On this day 23 August 1995 (Exactly 25 years ago today) Ghana’s Ike Quartey successfully defended his World Boxing Association (WBA) World Welterweight title with a 4th round TKO over Andrew Murray at the La Palestre, Le Cannet, Alpes-Maritimes, France.
An active opening round saw Murray work behind a rangy jab and an occasional left hand. Similarly, Quartey too pumped out his trademark jab, coupled with a right hand, and less frequently a hook to the body.
A counter straight right hand caught Murray on the chin and sent him down just as the bell sounded to end Round 1.
He quickly got to a knee and made it to his feet at the count of eight. Quartey was the sharper of the two in a competitive Round 2 as he had some success landing the lead right hand and a few decent shots to the body.
Murray landed a left hook in the final seconds of the round, but struggled for the most part to split Quartey’s defense.
Quartey continued to land the cleaner shots in Round 3 and worked well with short power punches in close, occasionally snapping back the head of Murray.
By the end of the round, a small cut had opened to the right cheek of Murray. At 0:41 of Round 4 after a straight right hand backed up Murray, the referee paused the action to allow the ringside physician to view a cut that had opened above Murray’s left eye. The doctor took little time and called for an end to the bout.
Quatey was leading on all three judges score cards.
Judge: Renato Caddeo 30-26
Judge: Jesus Cova 30-27
Judge: Rogelio Perez 30-26
Referee: Carlos Berrocal
Elsewhere;
On this day 23 August 2008 (Exactly 12 years ago today) Midfielder Ángel Di María scored a 58th minute winner as Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0 to take the men’s football gold medal at the Beijing Olympics at the National Stadium.
Argentina’s unrestrained joy in winning a second consecutive football gold medal reflected the absolute importance they placed on playing at the Olympic Games.
While European nations largely devalue an Olympic medal, South American giants Argentina and Brazil along with African heavyweights Nigeria threw everything into winning in Beijing.
Argentina had a tug-of-war with Spanish giants Barcelona to release their mercurial forward Lionel Messi for the Games.
The powerful European club even won an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a FIFA rule obliging them to release all under-23 players, including Messi.
In the end Barcelona allowed Messi to play at the Olympics, reportedly after making a deal with the Argentine federation.
Messi proved the winning difference as Argentina vanquished Brazil 3-0 in the semi-finals and edged out former champions Nigeria 1-0 in the final to become the first nation in 40 years since Hungary to clinch back-to-back Olympic football gold.
Messi conjured the winning goal for Angel Di Maria in the 58th minute, taking possession just inside his own half and putting the Benfica midfielder in a one-on-one situation to chip the goalkeeper Ambruse Vanzekin.
The Argentina players celebrated enthusiastically after the final whistle and savoured the big occasion of winning Olympic gold before 89,102 fans at the ‘Bird’s Nest’ National Stadium.
Even old stager and team captain Juan Riquelme, one of five full internationals in the Argentine Olympic team, was overwhelmed by the Beijing experience.
“I’m absolutely delighted because this was the last opportunity I had to play in the Olympic Games,” Riquelme said. “I’ll be wearing the medal on the plane home. I won’t be taking it off for anyone.
“We had the good fortune to stay in the athlete’s village and meet athletes from all over the world. For me it was incredible and I fully enjoyed it. Never before had I experienced anything quite like it.”
The Beijing football tournament will be remembered as the stage where Messi once again illustrated why he is widely regarded as the world’s best footballer.
“People said a lot of things that annoyed me before I came to China, everyone knows that,” Messi said.
“That’s what makes this medal so special. I think Argentina won the gold because we had a fantastic team that really pulled together. You could see that on the pitch.”
Nigerian coach Samson Siasia made no bones about the difference between the two teams in the final played in brutal midday heat.
“Messi terrorises not only our team, but all teams in Europe. He didn’t score but he created a lot of their chances. That is why we have the silver and they have the gold,” he said.
Nigeria went in with the pyschological edge of beating Argentina 3-2 in the corresponding final in Atlanta 1996 to become the first African Olympic champions, but were let down by profligate finishing.
Brazil may be revered as five-time World Cup champions, but they left Beijing once again without an Olympic gold medal.
They had to settle for the bronze after a demoralising semi-final loss to their deadly rivals Argentina and claimed the consolation prize in a 3-0 win over Belgium, who dumped Italy out 3-2 in the quarter-finals.
The Brazilians were so fixated on winning the tournament for the first time that they brought in former two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho as one of their three over-age players and senior coach Dunga to lead the side.
The loss to Argentina was described as ‘shameful’ by the country’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Brazilian newspapers called for Dunga’s dismissal as senior coach.
Yet again football was immensely popular at the Olympics and was watched by a record 2.14 million spectators for the 58 matches in the men’s and women’s tournaments — an average of around 36,000.
On this day 23 August 2004 (Exactly 16 years ago today) There was an American sweep in the 400m medals at the Athens Olympics; Jeremy Wariner gold in 44.00 ahead of Otis Harris and Derrick Brew.
On this day 23 August 2008 (Exactly 12 years ago today) The star-studded American women’s basketball team led by the likes of Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird & Diana Taurasi won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics with a convincing 92-65 win over Australia.
On this day 23 August 2008 (Exactly 12 years ago today) Ethiopian distance runner Kenenisa Bekele wrapped up the 5,000/10,000m double at the Beijing Olympics when he took gold in the 5000m in an Olympic record 12:57.82
On this day 23 August 1920 (Exactly 100 years ago today) American swimmer Warren Kealoha won first of two consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 100m backstroke, beating team mate Ray Kegeris at the Antwerp Games.
On this day 23 August 1926 (Exactly 94 years ago today) Molla Bjurstedt Mallory beat Elizabeth Ryan 4-6, 6-4, 9-7 for her record 8th and final US singles title.
On this day 23 August 1953 (Exactly 67 years ago today) Italian Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari clinched his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by winning Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten.
By: George ‘Alan Green’ Mahamah