- 18 hours ago
Ike Quartey defends his WBA Welterweight Title against former WBO champion Jose Luis Lopez on HBO Boxing
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00:00what he can do against the winner of the next fight and what the winner of the next fight can
00:00:04do against him. Well, let's talk about the next fight. Ike Korte is unbeaten at 34-0, 29 knockouts,
00:00:11devastating power puncher, held a title for three years, six title defenses, almost all of them
00:00:16impressive knockout type title defenses. Why is he still struggling to gain an identity
00:00:22and the fights that he wants in the United States? Well, for one thing, he's only fought
00:00:27here a handful of times and never against a named opponent on a big occasion. But basically,
00:00:34we're talking about an African fighter who comes out of France trying to crash through the establishment
00:00:42of boxing, which is dominated today by Americans and Latinos. That is a very, very hard chore. He
00:00:49is an outsider. But in boxing, even insiders don't always get the respect and the fan support
00:00:57that they do deserve. So we can't judge this until another fight or two to see whether they're
00:01:05going to continue to avoid him, Jim. But he's in against a fighter tonight who can make that whole
00:01:11subject academic because Lopez is a fighter. And I know some people who think that he's not only
00:01:18going to make it close, but that he could either pull out the best in Corte or defeat him.
00:01:26He's maybe the more fluid combination puncher of the two, maybe the more natural fighter. But
00:01:29let's take a look at a general ranking of welterweights based on the rankings of three of the top
00:01:35boxing publications and informed by our own editorial point of view. Larry?
00:01:40Well, Oscar De La Hoya is regarded as the welterweight champion because he took the title
00:01:45from Purnell Whitaker. But Trinidad and Corte also have belts. De La Hoya might be the best all-around
00:01:51fighter of them, certainly the quickest. Trinidad is the best puncher. Corte, the stronger man. Which
00:01:58one of those factors would hold up in a fight between them, we'll have to wait and see. And these
00:02:03are the other top contenders, Purnell Whitaker and Lopez, who's ranked fifth, Obacar and
00:02:11Wilfredo Rivera, who is scheduled to fight De La Hoya in December.
00:02:16All right. So as we get ready for this bout, let's turn back to Roy Jones. And Roy, we mentioned
00:02:21that Jose Luis Lopez, like Ike Corte, is a hard-punching, attacking fighter. Corte, 29 knockouts.
00:02:27Lopez has 30 in his 39 wins. Is that exactly the wrong style to bring to the ring against a
00:02:33bomber
00:02:33like Corte? I don't think it's the exact wrong thing to do. If that's what's been winning
00:02:37for you, that's what you should do. However, I hope he's as big as Corte because Corte blows
00:02:42up after he makes the weight, and he's going to be a powerful, powerful guy in here fighting
00:02:47at the welterweight division. So if that's what's been winning for Lopez, I wouldn't suggest
00:02:51that he change it, but this is a tough guy to do that against because that's his style, too.
00:02:56Well, indeed, Lopez is similar to Corte in terms of blowing up, too. As you take a look
00:03:01at the tail of the tape, they weighed in at 146 and 146 and a half. But this is the
00:03:06first
00:03:06time Lopez has fought under the welterweight limit in a year. He fought his last two fights
00:03:11at the 154-pound limit, so he's used to experiencing more body weight. Corte enters the ring weighing
00:03:17more than 160 24 hours after a weigh-in when he weighs in at 146. You see the two-inch
00:03:23reach
00:03:23advantage and the two-inch height advantage for Jose Luis Lopez. Punch that numbers, Larry.
00:03:29And here we see just how active these fighters are, and you can see that Lopez is a very active
00:03:36fighter, an extremely gifted, natural offensive fighter. Could give Corte problems. But it's
00:03:45the jab that is the big weapon for Corte. It's a thundering jab. It's more of a power punch
00:03:51than the usual kinds of jabs we see.
00:03:55Rules of the bout with Harold Letterman. The Ike Corte-Jose Luis Lopez fight is scheduled
00:04:01for 12 rounds. It will be the standard rules recently adopted for all championship fights.
00:04:05There is no standing eight count, no three-knockdown rule. Only the referee can stop the fight,
00:04:10and you cannot be saved by a bell in any round, including the 12th and final round. Jim.
00:04:15All right, Harold. And now here comes Jose Luis Lopez to enter the ring. His father was an
00:04:22outstanding phantom weight, then featherweight, then lightweight fighter. And the trainer who
00:04:28trains Jose Luis Lopez trained his father as well.
00:04:36Only in the last two fights has Jose Luis's father not had the chance to be in his corner. He
00:04:42had
00:04:42immigration problems that prevented him from coming to be here with Jose tonight. And I told you that
00:04:49he has 30 knockouts on his record, 39 wins, three losses, one draw. He's participating in his first
00:04:55legitimate world championship fight. Most impressive win, a quick knockout of Uri Boi Kampas at a time
00:05:06when Kampas had a brilliant record and seemed to be headed for another title shot of his own.
00:05:14A bit of a free spirit. We don't often say that about fighters from south of the border.
00:05:20He's a surfer. He's biked across France. He was sent to London, believe it or not, to train for two
00:05:29months
00:05:29for this fight to get away from the distractions of Durango. The distractions of Durango.
00:05:40So from Mexico, it's Lopez. And now from Accra, Ghana, Ike Fuerte.
00:05:54Come on, baby.
00:06:04Huerte lost early in the 1988 Olympics, turned professional the following year
00:06:09and has been brilliant ever since. 34-0, 29 knockouts, 7-0 with 6 KOs in title fights.
00:06:21And now let's go to Michael Buffer for the official introductions.
00:06:35Ladies and gentlemen, main events, monitor, and AB Stars promotions in association with
00:06:40your undisputed, undefeated king of beers, Budweiser.
00:06:44This Buds for you present 12 rounds of boxing
00:06:48for the WBA Welterweight Championship of the World.
00:06:53This bout is sanctioned by the Mashantucket-Pequod Tribal Nation Gaming and Athletic Commission,
00:06:58Chairman Robert Hayward, Vice Chairman Roy Butler,
00:07:01Commissioner William Hickey, Executive Director John Meskill,
00:07:05Attending Director John Burns.
00:07:06It is also sanctioned by the World Boxing Association, WBA Supervisor at ringside,
00:07:12York Van Nixon, Jr.
00:07:13It will be scored on the 10-point must system by the three judges assigned at ringside.
00:07:19They are Ricardo Duncan, William Hutt, and Philippe Verbeck.
00:07:25And when the bell rings your referee in charge of the action,
00:07:29working in a world title bout for the 70th time,
00:07:33I'm Steve Smoke again from Foxwood's Casino Resort of Connecticut.
00:07:37Ladies and gentlemen,
00:07:41let's get ready to rumble!
00:07:48Introducing first, fighting out of the red corner,
00:07:51wearing blue trimmed with silver letters and weighing in at 146 and one-half pounds.
00:07:56In his professional career, he has 39 victories,
00:08:0130 by knockout against three losses with one draw.
00:08:04Ladies and gentlemen, from Durango, Mexico,
00:08:09here is the challenger, the former WBO welterweight champion of the world,
00:08:15Jose Luis Lopez!
00:08:23And his opponent across the ring,
00:08:26fighting out of the blue corner,
00:08:28wearing purple and gold,
00:08:30and he weighed in at 146 pounds even.
00:08:34He has a perfect professional record of 34 victories without a loss,
00:08:3929 by knockout.
00:08:41Ladies and gentlemen,
00:08:42from Accra, Ghana,
00:08:44presenting the undefeated WBA welterweight champion of the world,
00:08:50Ike Bazooka Cortez!
00:08:58Jose!
00:09:00Ike!
00:09:05Jose!
00:09:07Ike!
00:09:11All right, guys,
00:09:12we're giving your instructions at the way of both of English and Spanish.
00:09:15I want you to obey my commands at all times,
00:09:17protect yourself at all times.
00:09:18Respect the bell.
00:09:19Touch him up.
00:09:20Buenas huete.
00:09:20Let's go.
00:09:22Question I have in my mind, guys, is
00:09:25if Lopez turns out to be as strong or nearly as strong
00:09:30in close quarters with Corte,
00:09:34what flexibility does Corte have?
