Was Ike's fight with Tua the cause of his mental decline?

[PowerPuncher]

Steroid moodswings could have exasperated his mental decline

[salty trunks]

Originally Posted by Leftsmash

Confidence wise, I wouldn't doubt that but his mental well being was often brought into question especially after this match.

Ike was always a head case even in the gym but it started to get worse as the leaches starting pursuing him. He had fought with his sparring partner thinking the guy intentionally tried to cut him with his gloves. Ike would get completely outboxed and frustrated by Kirk Johnson as well. Ike was a poor boxer but a great fighter but he was improving very quickly and fighting and beating Byrd the way he did in his 20th pro fight was very impressive. That takes a lot of mental toughness to do what he did against Byrd too. Its far more frustrating and difficult to face someone you cant hit than someone like Tua.

Ike was making the turn into a great fighter, but I believe he needed medication to keep himself straight and balance his temper. I think his mental state started to decline quickly as he became more popular and had people bowing down to him and putting him on a pedastal. His sense of reality became warped quickly, even thinking he was royalty and people needed to bow to him before he got on a plance. The man was really going crazy and all the extra entitlement just made him go off the deep end, but I dont think it was related to steroids or fighting, he seemed calm, humble and disciplined in the ring but got more and bizarre outside of it.

[MrBumboclart]

Nope. Ike was on the slide (mentally) before the Tua fight. He was convinced he was a president of some country and had a mental breakdown a few nights before threatening to kill his mother and babbling on about demons. I think the more money and fame he got from the Tua fight only did him worse. However, even at 50% he still demolished (the then) best defensive heavyweight active, whom Klitschkos quit against. He hada LOT of potential, this should be his era, not the Klitschkos

[salty trunks]

Originally Posted by MrBumboclart

Nope. Ike was on the slide (mentally) before the Tua fight. He was convinced he was a president of some country and had a mental breakdown a few nights before threatening to kill his mother and babbling on about demons. I think the more money and fame he got from the Tua fight only did him worse. However, even at 50% he still demolished (the then) best defensive heavyweight active, whom Klitschkos quit against. He hada LOT of potential, this should be his era, not the Klitschkos

I agree with this. I was really getting depressed once Bowe, Tyson Holy and Lewis were on their way out and Ike just came out of the blue. He was this bigger version of Evander Holyfield. A big boxer puncher who had the size to compete with the physically bigger men. He showed he could face two of the most difficult styles in the division, but Curtis Cokes knew he was still a work in progress against those boxers. Cokes had Ibeabuchi and Kirk Johnson and those two sparred a lot and Ike struggled with him so Cokes needed more time with him. Its ashame what happened because Ike could have kept the division in the limelight for another few years.

[frankenfrank]

Originally Posted by salty trunks

Ike was always a head case even in the gym but it started to get worse as the leaches starting pursuing him. He had fought with his sparring partner thinking the guy intentionally tried to cut him with his gloves. Ike would get completely outboxed and frustrated by Kirk Johnson as well. Ike was a poor boxer but a great fighter but he was improving very quickly and fighting and beating Byrd the way he did in his 20th pro fight was very impressive. That takes a lot of mental toughness to do what he did against Byrd too. Its far more frustrating and difficult to face someone you cant hit than someone like Tua.

yes , cos tua was some1 whom not only wud not budge , but olso hit back like e trak

also trying 2 improve a gr8 fighter's boxing is trying 2 make him worse .
his style was a better style of fighting than "boxing" .
both commercially and professionally .

Originally Posted by salty trunks

Ike was making the turn into a great fighter, but I believe he needed medication to keep himself straight and balance his temper. I think his mental state started to decline quickly as he became more popular and had people bowing down to him and putting him on a pedastal. His sense of reality became warped quickly, even thinking he was royalty and people needed to bow to him before he got on a plance. The man was really going crazy and all the extra entitlement just made him go off the deep end, but I dont think it was related to steroids or fighting, he seemed calm, humble and disciplined in the ring but got more and bizarre outside of it.

