Is Ike Ibeabuchi the biggest genetic freak in HW boxing history?

Ike may be the biggest freak indeed.

I had a word with one pro fighter who had the same manager as Ike, and he told me that they had trouble getting Ike in boxing gym to train, let alone weight lifting and steroids.
Apparently he was just a genetic freak.

 

Deontay Wilder is up there

 

An excerpt from a Mike Weaver interview.

"DH: Two points I was always curious about. The first was your massive upper-body. How much weight-training did you employ?

MW: None.

DH: Seriously?

MW: Just a product of good genes. My father was built the same way and so were all my brothers. I think it was Ken Norton who made a thing about it on television. He called me something like, ‘Hercules unchained’. And then Jimmy Lennon, Sr. got wind of it – and he would always have some nickname for a fighter – and he started introducing me as Mike ‘Hercules’ Weaver."

 

Foreman always impressed me in this regard in his first career.

He didn't lift weights, trained down to come in light and was still ripped and strong as hell. Liston as mentioned was freakish with his reach and fist size for his height and Carnera was a massive physical specimen despite his limitations as a fighter.

Agreed on Ibeabuchi though. The man was a built like a brick shithouse as we say in Australia.

 

He was promising.

 

Wlad is up there.

And actually, don't laugh, Tyson Fury is up there, too. No man that big should be able to move like that.

 

If I see someone from the Curtis Cokes training gym....I will ask them about Ike.

"Ike Ibeabuchi: The Greatest who never was"

He was billed to be one of the greatest heavy weight boxers of his generation. He said he took to boxing after watching journeyman James Douglas knock out the then invincible Mike Tyson in Tokyo in 1990. Before leaving Nigeria for the United States of America in 1993, he had in the amateur ranks twice defeated Duncan Dokiwari who would later win a bronze medal for Nigeria in the 1996 Olympics.

Ike Ibeabuchi, born September 21 1973, quickly took to boxing in the USA, where his mother, Patricia, had moved to in 1990, and was working as a registered nurse. He came under the tutelage and guidance of former world welterweight champion Curtis Cokes, who said of the young talent: “He was raw when he walked in my door, but each day you would have to teach him something new because he improved so fast. It was tough to keep up with him.” In 1994, just one year after arriving in the US, Ike won the Texas State Golden Gloves. He turned professional the same year with a second round knock-out of one Ismael Garcia on October 13.

After winning 16 straight fights against carefully selected opponents, mostly club fighters and journeymen, Ike got an opportunity to prove himself in the big league when he was squared against the Samoan hit-man David Tua, for the WBC International Heavy weight title on June 7, 1997. At that time, Tua who had a record of 27-O, was considered the ‘next big thing’ in boxing and a massive favourite to win the fight. The fight was nothing short of spectacular, with both men throwing bombs at each other without either taking a backward step throughout the duration of the fight. They ended up setting a world record of the highest number of punches thrown in a heavyweight fight after exchanging a combined 1,730 punches through the 12-rounds that the fight lasted. Ike also set an individual record of the highest number of punches thrown by a heavyweight: he threw 975 punches throughout the fight, averaging over 81 punches per round, against the average of 50 punches per round for heavyweights. The 6ft 2inches strongly built, extremely quick and power-punching Ike Ibeabuchi was declared the winner of the fight by a unanimous decision of 117-111, 116-113 and 115-114. Boxing enthusiasts can watch the highlights of the fight on Youtube (visit www.youtube.com, and search for Ike Ibeabuchi v David Tua). It is a fight that needs to be watched to appreciate Ibeabuchi’s potentials.

Ironically Ibeabuchi’s troubles started or deepened after the David Tua fight. Though Ike complained of a terrible headache after the fight, several tests in the hospital, including an MRI scan, found nothing wrong with him. But from then it was alleged that he began nursing feelings of being plagued by demons and occasionally acting it out. For instance it was reported that a couple of months after the Tua fight, he became depressed over a perceived snub in the WBC rankings.

https://thenews-chronicle.com/ike-ibeabuchi-the-greatest-who-never-was/

 

Good shout, but he was a genetic freak in strength only.
And check when 'roid's were invented let alone accessible-he was almost certainly natural.

 

How much of will power is genetic?

 

Great info, but do HW2 really average fifty punches thrown per round?
I do not think so, & certainly not big modern ones.

 

...genetic freaks hmmm
Marciano with his midget arms and height able to retire undefeated with a record KO percentage.
Tyson is a solid one being that quick and athletic at 5”10 220
Wilder being that lanky with so much power and speed.
And of course Two Ton Galento because if he wasn’t mentioned he’d murder da bum who forgot....
Oh and the ATG Jimmy Smith

 

Nikolai Valuev looked like he just stepped out of the books of Greek Mythology. If he had only one eye he would be a dead ringer of the legendary Cyclops.

 

That's a philosophy essay question.

 

I think the biggest genetic freak was Duncan Dokiwari, he looked unbelievable.

 

He was yoked and not an ounce of fat. Good genetics for the mirror, not so good for inside the ring.