00:09:36Because he has never had to deal with that in the fights we've seen.
00:09:42From the early and often category,
00:09:45Ike Corte is a super-fast starter.
00:09:48Case in point,
00:09:49his last fight against Ralph Tiger Jones,
00:09:51he threw 132 punches in the first round
00:09:53and landed 77 of them.
00:09:56There's the telephone.
00:10:03And he has one of the stiffest,
00:10:04stiffest, strongest jabs in the game today.
00:10:07Very hard to get beyond that jab.
00:10:09Who's got a stiff one?
00:10:11Ike Corte definitely has the most stiffest,
00:10:14the stiffest jab.
00:10:15Roy, he's been working out in your gym.
00:10:17Do you ever get a chance to see him,
00:10:19or do you keep totally different hours?
00:10:20Well, we keep totally different hours, basically,
00:10:22because I don't like to intrude on guys' training.
00:10:24I like to let him go in and do what he wants to do,
00:10:26because, you know, I don't like a lot of people intruding on my training.
00:10:29And it's not good for people to go in
00:10:31and make you unaware of what's really going on around you.
00:10:35I mean, I know that he knows what I am and who I am,
00:10:37but I don't feel as though I should be there to disrupt his training.
00:10:41I don't want to take away none of his grammar.
00:10:43I don't want to take away none of them,
00:10:45or add to the distractions that he already is going to have.
00:10:47So I try to let him go ahead and get his job done.
00:10:49I want him to be right.
00:10:50I want him to come out and perform and do the best that he can do.
00:10:52You saw there that Lopez shot a little quick right hand over that jab,
00:10:57looking to find a way to cope with it before he can get into this fight.
00:11:04The heavily muscled Corte cuts an impressive figure in the ring,
00:11:09fires a lead right hand,
00:11:11and a left hook and another.
00:11:14I've heard of guys with granite chins.
00:11:16This guy has a granite body.
00:11:19One thing I have done already is he went out and set the face.
00:11:22He established himself as a champion.
00:11:24Therefore, the other guy is already behind him.
00:11:31And Larry, he's got the granite chin to go with the granite body.
00:11:35In fact, the great Gil Clancy,
00:11:38legendary trainer and manager,
00:11:39says Corte has the best chin he's ever seen.
00:11:46That's why people want to see Trinidad and Bella Hoya test it.
00:11:49I know that it's pretty good because
00:11:51my coach friend hit him with some very good shots,
00:11:53and that's Vince Phillips,
00:11:55who is right now reigning IBF junior welterweight champion.
00:12:00And he hit Ike with some real good shots there in that fight.
00:12:03Ike smiled at him and kept coming right forward.
00:12:05Yeah, that's right.
00:12:05Vince's great quote was,
00:12:07I hit him in the first round and he sneered at me.
00:12:09I hit him in the second round and he laughed at me.
00:12:11In the third round, he knocked me out.
00:12:14And Vince throws a hard right hand.
00:12:20So round one has been a jabbing exhibition by Corte.
00:12:23He's thrown many more punches than Jose Luis Lopez has established his jab and has Lopez on the defensive
00:12:30as we come down the stretch in the first frame.
00:12:38Hard body shots by Corte as round one ends.
00:12:42And now let's quickly go back to the subject of the preceding bout.
00:12:46We told you about the controversy regarding the scorecards,
00:12:49and we've been joined at ringside by WBA supervisor Jimmy Binns.
00:12:53Jimmy, as we look at the actual scorecards on our screen, what's going on?
00:12:57Well, it's difficult to say because the scorecards were kept in such a manner that it was difficult
00:13:03to track the scoring by the judges.
00:13:05And as it got toward the end of the fight, it was very fuzzy where each judge stood.
00:13:11And in fact, the scorecard that was given to Mike Buffett to read was wrong.
00:13:16It had a scorecard of 115 to 103.
00:13:19No, no, he corrected that, Jimmy.
00:13:21I know he did the scorecard itself was wrong.
00:13:24The scorecard said 103, you're saying.
00:13:26Yeah.
00:13:26Are you suggesting that there might have been some fixing of earlier rounds at the end of the fight
00:13:32or that there were erasures?
00:13:34There were definitely corrections made.
00:13:36Now, I'm not saying that there was any fixing of earlier rounds,
00:13:39but there were definitely corrections made that you can see on the official scorecard.
00:13:43So what do you do next?
00:13:44What's the procedure here?
00:13:45The procedure is for me to review the actual scorecards that were filled out by the referees
00:13:51and match, I mean, the judges, and match them up against the official scorecard.
00:13:54Can you have that result for us before this next fight is over?
00:13:59I'm going to do my best.
00:14:00I'm asking the commissioner to do it now.
00:14:02I hope he's working on it.
00:14:03And I'm going to get the official scorecards myself and check them.
00:14:06Thank you very much, Jimmy.
00:14:07Okido.
00:14:12Earlier, Larry, you said that Ike Cortee hadn't fought no noticeable opposition,
00:14:16but he has fought no noticeable opposition.
00:14:18He fought Vince Phillips.
00:14:19Oh, he went down.
00:14:25What happened there was that Cortee's right glove touched the canvas as he whirled away
00:14:34and after taking a punch.
00:14:38As I was saying, he fought Vince Phillips,
00:14:40who is a champion right now,
00:14:41and he fought Obacar, who was a very great contender
00:14:44and will soon be a champion.
00:14:45So I think he's fought some pretty good opposition in his day.
00:14:48So although Cuarte dominated the first round,
00:14:51it's Lopez who gets credit for a knockdown
00:14:53early in the second round.
00:15:00Cuarte was also scored a knockdown against Obacar
00:15:03and that one was also a little bit questionable.
00:15:14Good counter left inside by Cuarte.
00:15:18Sends Lopez reeling momentarily.
00:15:24Lopez appears, Ray, to be trying to figure out a way
00:15:28to get in a decisive punch
00:15:31rather than to try to match Cuarte punch for punch
00:15:36because he just can't.
00:15:37Yeah, and he has the right idea
00:15:38because sometimes after Ike punches,
00:15:40he's still standing straight up,
00:15:42and that's when Lopez really wants to connect with that big punch.
00:15:48Well, neither has much head movement.
00:15:50I mean, for a couple of hard-punting fighters,
00:15:53they both have the arrogance to believe
00:15:55that they're going to hurt their opponents,
00:15:56and therefore they can stand with a still head and fire away.
00:15:59Yeah, they're not really out here to defend.
00:16:01They're out here to offend.
00:16:02That's right.
00:16:04They're both big punchers.
00:16:06No need of them working on their defense tonight.
00:16:10Although the hands are held high,
00:16:14some guys, their primary defense is their hand.
00:16:17And I think that is the case for both of these guys
00:16:19because they're big punchers.
00:16:20That way, they can always be set to land them big punchers
00:16:23after they've got punches.
00:16:25Both well-schooled offensive fighters.
00:16:27You can see how precisely and confidently
00:16:30they set up their attacks.
00:16:31Cuarte more so than Lopez at this point
00:16:34because he throws so many more punches.
00:16:44Two rounds in the books,
00:16:45and in that one, Lopez benefited from the knockout call
00:16:49by referee Steve Smoker against Ike Cuarte.
00:16:52Now, very briefly,
00:16:53to return to the subject of the preceding fight,
00:16:55you heard Jimmy Benz talking about the scratch-outs
00:16:58and erasers on the scorecards.
00:17:00We're going to give you one more look
00:17:01so that with your own eyes,
00:17:03you can see the number of dark markings
00:17:05on the scorecards that indicate corrections
00:17:08or changes in round scores.
00:17:09And they exist, apparently,
00:17:12on all three scorecards.
00:17:14Well, my understanding is that
00:17:16these are not the official tallies,
00:17:18that these were transferred to this sheet
00:17:20and that he wants to match
00:17:22the tallies that were made to the sheet.
00:17:25Harold, do you have any insights into that?
00:17:27Larry, the referee picks up a slip
00:17:29from each judge at the end of the round.
00:17:30He gives it to the commissioner
00:17:31who keeps a master scorecard.
00:17:33What you're looking at
00:17:34are corrections on the master scorecard.
00:17:38All right, let's see if we can quickly get what happened
00:17:40in that knockdown.
00:17:41There was a right-hand punch.
