Lets face it, these heavyweight match ups usually go down well. Main Event 12 rounds vs Cheif undercard fight 10 Rounds vs 1992 Riddick Bowe (235lb) vs 2008 Wladimir Klitschko (239lb) 1993 Michael Moorer (216lb) vs 1998 Ike Ibeabuchi (236lb) Picks? What happens here?
Well let's deal with the easy one first: Ike KO 2 Chinny Moorer For the main event... if it wasn't for Wlad's unreliable chin I'd pick him by eventual KO. I think Wlad has the ability to KO virtually any Heavyweight in history: he's an offensive powerhouse. However Considering that his chin often lets him down you have to believe that bowe will check that china chin sooner rather than later...even if he gets hurt first. Bowe was a great finisher...if he hurt Wlad..game over. therefore.. Bowe TKO 5
I'd take Moorer to outbox Ike over 10, though probably getting off the canvas in the 7th or so to do it. 97-92. Bowe knocks out Wlad in 2, in a brawl which is very two sided for about 2 minutes before Bowe starts fucking Wlad's world.
Yea I can't see any way Wlad stops Bowe getting to him eventually. Vitali would have been a better main event, although I imagine that MM has been done to death. Moorer Vs Ike is hard to call, as cdogg said in the Moorer Vs Jones thread, Ibeabuchis reputation is based mainly on potential, although he has some decent wins, where as Moorer although no great shakes at heavy, proved he could hang with some very good fighters. Gimme Moorer on points.
Ike may not have done much...but stopping Byrd and going toe to toe with Tua for 12 rounds is far more impressive than anything Moorer had done at heavyweight. People say that IKE was overrated...but seem to forget that a "prime" Moorer was motherfuckingly knocked out by a 45 year old fat slow Foreman. Holyfield also bounced him up and down off teh canvas like a basketball in the rematch and in the first Holy fight..Holy was fighting off an injury. Ike would KILL Moorer. NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!
I would say a win over Holyfield is a much better win than a DEBATABLE decision over Tua, regardless of "injury".
Moorer has become underrated, but in here styles won't suit him at all. A big, seemingly good-chinned guy with a big punch that walks forwards: chances are that eventually Ike finds him and chops him out. I'd make Bowe the slight favorite over Wlad. Wlad is overall the better fighter but styles are in favor of Bowe: he had the reach, speed and power to really give Wlad trouble. Bowe was easy to hit though so it could turn either way, but I think Bowe just could hurt him more
Ibeabuchi didn't go close to accomplishing what Moorer did at Heavyweight. Ibeabuchi accomplished very little, in fact. In the scope of a real career, Ibeabuchi's victories over Tua & Byrd would be considered stepping stones en route to to the real achievements, the meat & potatoes, of an accomplished career. The fact these wins actually stand as the jewel in his crown speaks volumes. Ibeabuchi is a horribly over-estimated fighter, who achieved next to nothing in real terms, & whose imagined abilities far exceed anything he ever proved.
That is true, but styles mean more than anything in here. Ike would never outbox Holyfield, but Moorer never slugged for 12 rounds with Tua.
Moorer did nothing. He beat an injured Holyfield and even then he was knocked down and only escaped with a majority decision. Evander chopped him down easily in teh rematch. Moorer had previously went life and death with hapless bert Cooper and then got KOed by the old man who was king in the early SEVENTIES. Ibeabuchi would be too much for him no doubt. David Tua would have beaten Moorer every day of the week also. moorer simply couldn't take a heavyweight punch.
As good as Moorer's IMO. But it's not accomplishments that matter here..it's the two fighters. I would bet my house on Ike winning this.
Like I said, Ibeabuchi's, "big wins" were nothing more than stepping-stone victories for most fighters who have an equal rep. What you achieved is the single best indicator of head-to-head match-ups, in the end. Ibeabuchi showed some promise which he never delivered on. His twenty fights aren't close to what Moorer achieved at the weight, & I don't see anything in his so-called, "crowning moments" which make me worry for Moorer. He got off the deck five times against Holyfield, & fought back from certain defeat against Cooper. I wouldn't be surprised if Ibeabuchi went the way of Golota against Bowe if --- if --- he put Moorer in such a position. I don't think he does. He's got to be the single most over-estimated Heavyweight of his time.
