Who did Ike Ibeabuchi knockout?

He looked like a faily predictable fighter, I feel Byrd and Tua were overrated, Ike lacked fundamentals.

 

If Shavers had stopped fighting at 45-2, people would be calling Shavers a reincarnation of Lamar Clark, who was 42-0 with 41 knockouts at one time. Shavers had done a lot of fighting on the club circuit and had been knocked out by Ron Stander, nobody is confusing Shavers or Stander with an Ibeabuchi type talent. A lot of people are "sensitive" about Ibeabuchi because he was bigger, stronger, better fundamentally, and had better stamina than a lot of the "legends" that came before him.

What fundamentals do you think Ibeabuchi lacked? After watching his fights with Tua and Byrd he looked fundamentally sound along with weighing 235-45, and being busy, and having great stamina. I saw enough in his fights with the tough, hard hitting Tua and the elusive, slick boxing, southpaw Byrd to be extremely impressed. It would interesting to read what fundamentals you think Ibeabuchi lacked and why you think Tua and Byrd are "overrated."

 

He wasn’t a kayo artist ...he was more a boxer puncher I feel

 

Nope, Shavers got knocked out by Ron Stander.

https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Ron_Stander_vs._Earnie_Shavers

Ron Stander 216 lbs beat Earnie Shavers 205 lbs by KO at 0:52 in round 5 of 8

• Date: 1970-05-11
• Location: City Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
  Shavers dominated the first two rounds. Stander took charge in the third, the fourth was all Stander, Shavers was dropped once, but the referee ruled no knockdown. Shavers was hanging on at the end of the round. Shavers pitched face forward in the fifth and was counted out. Boxing Illustrated, August, 1970, page 34.
  

 

You answered your own question. He knocked out Chris Byrd. The same Byrd who went the distance with the likes of Vitali (basically), Wlad, Tua, and others.

But even though Ike was the only man to stop an even near-prime Byrd, and the fastest to stop Byrd by far, those of us who rate him very highly in head-to-head matchups against "greater" heavyweights don't do so based on the names on his boxrec page.

 

He didn’t actually knock Byrd out. He stunned him pretty badly and the ref stopped it while Byrd was trying to roll with shots.

 

Shavers had knocked out former champ Jimmy Ellis in one and stopped Jimmy Young who virtually no one else could (probably similar to Ibeabuchi’s stoppage of Byrd) at that point so the Lamar Clark comparison could be dismissed totally out of hand.

And I find the better stamina claim than former greats to be tenuous. Yes he fought a high work rate fight with Tua but a lot of the high punch output can be put down to the fact the fight was fought in the trenches. It’s not like Ike was opening up with blistering combinations from the outside, it was largely mauling inside work. Other than that sole 12 round fight, he won a 10 rounder and an 8 round fight. It’s not like he built a body of work to prove his stamina was superior to former greats who competed in more distance fights over 15 rounds.

I think people are “sensitive” about Ike because he was a work in progress who we never really found out about how good he really was. His legacy rests on Tua and Byrd neither of whom were ever the best in the division. Rahman handled Tua more comfortably than Ike did until he was beaten by an illegal punch and premature stoppage and maybe Ike wasn’t any better than that level (yes I acknowledge Rahman getting lucky against Lewis but perhaps Ike can’t replicate that either). Maybe he was everything some say he was but his resume needed a lot more than just those two fights before we wax lyrical about him laying waste to former greats with better and more proven records.

 

Shavers was 42-2, Young was 7-3 at the time Shavers beat Young. Young hadn't fought in almost a year, losing to Randy Newman in his last fight. About 2 years later, when Young was 13-4-1, he and Shavers (46-4), fought to a draw. This is in no way similar to Ibeabuchi's (19-0) stoppage of Byrd (26-0).

 

Thing about Ike over Byrd was the way he knocked him out. Byrd was so damn slippery Ike was hitting him on the arms and body, and throwing not only fast punches but from very odd angles, then when he did connect with Byrd's chin it was devastating.

 

On paper it’s not but really it’s very similar.

People are bigging up Ike because he stopped Byrd who went on to do well subsequently against Vitali, Tua, Wlad etc.

Shavers stopped Jimmy Young went on to do well subsequently against Lyle, Foreman, Norton, Ali etc. The point being that if Shavers career ends in 1973 he is 45-2 (44) and holds a one round KO victory over a former champion and a 3rd TKO over a contender who gave nightmares to everyone for the rest of the decade. Actually Shavers record if his career ends before the Quarry fight is more formidable and established than Ike’s ever was .

It sure as he’ll isn’t comparable to Lamar Clark’s anyway.