00:17:43Turned Quartey around.
00:17:46It's a knockdown.
00:17:47Good call.
00:17:47He had the gloves.
00:17:48I think he had both gloves on the canvas.
00:17:50Certainly, the right glove touched the canvas.
00:17:56So round three begins.
00:17:59Ike Quartey, as we mentioned,
00:18:00has established his jab in the first two rounds
00:18:02by CompuBox numbers.
00:18:04He threw 122 jabs and landed 63 of them.
00:18:07More than a half.
00:18:08Lopez, seven out of 33.
00:18:10So the punching range dominated by Quartey to this point.
00:18:15That's a thunderous jab.
00:18:17Yeah, if you can just sit there
00:18:18and beat your opponent with a jab,
00:18:19I think that's the best thing to do
00:18:20because it's safe and you don't have to worry
00:18:23about taking too many big risks.
00:18:25Right now, he's out jabbing the guy,
00:18:26so just be content with out jabbing him.
00:18:27Don't let him counter the jab
00:18:29because you know he's going to be looking for that.
00:18:30And just do your thing, you know?
00:18:33One of my favorite George Foreman quotes,
00:18:35this sport is easy if you know how to throw a jab.
00:18:41I know how, but I just don't seem to do it too often.
00:18:44And some people say you don't have to, Roy.
00:18:46Roy, your quote might be,
00:18:49this sport is easy if you can ice your opponents
00:18:51with one left hook.
00:18:56Either one of these guys can ice an opponent
00:18:58with a left hook.
00:18:59I don't know how anybody could stand up
00:19:01to those jabs for 12 rounds.
00:19:11Huerta was asked the other day
00:19:13to list the most difficult opponents
00:19:15in the welterweight division
00:19:16and he listed Whittaker first,
00:19:18Trinidad second,
00:19:19De La Hoya third.
00:19:21Even went so far as to throw a little salt in the wound
00:19:24saying,
00:19:25De La Hoya would be easy for me,
00:19:26he hasn't fought anybody.
00:19:29Forgetting, of course,
00:19:29that De La Hoya had fought Whittaker,
00:19:31whom he listed as the toughest opponent in the division.
00:19:34Yeah, but what he's meaning by that
00:19:36is that it wasn't a convincing,
00:19:37dominating performance by De La Hoya against Whittaker.
00:19:40Oh no, Cortez says he thinks Whittaker won the fight.
00:19:42Oh yeah.
00:19:43Well, a lot of people think that
00:19:44and that fight is still iffy.
00:19:46Many people have very different observations
00:19:48about the way they saw that fight.
00:19:49Some people think that Whittaker won it
00:19:51and some people say Whittaker won it
00:19:52whether they think so or not.
00:19:54That's what I'm saying.
00:19:54So, that's why he didn't say anything
00:19:56about the fact that Oscar had beaten Whittaker
00:19:59because it's not convincingly.
00:20:01Well, Oscar won the fight.
00:20:03That's the bottom line.
00:20:05There's a W on his record.
00:20:07That's right.
00:20:07The overall picture.
00:20:08That did happen.
00:20:19Now, to his credit,
00:20:20I like the fact that Oscar was willing
00:20:21to say he wanted to do it again
00:20:23because he wanted to straighten it out.
00:20:24He wanted to dominate and show people
00:20:26that he really could beat with him.
00:20:27I admire him for doing that.
00:20:28That's what great champions are made of.
00:20:34Well, maybe great promoters are made of saying
00:20:37I don't care what the fuck he wants to do.
00:20:40I'm going to do what makes money for him.
00:20:42Which is why I don't have one of those big promoters.
00:21:01Breathe in deeply.
00:21:03Breathe in.
00:21:04Okay.
00:21:08Stick to the jabs.
00:21:10Stick to the jabs.
00:21:11Stick to the jabs.
00:21:13Stick to the jabs.
00:21:14Stick to the jabs.
00:21:17Okay.
00:21:18What he's doing is throwing jabs.
00:21:21Okay.
00:21:21Come on.
00:21:22Yeah?
00:21:23Come on.
00:21:24Breathe in.
00:21:25Breathe in.
00:21:26Come on.
00:21:26Do it again.
00:21:27Yeah.
00:21:27Come on.
00:21:27Good, good.
00:21:30Don't let him throw the punches.
00:21:32Lean over.
00:21:33Don't let him follow you.
00:21:35Our interpreter is in the corner.
00:21:36Hector Garcia interpreting the Spanish in Jose Luis Lopez's corner.
00:21:40And in the cuarte corner where they speak the Gah tribal language.
00:21:44He's from the Gah tribe in Ghana.
00:21:46And our interpreter is Fred Asifo.
00:21:50The guy told Lopez, all he's throwing is jabs.
00:21:52But in this case, with ice jabs, it's like saying, oh, he's throwing is straight right
00:21:56lead.
00:22:05Harold, how you got it through three?
00:22:07Well, Jim, the thing we got to talk about is that second round.
00:22:10If anything touches the canvas as a result of a punch, besides the souls of the feet,
00:22:16it's a knockdown.
00:22:17And Jose Luis Lopez knocked him down, and it's all there is to it.
00:22:20You had to give Lopez the second round, but not 10-8, because Corte did real well with that
00:22:25jab.
00:22:25So I scored that second round 10-9.
00:22:27Two rounds to one Ike Corte, 29-28.
00:22:30We're on the same page, Harold, or at least the same scorecard.
00:22:34Are you okay?
00:22:36You know, Lopez seems as though he's trying to let Ike punch himself out a little bit
00:22:39before he started his attack.
00:22:50Corte banging away to the body with a triple right hand.
00:22:53Boy, what is there about Corte's jab that Lopez can't shoot his right hand over?
00:22:59Does he get it back real quick into position?
00:23:02He gets it back into position real quick, and it's so powerful that it knocks Lopez back.
00:23:07It knocks him off balance, so he can't throw the right hand in time because he's not set,
00:23:10because the jab is knocking him off balance.
00:23:13It's so strong and it's so quick that it keeps the guy off balance.
00:23:16What else can he do to try to neutralize it?
00:23:18Lower his head, make Ike's jab lower so that the jab will be a little shorter,
00:23:21and then he can see Ike's chin better.
00:23:23Then he can have Rudy step back off of it a little bit and counter with the right hand.
00:23:28Any time you make a guy punch lower, it shortens the range of the punch.
00:23:34But as long as he's straight up like that, he's going to have a hard time.
00:23:37Now, later in the fight, he may count it because Ike may get a little lackadaisical,
00:23:40and that's what he's probably waiting on.
00:23:42But as long as Ike is like this, he's going to have a very hard time
00:23:45countering that jab from a straight-up position like that.
00:23:49And just when he starts to time the jab a little bit, Ike makes the jab.
00:23:53Here comes the hook.
00:23:53So he can't move his right hand because he's going to get hit.
00:23:57Lopez fires the right hand over the top and scores with the left hook inside.
00:24:01Cuarte backs him back up with the jab.
00:24:03Every time Lopez has landed a hard punch, Cuarte has grinned at him.
00:24:10And what does that usually mean, Jim?
00:24:12It usually means that it did hurt.
00:24:15It usually means he's covering something up.
00:24:18I think Lopez is a good, solid puncher.
00:24:20He just doesn't get many chances to land because of Cuarte's continued fusillada jab.
00:24:25I know he's a good, solid puncher.
00:24:27And I think his thing is to let Ike punch himself down
00:24:29and get close and see if he can hurt Ike when he hits him.
00:24:35And again, the right hand and the left hook.
00:24:38And again, Cuarte has the grin on his face.
00:24:40And I think Lopez has found a way to make something work here
00:24:44as this round comes to a close.
00:24:48Join us November 18 for the next installment of Real Sports with Brian Gumbel.
00:24:52Featured in this edition, a profile of Detroit Pistons superstar Grant Hill.
00:24:57A talk with NFL quarterbacks Boomer Esiason, Jim Kelly, and Mark Rippon
00:25:01about their common experiences with children who have life-threatening illnesses
00:25:05and an investigative look at John Gillette,
00:25:08accused of swindling millions of dollars from top professional athletes.
00:25:12Real sports, the only show of its kind, and it's only on HBO.
00:25:20Either you beat forward or get out, but don't stay in front of this guy.