Moorer himself had "only" a bit over 30 fights in heavyweight. Even though you can call Byrd and Tua as stepping stone victories, apart from Holyfield Moorer never beat heavyweights as good as those two - his two next best opponents were Botha and Schultz. So yes, Moorer did achieve more than Ike but it is not like they were in entirely different league on that regard, and stylistically it is indeed a horrible fight for Moorer
I guess for me the bottom line remains Moorer proved his mettle as a fighter against Holyfield --- a single better win than any of Ibeabuchi's --- & proved his mettle as a tougher-than-expected guy in some difficult moments, while Ibeabuchi impressed me without ever truly proving anything he hinted at.
I respect your opinions bro. I think you're a great poster and an asset to this site. Certainly the best poster who frequents the MM forum. but that aside... Moorer had no chin. He's the most vulnerable heavyweight champion in recent memory. He was truly just a blown up Light heavyweight. How on earth was he going to survive 12 rounds with ibeabuchi? Think about it. Ike..may have been unproven...but the Tua fight DID PROVE that he had a chin and he had stamina. People had overrated him..but now you are underrating him if you think he'd lose to a guy like Moorer.
Actually, I have to amend my pick, Ike knocks Moorer out. Moorer doesn't move enough and has too much of a tendency to trade, and that doesn't end well for him. I pictured his having the discipline he showed early in the Foreman fight, but after watching him against Cooper again, who was much more similar in style to Ike, I have to switch my pick to Ibeabuchi KO 3. :/
I would like to see how Ibeabuchi went against Foreman. I would not be surprised if this supposedly-invincible, "What might have been" were exposed badly. Just another Andrew Golota, who didn't stick around long enough to prove what Golota did of himself.
In fairness after the 10 rounds of bombs he took from Tua I don't think his physical toughness is in issue. That he took ten rounds of bombs from a guy David Izon outboxed for 11 raises other questions though.
He didn't try to outbox tua. He went toe to toe with him. But a Moorer/Ike fight wouldn't be about who can outbox whom? Ike would force the firefight (Like Bert Copper did) and Moorer would be toast
wow umm Wlad TKO in 7. Sorry guys Bowe seems to be gettin overrated here lately, he was a very good heavyweight don't get me wrong, but Wlad is ALL wrong for him. And Ike - Moorer is a pickem.
Yes, Bowe dealt so easily with the Klitschko-Clone, Golota.:boohoo: Wlad has the same jab, better hook, better right and better legs....but Bowe just takes him out in 2. :bangh::bangh: If Wlad can get up from knockdowns vs Sanders and Peters...his chin gives him AT LEAST a fighting chance. I mean, Riddick didn't like being outjabbed. If you could set your jab up vs Riddick, you could set a whole load up more, and Riddick didn't like taking his own shot. I would still fancy Riddick to win.....but not until he got the better of Wlad in around 8 rounds or so.
Well, Ike is definately over-rated by some, but he was a very high volume puncer with an excellent chin & good power. I would definately pick him to stop Moorer. And yeah, Bowe stops Wlad. Too big, too much power
More a case of him being "as big, as powerful"... I still say that if Wlad was being coached by Manny, that Wlad could stink it, lock the fight down and last well into the later rounds. Bowe just did not like jabs that were as big as his own or bigger. I think it is definitely a case of Bower taking advantage of a tiring Wlad rather than Bowe just getting in there and throwing down in 2 rounds. Remember, if Wlad hit Bowe with a flush right, Bowe might well spend the next minute or so recovering, during which time Wlad would be catching his own breath. No doubt in my mind that Wlad could draw this one out....
I wondered if somebody would pick me up on that as I hit "submit" with my answer. I almost edited, but didn't have time. When I said "Too Big/ powerful" I meant "too big/ powerful for Wlad's own size/ power to be the advantage it usually is" If either caught the other with a great shot that could be the fight right there, however: I think they both had relatively suspect chins but Bowe's was better. Both had great power, but Bowe put his shots together better. And as I said, Wlad's ace is his size which against Bowe wouldn't be much of a factor, I also think Wlad's defense is his size, other than that, it's poor, so he has less of a chance of recovering from getting caught from Bowe than vice-versa, & like you kinda said, Bowe would make Wlad fight more than he usually has to, so I think that it's unlikely that he could win via stink.
