Ike Ibeabuchi vs. Lennox lewis

[dizneyfist]

I think this fight is tough but lewis at his prime w/ steward i think..........loses by KO in 5. Ike Ibeabuchi was the f'n man and no way was Lewis gonna stop this bulldozer. He got locked up b/c he refused to be part of Don King's stable and I believe disrespected Don in the process. so Don did what does best and set him up the same way he set up Tyson. And now Don made history dissappear and help further tarnish the integrity of the sport. Thank you Don.

[TerribleTim2]

I think this fight is tough but lewis at his prime w/ steward i think..........loses by KO in 5. Ike Ibeabuchi was the f'n man and no way was Lewis gonna stop this bulldozer. He got locked up b/c he refused to be part of Don King's stable and I believe disrespected Don in the process. so Don did what does best and set him up the same way he set up Tyson. And now Don made history dissappear and help further tarnish the integrity of the sport. Thank you Don.

Are you referring to the time he was locked up for kidnapping that kid or the time he was arrested for raping that girl(s)?

[Rng Anncr]

Ike KO 1...

Danny Williams (today) beats a "prime" Lewis...

Just like Rahman and McCall...

[Predator13]

I think this fight is tough but lewis at his prime w/ steward i think..........loses by KO in 5. Ike Ibeabuchi was the f'n man and no way was Lewis gonna stop this bulldozer. He got locked up b/c he refused to be part of Don King's stable and I believe disrespected Don in the process. so Don did what does best and set him up the same way he set up Tyson. And now Don made history dissappear and help further tarnish the integrity of the sport. Thank you Don.

I was under the impression that Ike was crazy but it was really Don Kings fault, give me a break. The guy is a convicted rapist.

[generic screen name]

Not even King is that diabolical.

[Autobarn]

Ike is no longer around because he is a head case. if he can't cut it in life how could he continue to do so in the ring? look how many ppl lost their cool - and even their mind - vs the massive, physically intimidating Lewis. MCcall, Golota. Tyson at that presser. Even Holyfield had to lose himself in a "I'll easily KO him in three" fantasy after Lewis riled him, 'The Real Deal' ending up totally deflated from not coring the KO and fading miserably out of the fight.

Ike was an awesome specimen. But let's not forget, not everyone believes he even beat Tua. So what is his reputation really based on? Breaking punch stat #s vs Tua or the fact that he TKO'd Chris Byrd. Very good accomplishments. Bu tlet's not go overboard. That's two fights only.

Let's give Lewis the credit for the things he did. He overcame cumbersome technique and two bad KO losses to go after everyone who ducked him, develop a calculating and intelligent approach to combat, & beat every guy he faced. He had the discipline and control that was absent from Ibeabuchi, so I don't see the reason for these Ike fantasies. Don't give the guy credit for things that he didn't do.

(...always amused me, Tommy hearns never seems to get much stick for his vulnerability, this vulnerability seems to enhance his 'humanness' & make him more popular; but with lewis, dropped by two flush heavyweight shots, it's often used as ammunition to mock him...)

There are flaws in Ibeabuchi anyways. I question his ability to adapt to situations. I mean, he let the shorter, harder hitting Tua on the inside. Yes he showed awesome durability and stamina, but Tua gave him life & death & Ike neglected that jab.

In all, Ike was potentially great. But that means nothing if you can't even go about your life without all the abuse, kidnapping, weirdness, violence that get you locked away.

[AndreWardFan2006]

The trouble is we never knew just how good Ibeabuchi was. He proved he had no trouble imposing himself on a fighter when he fought Byrd.

His chin was labeled granite after the Tua fight. I think the fight would depend on what kind of Lewis showed up.

If he came out like he did when he fought Golota then Ibeabuchi would have been tested. If Ike could take it, then Lewis would have been destroyed. If Lewis used his jab technique and stayed away from Ike, then it would depend on whether Ike could get to him or not. I have a feeling Ike would have the chance to knock Lewis out because if he could hit Byrd, he’d have hit Lewis for sure...


~A.W.F~

[CrunchTime]

I think this fight is tough but lewis at his prime w/ steward i think..........loses by KO in 5. Ike Ibeabuchi was the f'n man and no way was Lewis gonna stop this bulldozer. He got locked up b/c he refused to be part of Don King's stable and I believe disrespected Don in the process. so Don did what does best and set him up the same way he set up Tyson. And now Don made history dissappear and help further tarnish the integrity of the sport. Thank you Don.