00:25:24I want you to go to that body.
00:25:27He's going to win this fight if you don't do something.
00:25:30Come on.
00:25:31You can do it.
00:25:33Use that jab.
00:25:36I get the sense that with that big jab in Lopez's face and forehead,
00:25:43he's like a quarterback who looks downfield and seems to see 10 defensive backs.
00:25:47He doesn't know how to counter it, where to throw the ball.
00:25:51Yeah, but Lopez seems to be gaining a little bit of confidence, too.
00:25:54Every time he does land a punch on Ike, he backs Ike up.
00:25:57And I think this is giving him a little confidence.
00:26:01Like that.
00:26:05He's still eating that jab constantly.
00:26:10And it's a damaging, debilitating jab.
00:26:14Forte continues to pound away.
00:26:16But Lopez, who at the end of the preceding round,
00:26:19found a way to get his left hook into play,
00:26:22leading with the right hand and firing the left hook behind him.
00:26:24Let's see if he comes back to that pattern.
00:26:27Lopez is looking for one punch.
00:26:28He seems as though he thinks he can hurt Ike.
00:26:30So if he lands his one big punch, he wants to see what's going to happen.
00:26:34In the meanwhile, Ike will just box him and stay away from him.
00:26:41Lopez trying to get his left hook to Quarté's ribcage.
00:26:45Quarté comes back to that solid base.
00:26:47Don't punch, don't punch.
00:26:48Step clean.
00:26:49Very good.
00:26:49Very good.
00:26:50Ike Bazooka-Quarté.
00:26:52Tremendously strong legs in addition to the chiseled upper body that you can see.
00:26:59Keeps a wide base.
00:27:04Hard counter right.
00:27:05Very good counter right hand by Quarté.
00:27:14Ike can sense that all Lopez wants to do is land that one big punch.
00:27:17So he's setting himself up to counter that one big punch.
00:27:20That's very smart.
00:27:22Punch out, punch out.
00:27:23Your hands loose.
00:27:24Punch out, let him out.
00:27:26Get out of the break.
00:27:27Okay, that's good.
00:27:27Very good.
00:27:28Step back.
00:27:28Step back.
00:27:31Yeah.
00:27:38Good job.
00:27:39Don't punch, don't punch.
00:27:40Now you see a little more head moving by, Quarté.
00:27:45A response to the hard punches.
00:27:46Lopez was able to land toward the end of the preceding round.
00:27:52Right hand lead over the top lands for Quarté.
00:27:55Lopez hadn't gotten anything going here in the fifth.
00:27:59Good shot by Quarté.
00:28:01And a hard right hand up top as well.
00:28:04He goes back to working that telephone pole jab.
00:28:13Lopez trying to get to the body, but Quarté was in perfect position with his arms pinned
00:28:17against his sides.
00:28:24Doesn't have a lot of head movement, but the Ghanaian star does defend well with his arms
00:28:28and gloves.
00:28:35That time, Lopez got the left hook through the middle of the guard.
00:28:43There's that one big right hand that Lopez is trying to land.
00:28:49Hasn't landed much.
00:28:55Now breathe in.
00:28:58Now breathe in.
00:28:58Now get some water.
00:29:05Keep on breathing in.
00:29:07Breathe in very deeply.
00:29:09Now drink some water.
00:29:12Keep on breathing.
00:29:13okay deep breaths breathe in okay now when he hits you hit the back all right and push it back
00:29:24that's all you need to do you do the right thing okay you're doing the right thing look
00:29:28think that the body punches the last top well the way to come out of mexico about 15 years ago
00:29:45is
00:29:46patina cuevas cuevas was stopped by tommy hearns right now you have to think that corte is playing
00:29:57hearns to lopez's cuevas don't punch don't punch very good corte landing an uppercut there snap
00:30:13lopez's head back and he goes back to that thunderous jab lopez's corner advising him to try to work to
00:30:20corte's body to see if they can take some of the steam out of his punches that may be wishful
00:30:27thinking and it may be dangerous because corte keeps his hands high so when someone goes to
00:30:31punch his body he tries to counter with good head shot excellent jab hook
00:30:43so quick so quick with the left hand doesn't give you a chance to counter
00:30:58to watch this great jabbing display by corte you remember that against the conventional stance
00:31:04of miguel angel gonzalez oscar de la hoya was throwing some murderous jabs
00:31:11several months ago so it'd be interesting to see the two of them square off and which man could out
00:31:16jab the jabber be a very interesting fight lopez is getting into it here
00:31:34right hand lands for corte and lopez's attack has been blunted by another corte rally
00:31:43lopez is a powerful puncher though jim uh particularly with the left hook i think roy
00:31:50the right hand really snap it the right hand too though jim he's throwing some very good punches here
00:31:58and they'll be dangerous throughout the night as long as he's throwing them like this
00:32:01uh
00:32:08okay blocking two-thirds of those punches with his gloves and blocking two thirds of the next combination
00:32:13with his gloves the lopez pounding away but landing most of his shots on corte's peekaboo defense
00:32:31Again, blocking the shots with his gloves.
00:32:34And then another long right-hand lance for Forte.
00:32:36Lopez got in a left uppercut.
00:32:38Forte came back with a counter.
00:32:40And after a counter hook.
00:32:51Two good fighters.
00:32:52Two excellent fighters.
00:32:55Let me get a look.
00:32:56Let me get a look.
00:32:57Okay.
00:32:57All right.
00:33:05Jose Luis, halfway home.
00:33:08Okay, maybe.
00:33:09Okay, maybe.
00:33:13What's going on?
00:33:14It's okay.
00:33:14It's okay.
00:33:15No, no, no.
00:33:16Okay, okay.
00:33:17Otro round.
00:33:18Otro round.
00:33:18This is a double wrist.
00:33:20This is the end round.
00:33:22Are you okay?
00:33:23This is better.
00:33:25This was better.
00:33:27You have all kinds of opportunities.
00:33:28Throw that uppercut between his gloves.
00:33:32You can do it.
00:33:33You can do it.
00:33:36Here we see Forte responding to a flurry of black punches.
00:33:41With a left hook.
00:33:43Rather than his left jab.
00:33:46That's what's so good about keeping his hands high.
00:33:48He always took out with that left hook after it got stopped.
00:33:55I know earlier when we looked at the rankings of the fighters, I said that Forte was the strongest
00:34:04of the three champions, and Trinidad was the better puncher of the three outstanding, and that holds up here.
00:34:14He's not a power puncher.
00:34:16He's a hard puncher.
00:34:17That's the impression one gets right.
00:34:19Yeah, he is a hard puncher, but he has a lot of snap on those punches, and Trinidad throws
00:34:24more rangey punches.
00:34:25The rangey punches have a little more leverage on them, and that's why he seems to be the
00:34:29harder puncher.
00:34:30But he's not good at all.
00:34:30More of a knockout puncher.
00:34:31Yeah, because the snap with the leverage and the range is what really gets the knockout.
00:34:35All right, Vladimir, how do you have it through six?
00:34:37Jim, 59, 55, five runs to one.
00:34:41I could tell you because he's busier.
00:34:42But I want to say two things about Jose Luis Lopez.
00:34:45Number one, it's not a hooky throw.
00:34:47It's an uppercut.
00:34:48Watch it, Jim.
00:34:48It gets under that elbow very often.
00:34:50Number two, he's not red, and he's not swallowed, even though he ate all those jabs, because
00:34:55they've got Joe Sousa in the ring, working down on the fighter, keeping that swelling
00:34:59down, and he's not swelling up, even though he's eating all those jabs.
00:35:02This is going to be a fight.
00:35:09I hope so, Errol.
00:35:11Right now, it seems to me, though, that Ike has a mental edge on him.
00:35:15It seems like Ike is pretty much in control, and he doesn't seem, Lopez doesn't seem to
00:35:19have the same power he had a few rounds ago.
00:35:22He needs something big to happen for him to give him that fire back.
00:35:28Hey, don't punch, don't punch.
00:35:29Stop, stop.
00:35:39Any opinion, Roy, how either of these fighters does against Whitaker?
00:35:44Well, both of them have a hard time against Whitaker because they are big punchers, and
00:35:48it's very difficult to hit Whitaker with these big punches.
