Is Lennox lucky that Ike Ibeabuchi wound up in prison?

Maybe.

Lewis looked "ordinary" a bunch of times back then, got KO'ed by Rahman & McCall, neither had what Ike had.

Fantastic work rate and output
Fantastic chin
Massive power

You don't stand toe to to with a prime David Tua if you don't have a chin and the power to back him up.

Ike could have beaten Lewis.

 

No , but the Klitschko's were.

 

I'll agree with Workrate and Output but
McCall's chin > Ike's
Rahman's power > Ike's

 

Why? Vitali at his peak would toy with Ike.
Wlad would be lucky to escape in the late rounds but he'd be a slight favourite in my eyes.

 

Ike's chin was awesome, period.

Tua in the 90's would absolutely SHATTER your chin if it wasn't good enough to withstand the bombs. Ike's was.

Rahamn, in now way, shape or form, punched harder than Tua in his prime.

 

I didn't say that

I didn't say Ike had a bad chin, I said it wasn't as good as McCall's

 

I'm saying it is.

He took BOMBS from a murderous puncher in Tua, yet never went down.

What makes McCall's chin so amazing? It's great, but not the best ever.

 

Being mentally unstable and taking huge bombs from Lewis whilst you weren't even focussed
Blindly trudging forward and being speared by Bruno's jab over and over again for 12 whilst taking a fair few monster shots

Oh and Sparring 300 or so rounds with a prime Iron Mike and never going down.

 

Maybe unlucky. Adding Ibeabuchi to his already impressive resume would gain him a few extra brownie points

 

He certainly had the tools to get the job done v. an aging Lewis. Lewis would have to be in great shape and keep Ike on the outside for all 12 rounds to win this. Not an easy task.

 

Beating green versions of Byrd and Tua, is no guarantee of doing well against Lewis, or even beating the next best men of the era!

 

Whilst I agree he doesn't beat Lewis, and that Byrd was green. I think that was the best we ever saw of the Tuaminator, although admittedly he's wildly overrated anyways.

 

You could be right on that last point!

 

Now there are some excellent points

 

It's possible he could have upset Lewis, and Holyfield I don't think would have wanted to have fought him then