BoxRec

Tony Ayala or Ike Ibeabuchi ?

For what? Doing a life sentence? Or tending to "laundry duties" at the pen?

Here's a clue. It was the highest paying job either of them ever had.

Ike.

I think they both had potential but Tony probably showed us all he had.

BoxBuzz wrote:For what? Doing a life sentence? Or tending to "laundry duties" at the pen?

I lol'd

BoxBuzz wrote:For what? Doing a life sentence? Or tending to "laundry duties" at the pen?

Ezzard wrote:Ike.

I think they both had potential but Tony probably showed us all he had.

Agreed.

I think they were both right around the corner from decisive losses when they went away.

I think Ike had tremendous potential, especially with his jab. Physically the guy had it all. Rock solid chin, power, stamina, but obviously like Ayala, through it all away, but before I end up antagonizing half the forum with speculation about how good Ike could have been, I'll leave it at, through 20 bouts he was already ahead of several big name HW's.

We will never know. I do think people get a little too excited with Ibeabuchi; He only had two fights against decent opponents. Ayala had some talent but again it's all speculation how they would have reacted against major opponents. They only have themselves to blame.

Ambling Alp II wrote:We will never know. I do think people get a little too excited with Ibeabuchi; He only had two fights against decent opponents. Ayala had some talent but again it's all speculation how they would have reacted against major opponents. They only have themselves to blame.

Ike always could've landed a bomb on Lewis. Ayala would've been torn to shreds by Hagler, Duran, Hearns, etc.

Seamus wrote:Tony Ayala or Ike Ibeabuchi ?

Ike who?

I always thought Tony was extremely overrated. What did he do as a pro to get so much praise?.

Probably Ike.Tony would've faced his comeuppance had he fought Davey Moore, or Wilfred Benitez.Him and Duran would be an helluva streetfight, however.

Nile4000 wrote:Probably Ike.Tony would've faced his comeuppance had he fought Davey Moore, or Wilfred Benitez.Him and Duran would be an helluva streetfight, however.

Duran would have taken him apart

spudder56 wrote:

Nile4000 wrote:Probably Ike.Tony would've faced his comeuppance had he fought Davey Moore, or Wilfred Benitez.Him and Duran would be an helluva streetfight, however.

Duran would have taken him apart

Yep.

Il Duce wrote:I LIKE IKE,,,,,,,,

Tony 'El Torito' Ayala was 'well protected', and had not been tested against any Top World Class 'fighter'.
He may have won a Light-Middleweight Championship, but there were quite a few very good 154 lb. fighters
on the horizon that were just as good as 'El Torito'.

Maybe he'd have won the IBF title, but he wouldn't have beaten Hearns, Duran or McCallum.

Seamus wrote:I think Ike had tremendous potential, especially with his jab. Physically the guy had it all. Rock solid chin, power, stamina, but obviously like Ayala, through it all away, but before I end up antagonizing half the forum with speculation about how good Ike could have been, I'll leave it at, through 20 bouts he was already ahead of several big name HW's.

This is a thread about potential, mate. I think we can discuss what might have been without others thinking we're saying it was writen in stone.

Ike could easily have been champion. I don't see a long reign because he was always nuts.

Rover wrote:

Ambling Alp II wrote:We will never know. I do think people get a little too excited with Ibeabuchi; He only had two fights against decent opponents. Ayala had some talent but again it's all speculation how they would have reacted against major opponents. They only have themselves to blame.

Ike always could've landed a bomb on Lewis. Ayala would've been torn to shreds by Hagler, Duran, Hearns, etc.

That's how I see it.

Ike was well on his way to being the 2nd best HW in the world.

Ayala would have been a lot of fun in those fights though...

Ike is extremely over-rated. Ayala was definitely the superior boxer.

Ike showed very good conditioning and durability vs Tua, but he basically got hit way too much by a Tua who soon-after was soundly outboxed by Rahman (some think the shots he took in that fight contributed to his f'up mental state, who knows . . .). I also thought he was losing vs Byrd until he got the KO. Ike had power but wasn't a huge one-shot artist (just watch his fights with journeyman opponents) he had slow plodding feet, and wasn't a skilled counterer. Lewis would've outboxed him but it may have been interesting. Rahman-Ike would've been a war.

I had Ike up 3-1 when he ko'd Byrd. And in his fights with Herman Delgado and Everton Davis, it was pretty obvious he just wanted to get some rds in. He obviously took his foot off the pedal after flooring Davis in the first and then just casually took Delgado out with a couple bodyshots.

Ibeauchi is overrated, had he reached and stayed at the top level of the Heavyweight division, I'm pretty sure he would have been found out and lost his unbeaten record.

He may have lost his unbeaten record, which should be normal in a competitive era of a competitive weight division of an active fighter who fights all those put in front of him, but he probably would have held one or all of the major straps a couple of times in his career, at heavy weight! I think that, due to that, he would have been the more successful fighter.