00:35:50However, Ike has a conventional stance that allows him to go forward, backwards, left,
00:35:55or right pretty easily.
00:35:57So he'll probably have a better chance against Perndale Whitaker.
00:36:00Low player, however, always keeps his weight forward.
00:36:02He never hit Whitaker, and he wouldn't do probably as well because he's a straightforward
00:36:07guy.
00:36:07Those are the guys that Whitaker has preyed on throughout his entire career.
00:36:10Yep.
00:36:14Fascinating because neither of these fighters has a severe technical flaw, and yet you're
00:36:19saying that both of them would have technical problems against Perndale.
00:36:22Well, like I said, Ike would have problems because of his punchability, but I think he'd
00:36:26slack up a little bit and make, throw quicker punches against Perndale because he knows that
00:36:30he can't go out there and worry about Perndale's head.
00:36:32He has to kill the body unless the head dies.
00:36:35The other, uh, Lopez on the other hand, is really strictly a big puncher, strictly a forward,
00:36:39straight-ahead fighter.
00:36:40And like I said, he would definitely have problems with the Whitaker.
00:36:44Lopez reaching to try to land the right hand over the top against Porte.
00:36:47Porte.
00:36:48Oh, very good.
00:36:48Countering as always, Lopez finally gets in a left hook underneath as the round comes to a
00:36:53close.
00:36:58Okay.
00:37:01This is a very good run for you.
00:37:03Stick to what you're doing.
00:37:04I'm very happy what you're doing, okay?
00:37:08Now, don't start a straight way to the right.
00:37:13And don't start right in front of him.
00:37:15Don't give him a chance to punch back.
00:37:20And don't let him push you back.
00:37:21Keep your distance and throw more punches.
00:37:23You have to keep your distance from the guy.
00:37:25You just left right and then you just right.
00:37:28Straight out hand.
00:37:29But you have to do something.
00:37:31You just can't stand there.
00:37:32You've got to do more work.
00:37:38All right, gentlemen.
00:37:39Let's go.
00:37:41Now the question is whether Lopez is willing to take the risk of making it a rough fight
00:37:51because Corte is hard to hit and if you make it a rough fight, you leave yourself open and
00:37:57he's going to find those openings.
00:38:00Well, you heard Rene Martinez telling Lopez in his corner, you've got to do more than you're
00:38:04doing.
00:38:06It's a very tough call for the fighter who has to go in and face the punishment he's going
00:38:11to take if he opens up a little more.
00:38:14Yeah, Jim, but I think that's his only chance.
00:38:16He's getting outboxed right now because he's trying to land the big punches.
00:38:20He's just stepping around him, steady outboxing him, and it's basically making him lose confidence.
00:38:25So his thing is, if you want to land the big punch, trade, gamble.
00:38:29Go for the gamble so you can land the big punch and see what happens.
00:38:31But if you just sit out here and do this, you're going to get outboxed all night and
00:38:34you're going to get murdered.
00:38:35Well, when Martinez told him between corners he had to do more, according to our interpreter,
00:38:40Hector Garcia, Lopez said to him, but his punches are hurting me.
00:38:44That's right.
00:38:45These punches are powerful.
00:38:46That hard jab I told you about when they said he's just throwing a jab.
00:38:50Yeah, but that jab feels like a straight right hand to the opponent.
00:38:53You know, the corner man can say, well, he's just hitting with a jab, but they don't know
00:38:56how hard this jab is.
00:38:57This is not an ordinary jab.
00:38:59It's not a pity pat.
00:39:00This is a bazooka jab.
00:39:03Bazooka Korte, in round seven, 53 of Korte's 61 punches were jabs.
00:39:12Can you see the effect they have?
00:39:15Well, you can hear the effect they have with our ringside microphones.
00:39:20I'll tell you what, Lopez's punches are not as strong as they were early even.
00:39:24Ike's punches are just as strong, if not stronger, than they were in the early round.
00:39:43And watching this, if a good, strong, fluid combination puncher like Lopez can't get to Korte,
00:39:51you wonder who can't.
00:39:57Well, no one in this division has quicker hands than us could De La Hoya.
00:40:02So, in a match of quickness, I wouldn't bet against De La Hoya.
00:40:08Well, but these are the type of fights that people should be able to see.
00:40:10So, we all sit here and wonder, well, who would win?
00:40:13That's very intriguing, that's very adventurous for our minds, because we can play so many
00:40:17different games.
00:40:18So, how about let's make it happen?
00:40:20Yeah.
00:40:21That's my thing.
00:40:22Well, we need the public to get to know about Korte and to mount the demand.
00:40:26They know enough about De La Hoya.
00:40:27Let's go ahead and make it happen.
00:40:28De La Hoya is the man with the name, with the style, with the clan.
00:40:32Make it happen.
00:40:32Anybody he fights, they're going to pay attention to.
00:40:35But when they see that this guy is something to really deal with, they're going to pay more
00:40:39attention.
00:40:39Then they'll get to know who Ike Korte is.
00:40:41And in the rematch or the third fight, they'll definitely know who both fighters are.
00:40:44Lock ticking down in round seven.
00:40:47Large, angry red welt right above the eyes of Jose Luis Lopez.
00:40:52That's the target where Ike Korte has been pounding him with the jab all night long.
00:40:58We are the night route.
00:41:00You're doing very well.
00:41:03This is just where to fight this guy.
00:41:05Just speak to the plan.
00:41:06That's it.
00:41:07Just as where to fight him.
00:41:08Okay?
00:41:09You're doing the right thing.
00:41:10But take your time as well, okay?
00:41:12Against a few body punches.
00:41:16This is what I've been trying to get you to do all the time.
00:41:19This is what I've been trying to get you to do for some time now.
00:41:23Use that uppercut and it's right between his gloves.
00:41:26You can pick him up right between his gloves.
00:41:28Use that uppercut.
00:41:29You have to make a bigger effort this time.
00:41:32Use that uppercut and pick him up.
00:41:35He's leaving himself open.
00:41:37And throw those uppercuts right between his gloves.
00:41:40You can get him.
00:41:40You can do it.
00:41:45The fighting surfer, Jose Luis Lopez, smiles at us as he comes out of his corner for the ninth round.
00:41:51But it's a wand smile.
00:41:53Kind of smile that says, well, I don't really know what else I can do.
00:41:57I'll try.
00:41:59But, you know, it says a lot about Ike Porte being noted as such a strong puncher.
00:42:03To be able to go out here and basically dominate and win this fight with a jab.
00:42:07That's good boxing skills.
00:42:09That's the thing that young fighters should be able to sit at home and watch.
00:42:11Watch a guy control a fight totally with a jab.
00:42:14You don't have to go out and knock everybody out with a power punch.
00:42:16If you can control a fight with a jab, that means a lot about, that says a lot about your
00:42:21boxing skills.
00:42:21Let me know that you are truly a boxer.
00:42:24A decision win over Jose Luis Lopez is a strong credential.
00:42:28Worth waiting for.
00:42:29And Porte has shown patience throughout the fight.
00:42:37Lopez trying to use straight rights to set up the left hook again.
00:42:42Left hook was blocked by Porte's right glove there.
00:42:45And I must say that Lopez is a distant fighter.
00:42:47He's doing everything his corner told him.
00:42:48He throws the uppercuts to try to come between the gloves like they suggested.
00:42:51He's doing everything that they're suggesting.
00:42:53It's just that sometimes you can't win a race with a quarter horse when you race a thoroughbred.
00:43:00Well, that depends on the distance.
00:43:03And we have 12 rounds here, which is thoroughbred material.
00:43:07That's right.
00:43:18Lopez gets an uppercut through the guard.
00:43:20Porte comes back with a counter right.
00:43:23Lands a hard right inside.
00:43:25He had a thunderous left hook to the chest moments ago.
00:43:29But this is the count that Lopez needs to take.
00:43:31He needs to make Ike punch so he can try to punch too.
00:43:34He's getting beat just standing out there waiting.
00:43:35Go ahead and gamble.
00:43:37He's a winner.
00:43:38Get knocked out.
00:43:39One of them.
00:43:40You know.
00:43:40But don't just let it go down the drain.
00:43:44Those are good punches he's still throwing now.
00:43:47These are truly outstanding gold and purple trunks Porte has on too.
00:43:51Really?
00:43:52Yeah.
