Expert: Lian Shoemake - 1/25/2005

Question
how good do you think Ike Ibeabuchi was? and how good do you think he could have been? do you think he was the real deal, or do you think he is just living off his two wins against tua and byrd? and how do you think he would have fared against someone like lennox lewis? Kind regards

Answer
Hi Paul,

Thanks for the question.

I thought Ike Ibeabuchi was close to being the best heavyweight in the world before he was sentenced to jail time. Consider that both David Tua and Chris Byrd were undefeated when Ike beat them. Furthermore, he was able to essentially go toe-to-toe for 12 grueling rounds with a brutal puncher like Tua, and come out on top. That fight showed Ibeabuchi's stamina, chin, heart and will to win, all extremely desirable qualities in a heavyweight. The win over Byrd (then in his prime) demonstrated Ike's formidable power, patience and versatlity. He did a brilliant job of setting the slick Byrd up for the crushing knockout blow, without getting frustrated by Byrd's difficult style.
He only had in the neighborhood of 20 bouts, so I think it's safe to assume he would continue to improve. Given that, I would have picked him to beat Lewis, in a fight somewhat similar to Lewis's war with Ray Mercer, only Ike had better hand speed, power and a higher punch output than Mercer.
That probably would have spelled a stoppage loss for Lewis, since Ike proved he has a world-class chin against Tua.

It's a shame that Ike's behavior caused this all to be speculation, because I felt that he was truly something special  -  in the ring!

Thanks for the question, Paul.

Regards,

Lian