On this day 15 April 2000(Exactly 21 years ago today) Fernando Vargas, looking like a ring veteran at the age of 22, defended his IBF junior middleweight title by pounding out a hard-fought but unanimous 12-round decision over Ike Quartey.
Vargas was the stronger and bigger punching fighter in the late rounds as he followed Oscar De La Hoya’s lead to hand Quartey only his second defeat in a 12-year pro career.
There were no knockdowns in the fight, which was fought at a furious pace as Vargas tried to get inside Quartey’s jab and turn the bout into a brawl. He succeeded at times, particularly late in each round when the fighters often went toe-to-toe as the bell sounded.
Judges Dave Moretti and Jerry Roth had Vargas winning 116-111, and Glen Hamada had him ahead 114-113. The Associated Press had Vargas winning 115-112.
It was the second straight decision loss for Quartey, the former welterweight champion who dropped a split decision to De La Hoya when the two met 14 months earlier.
Vargas, who has fought in De La Hoya’s shadow, said the win in only his 19th pro fight proved that he was better than De La Hoya.
“My fight wasn’t close with Quartey and De La Hoya’s was,” Vargas said. “I think I proved something.”
Vargas (19-0, 17 knockouts) landed more punches than Quartey – 389 to 272 according to CompuBox ring statistics – but Quartey scored well with his left jab through much of the fight.
“His jab got to me a bit but I came right back at him,” Vargas said.
The loss was another bitter pill for Quartey, who bitterly disputed his loss to De La Hoya and was just as unhappy with the scoring against Vargas.
“I’m very upset about the decision,” said Quartey, of Ghana. “It was not 116-111. What fight were they watching?”
It was the fourth defense of the 154-pound title for Vargas, who won it at the age of 21 in only his 15th pro fight.
And Quartey gave him all he could handle, stalking Vargas throughout the fight and using his left jab to keep the champion off balance.
Vargas won the last three rounds on two ringside scorecards, though, finding his way inside to land short combinations to the head. Quartey, his right eye swelling, seemed to tire in the final rounds.
“Once I landed some solid shots he opened up a bit,” Vargas said.
Vargas entered the fight as a 2-1 favorite over Quartey (34-2-1), who was fighting for the first time as a junior middleweight.
The 30-year-old Quartey hadn’t fought since losing a controversial split decision to De La Hoya 14 months earlier for the welterweight title. Before that, he hadn’t fought in 16 months.
Vargas earned $1.35 million, while Quartey was paid $1.25 million.
Bout Summary
Date: 2000-04-15
Location: Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Referee: Joe Cortez
Judge: Glen Hamada 114-113
Judge: Jerry Roth 116-111
Judge: Dave Moretti 116-111
International Boxing Federation Junior Middleweight Title (4th defending of Vargas)
Weights: Quartey 152 lbs, Vargas 153.5 lbs
Promoter: Main Events
Doctors: Flip Homansky, James Game, Jeff Davidson, Margaret Goodman
Elsewhere;
On this day 15 April 2004 (Exactly 17 years ago today) Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, newly elected chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) was inducted into office to begin his three-year mandate.
The medical practitioner who won the position unopposed following the withdrawal of the other competitor, Dr Kofi Amoah , moments before the election, received the symbol of office from out gone chairman, Mr Benjamin Koufie at a short ceremony in Accra.
The ceremony to usher the new chairman into office took place at the annual GFA Congress in Accra and it was witnessed by stakeholders of soccer in the country. Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe who assumed office accepted the mantel and pledged his desire to work together with his team for the development of Ghana soccer.
On this day 15 April 2005 (Exactly 16 years ago today) An Accra High Court threw out a plea by relegated Great Olympics seeking an interim injunction restraining the commencement of the GT Ghana Premier League.
It was thrown out because the club refused to serve the Ghana Football Association (GFA) with the application in order to enter appearance.