00:43:52I mean.
00:43:53That's championship stuff.
00:43:54That's right.
00:43:54You know, that's what champions are made of.
00:43:56It says a lot about a guy to see him come to us for the occasion.
00:44:05There's a wealth over under the left eye of Porte.
00:44:10So Lopez has been getting to him with some of those punches.
00:44:17First time we've seen Porte mark that way.
00:44:45I wrote and remarked about fighters who seem to throw a jab from the backseat.
00:44:50Very, very tentatively.
00:44:53This guy, Porte, seems to throw it from the hood of the top.
00:45:01Breathe in.
00:45:06You're doing very well.
00:45:09Don't change what you're doing.
00:45:12Don't change anything at all.
00:45:13That's the same thing I want you to do all the time.
00:45:19He's hurt.
00:45:20He's hurt.
00:45:21He's got an eye already.
00:45:22He's got a swab under the eye.
00:45:25Yellow.
00:45:26Give me the eyes.
00:45:27Oh, okay.
00:45:29That's okay.
00:45:29He took off.
00:45:30Yeah.
00:45:31Lopez landing double-digit punches only one round.
00:45:35Porte steadily landing 30 to 35 punches throughout the fight.
00:45:42Lopez has a look on his face that says to his cheering cornerman, what fight are you watching?
00:45:51Jim, I don't think he's looking to land double-figure punches.
00:45:53I think he just wants to land one punch to try to get it over with.
00:45:57A look of utter resignation on the face of Jose Luis Lopez.
00:46:01Well, ideally, you'd like to come out and land 100 punches around and blow your man away.
00:46:05But you're right.
00:46:06He's reduced to that ambition just trying to land one punch because Porte's been so effective with what he's doing.
00:46:13Harold, how do you have it through nine?
00:46:15Same as I had it the last time.
00:46:18Eight to one.
00:46:19Eighty-nine, eighty-two.
00:46:20I thought, hey, you just can't take it away from him.
00:46:22He's the busier guy.
00:46:23He piles up the points with that left jab.
00:46:25Clean, effective punching.
00:46:27That's what's winning a fight.
00:46:28He's won every round except the second round.
00:46:30He's winning his fight big.
00:46:31Lopez has to knock him out the last three rounds to win it.
00:46:36Agreed.
00:46:36Good luck.
00:46:42Lopez's punches.
00:46:43When they land.
00:46:45Not nearly as powerful as they were in rounds three and four and five when it appeared that he might
00:46:51be able to mount some kind of a rally.
00:46:55No, and in my opinion, I don't think you're going to catch a guy like Ike Porte with a one
00:46:58-two combination or just a one-punch combination.
00:47:01I think you have to put punches together to try to knock a guy like Ike Porte.
00:47:05I mean, he's not a dumb fighter.
00:47:07He wouldn't be champion.
00:47:08He's one of the best fighters out now.
00:47:10He's definitely one of the best weltswets in the division.
00:47:12And you're not going to knock him out with a one-two punch combination.
00:47:14Well, and against fighters like Aaron Davis and Yuri Boykampas, Jose Luis Lopez was brilliant at putting three and four
00:47:21and five punch combinations together.
00:47:23He just can't do it here.
00:47:24No, because when you catch one, or you throw two of them and a big punch comes between it, it's
00:47:27tough there, really.
00:47:37Right hand landed behind the ear for Lopez, but several of those punches blocked again by Cuartes' gloves.
00:47:50Now, Lopez has a cut under his right eye.
00:47:55Little one.
00:47:56Never in there.
00:47:59I think.
00:48:02They're pushing the right eye.
00:48:04Trust them.
00:48:07It should be the best.
00:48:08I guess they're pushing the right eye.
00:48:10You know what are you doing guys?
00:48:13It's got to keep them in.
00:48:13You know what you're doing.
00:48:17It's got to keep them in.
00:48:18You know what they're doing, bro.
00:48:31chopping right hand landed for lopez after a quartet jab and that gives lopez some encouragement
00:48:37so he keeps firing
00:49:04here's a sequence of jabs by forte
00:49:08like an off tackle run in football five yards at a clip keeps rocking lopez back changes up with a
00:49:16little bit of a left hook plus a right awfully tough stuff to get something going against
00:49:31lopez gave it a shot at the last 30 seconds of the last round
00:49:37two round session two rounds yeah don't play around with this guy you're going to make him happy
00:49:42you're going to make him confident okay don't make it a moment
00:49:46do not play with this guy you only have two rounds to go you only have two rounds to go
00:49:56right now ice corte is dominating a very good price player yeah but can't get careless because that
00:50:04very good crowd fighter still has a bunch of power left and you heard his trainer daniel adamton
00:50:09saying exactly that to him don't make another mistake and give this guy confidence you saw the
00:50:14confidence that lopez welled up with in the last 30 seconds of the preceding round
00:50:20but he looked a little weary as he stepped back out of the corner to begin this one
00:50:36don't punch don't punch that story the only combination that's been working at all for lopez
00:50:41all night long right over the top left hook to follow that's something with the left up because
00:50:47they bring between the gloves when i push the gloves together yeah and the hard right hand
00:50:50lands and down goes corte on a left hook second knockdown of the battle for lopez
00:50:56that's why i said he couldn't get careless he was seriously dazed the right made it tighter and
00:51:02he was followed by a left and lopez can finish him if he kept it with a good punch
00:51:06but they still wobbling lopez has a tremendous stance here tremendous stance
00:51:11i told you he was still a strong punch i told you he's very strong
00:51:17and he's got half a round to go yet and he can't get careless because a big puncher like this
00:51:25he seems to be finding himself again the moment may have passed lopez had it right there between
00:51:32his hands it hasn't passed yet because he's still hurt yeah he's very hurt his eyes are still grassy
00:51:37and lopez is a very strong punch you heard him there off of a fresh punch so the chance has
00:51:42not passed
00:51:43and ike seems to be a little tired now should corte be grabbing and holding yes he should he should
00:51:48be
00:51:49holding instead he continues firing his jab now he grabs for a moment he shouldn't find the jab
00:51:56because that's going to give him a chance to land that right hand but he doesn't know any other way
00:51:59keeps firing the jab keeps throwing punches and lopez looks for a chance to land another one of those
00:52:05you call it an uppercut i've been calling it a left hook it's it's a delahoya punch it's that hooker
00:52:10cut
00:52:10kind of comes up at an upward angle yep
00:52:18i'll tell you lopez should have been gambling a long time ago because that's the only chance he has
00:52:22is to gamble he can't outbox ice you should go for the gamble and see if he can hurt him
00:52:29what's a gradually regaining his strength and getting his feet under him not really
00:52:34his strength hasn't really come back yet he just landed two right hands has made lopez think twice
00:52:41about coming back at him
00:52:45it's a bloody mouth for corte now
00:52:50goes back to pumping the jab see if lopez can bring the right hand over the top well lopez is
00:52:57asking some
00:52:58questions of corte we haven't seen him asked yet
00:53:05you better score everything don't worry about it okay
00:53:10okay i don't know you're still within the fight you're still within the fight
00:53:17you want to play more pressure you have to find the pressure now it's the last round you can do
00:53:23it
00:53:25you have to do it
00:53:27last one last one last one last one last one last round do it there we see the back down
00:53:32late in the fight
00:53:33a little bit fatigued a right followed by a left
00:53:43you can even find cheeks and granite jim
00:54:02and i've been saying all night larry that this guy can punch and i have to be very careful because
00:54:07a big punch his only chance to land that one big punch that's what he's been trying to do all
00:54:11night
00:54:12and that's what he got lucky and did last round
00:54:17lopez re-energized by what he did in the 11th
00:54:23and just in case some of the scoring isn't as one-sided as harold letterman has been
00:54:29showing us remember lopez now has two two-point rounds the second and the 11th
00:54:36well the second might not have been a two-point but the point is well taken
00:54:40he's put a dent in forte
00:54:47or it's a defensive as the 12th round begins
00:54:53trainer tried to get him to relax and calm down forget about it it was a mistake forget about it
00:55:05he's going to go out there and take a chance of getting locked out in the last round
