By Sammy Rozenberg
The often-confusing junior middleweight division is finally beginning to sort itself out, but not in full fashion. The card, appropriately named "Now or Never," showcased a combination of the young and old. The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City played host to the junior middleweight occasion.
Arguably the junior middleweight division is the best division to occupy in boxing, mainly because the weight class is positioned between the welterweight and middleweight division. For the winners there are options to face any of the top fighters between 147 to 160 pounds.
The main event featured two former welterweight champions, both in their mid-thirties, battling to regain the former glory they once had. Vernon Forrest (38-2, 28KOs) won a very unpopular decision over Ike Quartey (37-3-1, 31KOs) by way of a ten-round unanimous verdict. The scores were 95-94, 95-94 and 96-94.
When the score cards were announced to the crowd, the audience immediately began chanting their displeasure over the final verdicts of the judges.
The fight appeared to be dominated by the left jab of Quartey, who came forward for the entire fight as he pushed Forrest back with left hook coming off the jab. The round that really makes the decision questionable was the ninth round, where Forrest landed a low blow which resulted in a point being taken away. Quartey was winning the ninth round appeared to be gain the 10-8 nod by most observers.
The face of Forrest was visibly swollen by the hard jab of Quartey and he appeared to be the more exhausted fighter in the later rounds. He did not appear to be the same fighter that beat Shane Mosley several years ago. The shoulder of Forrest also did not appear to be 100%. he was often pawing with his left hand, instead of firing shot as we were accustomed to seeing in the past.
The HBO broadcast crew covering the fight was surprised with the scored, as Harold Lederman, the unofficial score keeper for HBO had the fight scored 97-92 in favor of Quartey.
"I can't see how the judges got those scores when you consider the point being taken away for the low blow," Emanuel Steward said on the live broadcast.
Now that he landed the win over Quartey, Forrest appears to be inching towards a bigger fight. Quartey on the other hand was unsure if he was going to continue fighting.
The chief supporting bout was a much clearer picture. Two of the younger talents in the junior middleweight division collided for supremacy.
Kassim Ouma (25-2-1, 15KOs), already a former champion, continues to make a strong comeback by picking up a lopsided ten-round decision over previously undefeated Sechew Powell (20-1, 12KOs).
Powell, began the fight strong by landing crisp punches, but was never able to stop the onslaught of Ouma. Ouma appeared to be the stronger of the two southpaw fighters, he always came forward and never stopped punching.
There moments in the fight where Powell would land a hard punch, but Ouma ate the punches and refused to take a step back. What hurt Powell more than anything else in the fight was pausing before he threw his punches. Every single time Powell would pause, Ouma would rip a barrage of punches. The final scores were 100-90, 96-94 and 97-93.
Ouma threw over 1,000 punches in the fight, showcasing the same fighter that marveled boxing fans with an abundance of energy in some of his earlier fights. He was quickly becoming a force at the weight when Roman Karmazin abruptly dominated him in the loss that cost him the IBF 154-pound title.
On the undercard:
Undefeated welterweight Andre Berto (14-0, 12KOs) walked right through Roberto Valenzuela (37-25-2, 33KOs) in one round to pick up another knockout victory.
Jaidon Codrington (12-1, 10KOs) continued his winning ways by scoring a unanimous decision over former champion Carl Daniels (49-10-1, 31KOs). The scores were a lopsided 60-54 on all three cards.
Pat Nwamu (12-1, 4KOs) stopped John Battle (14-17-1, 7KOs) in three rounds.
Darling Jimenez (20-2-2, 11KOs) knocked out Arturo Brambila (8-8, 4KOs) in the first round.