Great Olympics were contesting their relegation on grounds that the previous season’s Zonal structured league was not national in character. An attempt by the club’s officials to present their case before Congress, the highest decision making body of the GFA for discussion failed as it was voted out.
The club said Congress erred by voting the case out because it did not form a quorum and therefore threatened a court action. Olympics and B. A. United were the bottom clubs in Zone B and A respectively and were automatically relegated.
On this day 15 April 1999 (Exactly 22 years ago today ) The Confederation of African Football (CAF) made a formal appeal to FIFA, and to the presidents of the five other soccer confederations, for the 2006 World Cup finals to be awarded to Africa.
“In the spirit of the principle of rotation, which saw the USA host the finals in 1994, Europe in 1998 and Asia to host the next finals in 2002, it is only fair that the 2006 finals go to Africa,”
CAF said in a statement. “For the 2002 edition, in a stand of solidarity and mutual respect, all the confederations backed Asia as a sole candidate to host the World Cup finals through the bids of Japan and Korea.
“Given that several African countries already fulfil the conditions required for the organisation of the World Cup it would be fair to have the 2006 edition held in Africa.”
On this day 15 April 1896 (Exactly 125 years ago today)The first Summer Olympic Games was closed in Athens, Greece.
Ten of the 14 participating nations earned medals, in addition to three medals won by mixed teams, i.e. teams made up of athletes from multiple nations. The IOC has retroactively assigned gold, silver and bronze medals to the three best placed athletes in each event to comport with more recent traditions.
The United States won the most gold medals* (11), while host nation Greece won the most medals overall (46) as well as the most silver* (17) and bronze* (19) medals, finishing with one fewer gold medal than the United States, having 155 athletes more than the US.
On this day 15 April 1989 (Exactly 32 years ago today) 96 crushed to death at Hillsborough Football Stadium, Sheffield England
This is how BBC reported it
Football fans crushed at Hillsborough
At least 93 football supporters have been killed in Britain’s worst-ever sporting disaster.
They were crushed to death at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield during the FA Cup semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
The crush is said to have resulted from too many Liverpool fans being allowed in to the back of an already full stand at the Leppings Lane end of the ground.
More than 2,000 Liverpool fans had still not got into the stadium when the match started at 1500.
A police spokesman said orders were given for the gate to the stand to be opened because they believed the pressure of fans outside the ground was “a danger to life”.
But as fans rushed in, those already there were pushed forward and crushed against the high, wired-topped safety fences.
However, it was more than five minutes into the match before what was happening became apparent to those not in the Leppings Lane stand.
Then, alerted by fans spilling through a narrow gap onto the pitch or being lifted by others into the seating areas above, a policeman ran onto the field and ordered the referee to stop the game.
Bodies
But improved security measures recently introduced at grounds to keep rival fans apart meant, for many, there was no escape from the crush.
Police and match officials attempted to help those trapped clamber over the safety barrier.
Bodies were lifted forward and laid out on the pitch – many of them teenagers and children.
Other injured fans were ferried to ambulances on stretchers improvised from crash barriers and advertising hoardings.
At least 200 people were injured, about 20 seriously.
Some fans have said bad ticket allocation contributed to the disaster.
Liverpool has far more supporters than Nottingham Forest but were given 6,000 fewer tickets and allocated the smaller Leppings Lane stand.
In Context
The previous worst sporting disaster was in 1971 when 66 fans were crushed to death during the Glasgow Derby in Scotland.
In 1985, 39 Italian fans were crushed to death at the Heysel ground in Belgium in 1985 after a wall collapsed during a stampede by Liverpool supporters.
A total of 96 fans died as a result of the Hillsborough disaster.
After a public inquiry, new safety measures were introduced at football grounds around Britain.
Relatives of the victims pressed for police officers in charge of safety at the Hillsborough ground to be prosecuted.
Finally in 2002 the two most senior officers were put on trial.
One was acquitted, charges against the other were dropped when the jury could not agree on a verdict.
BY: GEORGE ‘Alan Green’ MAHAMAH