00:55:09outfox got that way from you know he's a big puncher when to fight when the decision let's go home
00:55:14so
00:55:14quartet showing good presence of mind yes he's showing good friends of mind
00:55:19right over the top by lopez
00:55:31harold letterman very excited beside me because
00:55:34he remembers lopez's father going into philadelphia and knocking out a very highly ranked featherweight
00:55:43named gosh sammy got
00:55:50this fight is being seen live closed circuit in durango
00:55:55quartet's fights are all seen in ghana
00:55:59that's what quartet should be doing right there boxing is staying away
00:56:01don't run into the big shot because you're going to see the head big punches
00:56:04and he's going to try to knock you out with that one shot
00:56:08another right hand landed for lopez a good right hand
00:56:13quartet holding on
00:56:17referee steve smoker stays out of the action
00:56:38and lopez
00:56:40isn't likely to get another chance
00:56:43i don't know he's still strong he's still very confident i just have to stay away from him
00:57:21so we'll go to the scorecards
00:57:27in a fight largely dominated by ike corte's dead
00:57:33but in which corte was subjected to two knockdowns at the hands of jose luis lopez
00:57:40and harold how did you score it i think jose lopez lopez ran out of round
00:57:45in simple english if this fight would have been 15 lopez wins but be as it may i just had
00:57:51too big
00:57:51an early lead 115 112 eight rounds to four ike corte he just went he just won too many of
00:57:59the first
00:58:00nine rounds he had that humongous lead and lopez just couldn't overcome it
00:58:04jose sweeps the last three rounds to make it a little bit closer still in all ike corte by three
00:58:09points because he had that huge early lead i got to say something about smoker in the 11th great call
00:58:15the mouthpiece came out on the knockdown smoker held the mouthpiece rather than call time and put it back
00:58:20and take away lopez's advantage he didn't shove it back during a low low in the action steve smoker is
00:58:26a good referee a very good one indeed
00:58:30well we told you that most of the fight was dominated by corte particularly his powerful left
00:58:36jab but these odd moments leave us with a little bit of suspense in the second round quick left hook
00:58:44inside landed for lopez and corte's glove touched the canvas that was scored a knockdown then the right
00:58:51hand over the top followed by the left hook put corte on the canvas in the 11th
00:58:55five and suddenly created the expectation that maybe lopez way behind on the scorecards could win
00:59:01the fight and then corte stayed away in the 12th giving away the round but robbing lopez of any
00:59:10chance to land more power punches and we'll wait and see what the scorecards show
00:59:18certainly lopez won back a lot of his fans with his performance in the last
00:59:22two three rounds and michael buffer has the official numbers in his hands michael
00:59:32ladies and gentlemen we go to the budweiser scorecards william hutt scores about 113 113 he has it even
00:59:49for the winner by majority decision and still wba welterweight champion of the world mike bazooka
01:00:11in the moment
01:00:17so a majority decision
01:00:23for Quartey.
01:00:24He remains unbeaten at 35-0.
01:00:29Sixth time in his career he's had to go the distance,
01:00:31and I think the decision is the right one,
01:00:35despite a few scattered boos around this arena.
01:00:39Let's take a look at final punch stat numbers,
01:00:41and you'll see the dominance of Quartey in the basic categories
01:00:44landing 387 to only 104,
01:00:49so he landed 283 more punches.
01:00:51Then did Lopez.
01:00:53Threw 177 more punches than Lopez,
01:00:56and dwarfed Lopez's connect percentage, 53% to 19%.
01:01:00That's what the Boo Birds don't understand
01:01:02as they booed the decision.
01:01:03Total jabs, and this is where Quartey truly dominated the fight.
01:01:07313 out of 606,
01:01:09as he mostly worked the left jab throughout the fight.
01:01:12And Larry Merchant is standing by with the winner and still champ,
01:01:15Mike Quartey.
01:01:16Thank you very much, Jim.
01:01:18Congratulations, champ.
01:01:21Was that your closest call yet as a champion to losing your title?
01:01:26Yeah, I got the top guard.
01:01:28How badly hurt were you in the 11th round?
01:01:33Well, I wasn't here too much, but we got the top guard.
01:01:37Well, it caught me.
01:01:40It caught you.
01:01:41Were you by that time confident that you had won the fight with your left jab?
01:01:47Yeah, that's what I was complaining about because a week before the fight, I was sick.
01:01:50I don't want to put the fight off, so I just decided to lose my job to win the fight
01:01:54because I don't want to put the fight off.
01:01:55I was sick.
01:01:56I don't want to put the fight off.
01:01:57You were saying you were sick a week before the fight,
01:02:01so you felt you had to come in here and just win it with your jab.
01:02:04What was your problem?
01:02:05Well, I had malaria and I was thought to.
01:02:08And not that it came on feet, but I said I would fight.
01:02:10So that you don't know about everything.
01:02:12I don't want to put out the fight.
01:02:13I want to put out a good show.
01:02:14You didn't want to postpone the fight.
01:02:16All right, let's go to the 11th round when he hurt you.
01:02:20Were you tired by that time?
01:02:22Were you worn down?
01:02:23It was late in the fight?
01:02:25Yeah, he just caught me.
01:02:27Yeah, he caught me to the point.
01:02:30That's my explanation.
01:02:31The guy's a tough kid.
01:02:32Very tough guy.
01:02:33Is he the best fighter you've ever fought?
01:02:35Yeah, he's a bad fighter.
01:02:36Nobody wants to fight him.
01:02:37Nobody wants to fight a kid.
01:02:39I took a chance to fight a guy because I want to prove myself that I'm the best.
01:02:42So you feel that he's a tough guy that nobody else wants to fight
01:02:47and that you have to fight all of those guys to make an impression here in America?
01:02:53Yes, I want to prove myself.
01:02:55Nobody wants to fight me.
01:02:56I want to prove I'm the best in the world I want.
01:02:58That's why I took this fight because he's got a tough kid.
01:03:01Do you think that by getting knocked down,
01:03:03maybe you will encourage the other fighters to fight you now?
01:03:08Well, there's no mistake because I was sick a week before the fight.
01:03:12So that's why I'm here.
01:03:14No, no, you shouldn't make an excuse because then they won't want to fight you.
01:03:18There's no excuse.
01:03:19I don't give you an excuse.
01:03:19But I want to tell them what they got, Trinidad, De La Hoya,
01:03:23they shouldn't be getting a mistake.
01:03:25If they come to me, they'll go.
01:03:27Thank you very, very much.
01:03:28And again, congratulations.
01:03:30All right.
01:03:31Jim.
01:03:32All right.
01:03:34Thank you very much, Larry.
01:03:35And Roy, I think Larry makes a terrific point there as he asks Corte if getting knocked down
01:03:41might help him to get the fights that he wants.
01:03:43Because I can imagine fans of both Trinidad and De La Hoya sitting out there saying,
01:03:49well, sure, he's great, but he makes mistakes, and our guy would take advantage of those mistakes.
01:03:53Well, but their guy has been down, too, more than once.
01:03:56So what makes him any different from their guy?
01:03:58So, you know, I mean, things happen like this sometimes.
01:04:01The best fighters in the world get knocked down.
01:04:03The best fighters in the world lose.
01:04:05Everybody's not going to have a 100% night every night.
01:04:08This guy was a guy that nobody else, like he said, would fight.
01:04:10Nobody would fight him.
01:04:11De La Hoya didn't want none of him.
01:04:13None of the other guys wanted to fight him.
01:04:14I took the fight not because he's the number one contender,
01:04:17but because he wanted to prove to them that he is the best fighter in the division,
01:04:20and I think he did just that.
01:04:21All right.
01:04:22We've got the three champions in the welterweight division,
01:04:24Oscar De La Hoya, Ike Corte, Felix Trinidad, all of them unbeaten fighters.
01:04:30Let's just hope that as time goes on, the three of them will meet each other
01:04:33and sort all of this out.
01:04:35And, of course, Pernell Whitaker, off of his victory tonight,
01:04:37is going to claim, hey, I'm still a part of that mix as well.
01:04:40We wait to see what happens to Whitaker as his career progresses,
01:04:43including perhaps as a result of this, a fight against Ike Corte.
01:04:48Now, Larry, we've got to bring Jimmy Benz in for a moment.
01:04:52Jimmy, if you'll come stand right here.
01:04:54We've got the official scorecards now from the first fight,
01:04:58and we can see that there have been, well, there's only one correction, right?