Ike with his style was not built 2 last 4 long , hence no gr8ness awaited him , only early brain damage .
fighting tua like he did led only 2 it .

and i thought that he was called "d president" b/c he liked rapin

[MyName]

Somewhat off topic but anyway-Wasn't Ike suppose to have a paroled hearing this last may?What happened/I presume he didn't get out becvause we would have heard about it.

[salty trunks]

Yeah Im surprised they havent let him out. He hasnt had any problems in prison but they obviously think hes not mentally stable enough to go back into society. Not too long ago he was planning a big comeback and had signed with some promoter, but I guess he didnt get released. Not sure what the update on him is.

[salty trunks]

Found this, wow 39 years old now. I guess he didnt get paroled.



Former heavyweight contender Ike Ibeabuchi (20-0, 15 KO’s) will have his next parole date on May 1, 2012, after having previously been denied parole on three separate occasions in August 2004, August 2007 and February 2009 for the charge of attempted sexual assault.


Ibeabuchi has already been paroled on the first charge that he had on him – battery with intent to commit crime – back in 2001. However, the other charge has kept Ibeabuchi in prison for a very long stretch of time.
If Ibeabuchi is paroled in his next hearing in May 2012, he’ll 39-years-old and still young enough to continue his boxing career. To be sure, it might be tough for him to resume the dominance he had before going to prison given that he will have been out of the ring for 13 years since 1999.
But we’ve seen other powerful heavyweights like George Foreman comeback after a similar lengthy time away from the ring and find success at the same age that Ibeabuchi will be. He might have to lose some weight, as Ibeabuchi looked slightly overweight in the last photo I saw of him.
However, that shouldn’t be any problem for him because he’s got one of those physiques where he’s just naturally powerful. I think he could quickly become a factor in the heavyweight division if they release him early next year.
There’s talk that Ibeabuchi may be deported upon his release and sent back to Nigeria. However, he can still get back into training and resume his career fighting and traveling. In think he’d be perfect for Germany or maybe Canada. Both of those countries like to adopt fighters from other countries, and I think Ibeabuchi would be a good fit.
Ibeabuchi is remembered for his 5th round destruction of a prime Chris Byrd, as well as his war with David Tua in 1997 where Ibeabuchi stood in front of Tua for 12 rounds trading shot for shot and winning a 12 round decision.

[salty trunks]

Just read that Ike was denied parole and will be eligible again May 2013. I dont think he will ever get out. Also read they found roids in his car when he was arrested but I dont ever seeing that charge on his record.

[Rock0052]

Originally Posted by salty trunks

Just read that Ike was denied parole and will be eligible again May 2013. I dont think he will ever get out. Also read they found roids in his car when he was arrested but I dont ever seeing that charge on his record.

Not surprised at all on the roids - boxing was riddled with them by that point (had been for years) and Ike was one of the more obvious guys to spot.

As for whether or not the Tua fight caused his mental decline, yes and no. It absolutely sped it up, but the general decline was already happening due to boxing. I see this happen with NFL guys a lot- even if they've never officially been diagnosed with a concussion, years and years of being in the sport and the resulting head trauma leads to them having all sorts of mental problems; erratic behavior and wild mood swings are common symptoms. Lack of financial management and decreased decision making skills are others.

[NoNeck]

I don't think he fits the bill. I haven't heard of boxing related head trauma causing schizophrenia. And he was still fighting at his top level. Usually when a guy has impulse-control issues from head truama (like Riddick Bowe) , they're already shot to pieces.

[buster007]

Originally Posted by salty trunks

Just read that Ike was denied parole and will be eligible again May 2013. I dont think he will ever get out. Also read they found roids in his car when he was arrested but I dont ever seeing that charge on his record.

where did u read it?

[buster007]

just saw that barack obama has liked the facebook page 'free ike ibeabuchi'.

very interesting.

[divac]

There's no real evidence to prove that punches to the brain contributed to Ike's mental instability.

There is evidence to prove that David Tua was effected from Ike's blows.


We know that Tua was effected by the Ike fight in that he got more overall cautious in his approach to being the hunter during a fight.

Tua's fight with Lewis? You might as well have thrown a novice out from the streets who'd never put boxing gloves on in his life, and he'd have exchanged more blows with Lewis than Tua did!