Ibeabuchi by KO in 5 rounds or less. He could take Morrison's punches, but the reverse wouldn't be true.
Yep and he wouldn't be able to go 12 outboxing Ike like he did plodding George. Might be exciting back and forth for a while or might be one-sided, but Ibeabuchi is the winner every time.
You need to give Ibeabuchi more credit. He was a good heavyweight, and although he lacks the resume to qualify him as a great fighter, the significance of the skills, durability, timing, combination punching and stamina on display against both Tua and Byrd should not be underestimated. He was more than 250 pounds, hard-punching, and with the timing to make Byrd zag when he needed to zig. He was one of those rare heavyweights who fought with the energy and the coordination of a middleweight. There's no fewer than 20 heavyweights that many on this board consider solid contenders who I think the case could be made easily Ibebabuchi would've beaten. Some of these are more debatable than others, but at least half of them I think are no-brainers. If we can agree on that, then I think we can agree when it comes to Ibeabuchi, we're talking about a very capable fighter who could've been a major force in the heavyweight division, had it not been for his mental deterioration: Micheal Moorer Earnie Shavers Micheal Spinks Frank Bruno Carl Williams Tony Tucker Ron Lyle Mike Weaver Pinklon Thomas Floyd Patterson Tim Witherspoon Razor Ruddock George Chuvalo Jerry Quarry Bert Cooper Ezzard Charles Ray Mercer Tommy Morrison Oscar Bonavena Tyrell Biggs
I have to agree with the spirit of Double L's post: Ike proved his talent in the fights with Tua and Byrd. He proved power, chin, speed, stamina and skills. Hate him all you want but if he was a fruad at least one of those two would have beaten him
great action for a few rounds but it comes down to who has a better beard, and that would be Ibeabuchi
There's no doubt that Ike was a good fighter, but that's all he proved before getting himself in trouble. But he did prove he took a better shot than Morrison, and that would be the difference in this one. But it wouldn't be easy...Ike by TKO around round 6.
It's a shame boochi was such a nutjob. He was pretty legit. Going toe to toe on even terms with a tank like Tua is no small feat, and neither is destroying Byrd. Shame we didn't get to see him against more legit heavies.
Agreed...I mean neither Byrd or Tua were all that but the way the way Ike beat them spreads him way across the spectrum in terms of what you expect he could deal with. There's allot to say for versatility. The hype of him being the 2nd coming obviously pisses some people off, but he would have been up there with the Klits in the wave succeeding Lewis, i think. If he hadn't been crazy as a Priest's pecker.
Always stands out to me the way people rubbish Byrd & Tua routinely, yet use Ibeabuchi's victories over them as explanation for his standing as the Second Coming. Ibebauchi...I just can't. The guy is so ludicrously, unreasonably, insanely over-rated.
Nobody is saying Tua and Byrd are great heavyweights, they're not. It wasn't the winning, it was the manner of victory. He was the first person to just destroy Byrd and get the better of him with relative ease, and he stood toe to toe with Tua and gave as good as he got, rather than running from him like Lewis, which is obviously the wise thing to do against a tank like Tua.
Point out some of this ubiquitous, ludicrous 'overrating', please. Where is it? You're lancing ghosts, mate.
They were both B class, because they were both one trick ponies. Byrd's trick was his elusiveness, Tua's was his power. Ike beat both guys by taking their best attribute head on and mastering their trick. That's why two B class opponents in combination and given the manner of his approach to each make them a little more interesting.
Ike was better than your Rahman, Tua, Byrd, Ruiz level fighters. Beyond that we don't know, but I think he would have been a worthy contemporary for the Klitschko's through the latter part of the naughties and probably a challenging opponent for Lewis. 'the 2nd coming'?
It's on forums everywhere, & has been since his incarceration. His record is just stupifyingly thin on the ground for someone so well-remembered. He just flat cannot justify being talked about as a, "What If?" of real substance with a ledger like his. Scraping past Tua on points is a good effort for a fighter who was 15 or 16-0, but it hardly leaves a legacy like this guy has. Like I say, it's a Blue Moon when people start talking up Tua & Byrd --- except in the case of promoting Ibeabuchi. Really, I suppose I can't blame them --- though not especially impressive fighters, those two are just streets upon streets ahead of the rest of Ibeabuchi's competition. If you notice my posts, I have never expressly attacked Ibeabuchi, the way I won't expressly attack Duran in the other thread --- I am taking aim at the hyperbole, which is what I see it as. The minute he ran into Lewis he would just have been another contender.
I agree with hut, mws, et al's posts in this thread, and I've expounded on this at length in other threads. That's possibly true, but the same could be said for a lot of very good to great heavyweights. Lewis was ATG material.
Ibeabuchi did nothing to realistically suggest it would take a Lewis to defeat him. The man is all romance. It is no great achievement to be hypothetically touted as better than the Rahmans and Ruizs of the world. These were awful fighters.
Ibeabuchi displayed Tyson-esque traits outside of the ring, its likely he would have displayed them soon enough inside the ring. I think a guy like Lewis or Vitali would have embarrassed him into quitting one way or the other. He looked great when things were going his way. It is a trait of boxing that fighters who die young or are incarcerated in their prime are invariably made out to be better than they really were. I believe potential should be recognized but it should not be confused with or confused as actual achievement. Salvador Sanchez, Tony Ayala, Ike Ibeabuchi, Edwin Valero....all guys who got bumped up the ATG list by dint of dying, or going to jail, or in Valeros case, dying in jail, or Ayalas case, dying to get back into jail.