You raise a legitimate possibility of Ibeabuchi defeating Lewis, then you go completely off the deep end with this King conspiracy nonsense!! After you going conspiracy kook on the latter half, I am almost embarrassed to agree with you that a prime Ike would beat a Prime Lennox---but I guess it's possible that you are only half insane, so I will agree on the first point!!

[nickd]

Who is Ike Ibeabuchi?

[Roars Like Me]

Lewis mugs The president over the distance.
It'll be a re-run of the Tua fight for Lewis.
In fact didn't Ike and Tua draw? Nuff said.

[shoutout]

Lewis mugs The president over the distance.
It'll be a re-run of the Tua fight for Lewis.
In fact didn't Ike and Tua draw? Nuff said.

your memory failed you there, amigo!! actually ike won a competitive but CLEARCUT UNANIMOUS decision over tua in 1997, when tua was a much better conditioned fighter than he was from late 1990s on, after he INEXPLICABLY added about 20 pounds and became even more one-dimensional than he was before the extra weight. remember tua fought at 200 pounds in 1992 olympics and moving up to 220-225 as young pro gave him a solid mix of punching power and stamina...both he and ibeabuchi threw OVER 1,000 PUNCHES EACH in their 1997 war!! ibeabuchi alternated between outboxing tua from the outside and GOING TOE-TO-TOE in the trenches with tua...something nobody has done before or since!!

after adding the extra 20-25 pounds towards end of 1990s, his stamina and punch output dropped significantly without a corresponding increase in punching power! his best wins (KO1=ruiz, late KOs of maskaev, izon & rahman) ALL came in mid-1990s before his conditioning deteriorated...he never beat anyone of their caliber after putting on the extra weight. i'm not saying he would have beaten lewis even in his 1995-98 prime, but he wouldnt have been so thoroughly HUMILIATED like he was as a butterball...

[shoutout]

Lewis mugs The president over the distance.
It'll be a re-run of the Tua fight for Lewis.
In fact didn't Ike and Tua draw? Nuff said.

your memory failed you there, amigo!! actually ike won a competitive but CLEARCUT UNANIMOUS decision over tua in 1997, when tua was a much better conditioned fighter than he was from late 1990s on, after he INEXPLICABLY added about 20 pounds and became even more one-dimensional than he was before the extra weight. remember tua fought at 200 pounds in 1992 olympics and moving up to 220-225 as young pro gave him a solid mix of punching power and stamina...both he and ibeabuchi threw OVER 1,000 PUNCHES EACH in their 1997 war!! ibeabuchi alternated between outboxing tua from the outside and GOING TOE-TO-TOE in the trenches with tua...something nobody has done before or since!!

after adding the extra 20-25 pounds towards end of 1990s, his stamina and punch output dropped significantly without a corresponding increase in punching power! his best wins (KO1=ruiz, late KOs of maskaev, izon & rahman) ALL came in mid-1990s before his conditioning deteriorated...he never beat anyone of their caliber after putting on the extra weight. i'm not saying he would have beaten lewis even in his 1995-98 prime, but he wouldnt have been so thoroughly HUMILIATED like he was as a butterball...

ibeabuchi hit harder than either oliver mccall or hasim rahman and was a better boxer than either...in his prime i would give him at least a 50/50 chance vs a prime lewis!! had he not been derailed by his own madness but instead stayed around and continued to develop i would think he would have eventually been a solid favorite over lennox...

[nickd]

Clearcut my ass, it was a close fight and could have gone either way. No way was it clearcut in either direction. A lot of people had Tua winning.

[Autobarn]

Ibeabuchi scraped by against Tua by the skin of his teeth.

But I'll give him this, not many ppl wanted to fight him.

He could've given Lewis one hell of a fight. He survived the inside war with Tua. cut down the slick Byrd. but we don't know how he would've fared vs a 'super heavyweight' who actually knew what he was doing in the ring.

[sockdolager]

any clips of Ike on the net? I cant find any in youtube so im looking for answers else where. Ive only seen one of his fights and that was a while back, I want to see what all of the fuss is about.

[gregor]

(...always amused me, Tommy hearns never seems to get much stick for his vulnerability, this vulnerability seems to enhance his 'humanness' & make him more popular; but with lewis, dropped by two flush heavyweight shots, it's often used as ammunition to mock him...)

Getting KO'd after three action-packed rounds with one of ATG's (Hagler) is definitely something different than being floored only due to being overweight and out of shape by B-level opponent who was supposed to be just a "piece of meat" (Rahman).

[Autobarn]

(...always amused me, Tommy hearns never seems to get much stick for his vulnerability, this vulnerability seems to enhance his 'humanness' & make him more popular; but with lewis, dropped by two flush heavyweight shots, it's often used as ammunition to mock him...)

