getting stopped in the eighth round.
He also acknowledged that “Pac-Man,” the eight-weight world champion, was the best fighter he had ever sparred with.
In 2009, De La Hoya announced his retirement and went on to launch Golden Boy Promotions, a promotional company. Canelo Alvarez, the pound-for-pound king, is one of the amazing talents he has promoted through the business.