01:05:03These are the original scores in the fight, 1-15, 1-12, 1-15, 1-12, 1-14, 1-13.
01:05:09Now, what is the correct final scorecard, Jimmy?
01:05:111-14, 1-13, 1-14, 1-13, 1-15, 1-12.
01:05:16The problem was, Jim, that in the official scorecard that the commission keeps,
01:05:21they had Whitaker on the left and Pestriov on the right on each card.
01:05:25The judges, unfortunately, when the cards were filled out for them, had it reversed.
01:05:29And so when they were transcribing the scores, there were some mistakes made,
01:05:33and then there were some erasures, and it looked as though that they didn't know what they were doing.
01:05:38But as it turned out, and the scorecard that was handed up to Mike Buffer at the end,
01:05:43from the Judge Feldman, had 1-15, 1-0-3, which was absurd.
01:05:49And Mike Buffer corrected it, but nonetheless, it gave reason for Pestriov's people to start complaining.
01:05:56Creating the complaint.
01:05:57Now, so Whitaker's the official winner of the fight.
01:06:00Whitaker is the official winner of the fight, and Whitaker is now the WBA NA champion,
01:06:04and he will be the number one contender for that belt.
01:06:08And he's the mandatory for Quartey within what time limit?
01:06:11I don't know the exact time limit now, but it'll be within nine months of whenever Quartey's last mandatory fight
01:06:18was.
01:06:18And you fellows would know that better than I.
01:06:20All right, so within nine months of whenever Quartey fought his last mandatory,
01:06:23he's supposed to fight Whitaker.
01:06:25In theory, if he wanted to, maybe he could take a fight in between,
01:06:27or perhaps he would go straight to Whitaker.
01:06:29If he wants to hold on to his belt, that's what he has to do.
01:06:32That's what he has to do, and I think that the biggest problem there would be Whitaker making the weight.
01:06:36All right, thanks very much.
01:06:37Thank you, Jimmy.
01:06:38Roy Jones, before I go back to Larry Merchant for his final comments,
01:06:42what would a Purnell-Whitaker-Ike-Quartey fight look like?
01:06:44Well, it'd be a good fight, much different from the Whitaker-Dillahoria fight
01:06:48because Ike is not going to sit back and not take chances.
01:06:51Ike is going to go out there and make the fight.
01:06:53He's going to push the issue.
01:06:54He won't be sitting around waiting on something to happen.
01:06:57He'll go out and make something happen.
01:06:58So it'll be a much more interesting fight.
01:07:00I like both fighters.
01:07:01Both of them are good personal friends of mine.
01:07:03I just hope both of them come out healthy, make a lot of money, and have a terrific fight.
01:07:07The only thing you can't have is that we wouldn't have both of them training in Pensacola, only one.
01:07:12That's right.
01:07:12At least for the time being.
01:07:14Roy, thanks very much.
01:07:15Another great night.
01:07:15Thank you, too.
01:07:16Enjoyed it.
01:07:16All right.
01:07:18Larry Merchant, as it all turns out, we get the expected results,
01:07:22not necessarily in the way in which we expected them to unfold,
01:07:26but the stage is now set, perhaps somewhere down the road, for Whitaker-Quartey
01:07:30or for all the other interesting business that the welterweight division can and should produce in the next few years.
01:07:36Yeah, the welterweights are sort of still clinging to the trees.
01:07:42They're not falling off the trees, as the leaves are here in New England now, so colorfully and gloriously.
01:07:48What I think happened tonight was that Purnell Whitaker did not make a case for a rematch with Oscar De
01:07:55La Hoya.
01:07:56I think that Ike Cortey did himself some good by showing that he is human.
01:08:02He can be punched.
01:08:03He can be hurt.
01:08:05Certainly that has to encourage the Trinidad and the De La Hoya handlers.
01:08:12And I think that Lopez, who not many people knew much about, did himself a whole lot of good.
01:08:17And so I think we'll see him back in the picture.
01:08:20The welterweight division has the most talent of any division in boxing right now.
01:08:27And it's going to continue that way for the foreseeable future.
01:08:31All right.
01:08:31Thanks very much.
01:08:32We'll have a final word on what happened here in the ring in just a moment.
01:08:35Let's look ahead to some upcoming programs here on HBO.
01:08:39The system took their youth.
01:08:41Of course, hereby sentences you for the Wilkinson Homes for boys.
01:08:44He took their innocence.
01:08:46What do you want?
01:08:49But painful memories breed angry men.
01:08:53Hey, Robert De Niro.
01:08:55You're asking me to lie.
01:08:56Jason Patrick.
01:08:57I'm asking you to say it to you, boys.
01:08:59Kevin Bacon.
01:09:00You gotta have rules and you gotta have business.
01:09:02And Brad Pitt.
01:09:03I just want to show my eyes and not have to see the places that have been sleepers.
01:09:07Premieres Saturday, November 1st.
01:09:10The grace.
01:09:11Oh, my God.
01:09:12Watching him is graceful.
01:09:13Everything he did was easy for him.
01:09:16But glamour.
01:09:17There was a matinee idol quality to him that you usually associate with the film business.
01:09:22The all-American hero.
01:09:23You're looking for a hero.
01:09:24Something to believe in.
01:09:26That's what Joe was.
01:09:27From reluctant star to reclusive legend.
01:09:29He lived for baseball.
01:09:31For those who saw him play, it will always be summer.
01:09:34Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
01:09:36Premieres Monday, 9 at 8 on HBO.
01:09:41And turn to HBO for the show The Pros Watch Inside the NFL.
01:09:45As hosts Len Dawson, Nick Bonacani, Chris Collinsworth, and Jerry Glanville take a complete look back.
01:09:50And the first look ahead at all the action throughout the NFL.
01:09:53It premieres Thursdays at 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
01:10:01Perfect time.
01:10:03Boxing returns to HBO on November 1.
01:10:05When Boxing After Dark features a heavyweight doubleheader as Lou Savarese faces the now-newly-renamed David Aizan.
01:10:12And Obed Sullivan meets Hasim Rahman.
01:10:15Three weeks later on November 22, George Foreman is back in action against Shannon Briggs.
01:10:20Plus a junior middleweight bout featuring 1996 Olympic gold medalist and knockout star David Reed.
01:10:28Here tonight at Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut.
01:10:31Pernell Whitaker got a unanimous scratch-out decision against Pestrioff in an awkward-looking bout
01:10:39in which Pernell was able to use his superior skills to dominate most of the bout,
01:10:44but had a couple of rough moments against the rangy and awkward Pestrioff.
01:10:48Then Ike Corté controlled most of the bout against Jose Luis Lopez with his powerful jab,
01:10:56but had two bad moments as Lopez was twice able to score knockdowns against him,
01:11:01creating expectations that Corté has armor, but he has chinks as well.
01:11:06Coming up immediately following tonight's coverage of World Championship Boxing,
01:11:10stay tuned for the premiere of the Chris Rock Show on the East Coast
01:11:13and an encore performance of Garth live from Central Park on the West Coast.
01:11:17So now for Larry Merchant, Roy Jones, and Harold Letterman,
01:11:21and for our various interpreters, three of them tonight,
01:11:24I'm Jim Lampley saying so long from the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
01:11:30The executive producer of HBO Sports is Ross Greenberg.
01:11:33Tonight's telecast of World Championship Boxing was produced by Rick Bernstein
01:11:37and directed by Mark Payton.
01:11:39The feature producer was Adam Berger.
01:11:40The associate producers Kirby Bradley and Kendall Bridges-Reed.
01:11:44Assistant to the producer John Crystal.
01:11:45The production manager was John McCallie.
01:11:48And the technical supervisor was Bob Hunter.
01:11:52The production manager of Auswart knew the importance to the store.
01:11:55The production manager Dr.
01:11:55The production manager of old badly opened up his grandiose 我們たちの際に言い辞めた cognitivesが始まりました,
01:11:58which is thatitter of the marriage payton.
01:12:03This is Amy Colesまでとimb Mud� curios!
01:12:08It's going to be way $INETIME.
01:12:15And then…
01:12:20The production manager of Microsoft Office çok上 liner
01:12:43celebrating 25 years as the network of champions this has been a presentation of hbo sports
01:12:50Thank you
Comments