Getting KO'd after three action-packed rounds with one of ATG's (Hagler) is definitely something different than being floored only due to being overweight and out of shape by B-level opponent who was supposed to be just a "piece of meat" (Rahman).

& what's the excuse for decapitation by 3 Barkley, who wasn't even a top 5 middle? not to mention all the little incidents, like the near panic attack when he couldn't KO Mark Medal in 3 rds, the beating from Kinchen, getting dropped by Andries (who'd been down several times) - when Andries was stopped, Hearns was done a favour.

Rahman hit a badly out of shape Lewis with all his weight, bang on the chin. It can happen & was a massive shot.

[Roars Like Me]

Lewis mugs The president over the distance.
It'll be a re-run of the Tua fight for Lewis.
In fact didn't Ike and Tua draw? Nuff said.

your memory failed you there, amigo!! actually ike won a competitive but CLEARCUT UNANIMOUS decision over tua in 1997, when tua was a much better conditioned fighter than he was from late 1990s on, after he INEXPLICABLY added about 20 pounds and became even more one-dimensional than he was before the extra weight. remember tua fought at 200 pounds in 1992 olympics and moving up to 220-225 as young pro gave him a solid mix of punching power and stamina...both he and ibeabuchi threw OVER 1,000 PUNCHES EACH in their 1997 war!! ibeabuchi alternated between outboxing tua from the outside and GOING TOE-TO-TOE in the trenches with tua...something nobody has done before or since!!

after adding the extra 20-25 pounds towards end of 1990s, his stamina and punch output dropped significantly without a corresponding increase in punching power! his best wins (KO1=ruiz, late KOs of maskaev, izon & rahman) ALL came in mid-1990s before his conditioning deteriorated...he never beat anyone of their caliber after putting on the extra weight. i'm not saying he would have beaten lewis even in his 1995-98 prime, but he wouldnt have been so thoroughly HUMILIATED like he was as a butterball...

It seems it has I do remember it being very close however.
Granted Tua was fitter and threw a lot more. I still think Lewis would outbox him and we know he wouldn't get into trench warfare with Ike. Granted it would be a good fight but I still think LL would prevail.

[ferocity]

A focused and properly trained Lewis KO's Ikabuchi.

[gregor]

& what's the excuse for decapitation by 3 Barkley, who wasn't even a top 5 middle? not to mention all the little incidents, like the near panic attack when he couldn't KO Mark Medal in 3 rds, the beating from Kinchen, getting dropped by Andries (who'd been down several times) - when Andries was stopped, Hearns was done a favour.

Rahman hit a badly out of shape Lewis with all his weight, bang on the chin. It can happen & was a massive shot.

We should also include all the "little incidents" of Lewis to be fair. Being almost floored by Briggs and having a fight mercifully stopped (Vitali, when Lewis he was almost done in some moments) doesn't look good either.

Still, I can agree (although you didn't put it directly) that a lot of the difference is due to their personalities. Lewis was simply arrogant, so when he lost it was difficult to feel sorry for him. If you saw his interviews after Rahman fight (he also has "stolen" his belt after rematch)it really looks his loses din't make him any more "human".

[Flump]

Ike KO 1...

Danny Williams (today) beats a "prime" Lewis...

Just like Rahman and McCall...

Hmm. Interesting...

[Baby Face Finster]

I think Ike would have beaten Lewis. Lewis seemed to get rocked and/or tired in all his fights. I think Ike had the chin, stamina and power end the fight between the 7th to 10th round had they fought.

[JAHamilton77]

I think this fight is tough but lewis at his prime w/ steward i think..........loses by KO in 5. Ike Ibeabuchi was the f'n man and no way was Lewis gonna stop this bulldozer. He got locked up b/c he refused to be part of Don King's stable and I believe disrespected Don in the process. so Don did what does best and set him up the same way he set up Tyson. And now Don made history dissappear and help further tarnish the integrity of the sport. Thank you Don.

Dude Ike is scum. He did what he was convicted of I have no doubt. Pile on top of that, the fact that he could have gotten out in a relatively short amount of time, but since he has been in prison he has started multiple fights and been caught with drugs several times. He is totally unstable and cant keep himself straight.

[billythekid]

I wish all threads and topics of Ike were BANNED. I am so sick and tired of people talking about this guy as if he was some sort of god. He barely beat Tua who was shutout by Lewis that should at least tell you something.

[Baby Face Finster]

That was a far different Tua. The Tua that fought Ibeabuchi was the best version of Tua we ever saw.