Ike Ibeabuchi gets a lot of hype with people saying he would've been great if he didn’t go to prison. But truthfully he had some major flaws. His defense wasn’t great and he led with his head too much. If he’d stuck around he probably would’ve run into guys like Lewis or the Klitschkos and they would've picked him apart. The myth around him doesn’t match the reality. He’s Hurricane Carter 2.0.
Ike would have lost to Lewis, but i have no doubt whatsoever that he stops Wlad in circa 99-00. It's less clear if he beats Vitali, but he sure as Hell would have had better odds versus Vitali than Lewis.
Yeah, I think most of us felt Tua won, myself included. I've never seen more than maybe a handful of people who felt Ike won.
Ike really fucked up, because he came around at the PERFECT time to succeed. Ike started peaking in 99, by that time: Tyson & Holy were both close to washed up. Bowe was long gone. Lewis would retire only 3 years later. Tua became fat. Grant was a fraud. Both Klits were pre-prime. Ike could have done very well. He didn't have to go through murder's row to reach the top. Even if he lost to Lewis, he could have rebounded and become #1 in the division following Lewis' retirement. Instead, that title went to Vitali.
