Who did Ike Ibeabuchi knockout?

Uh... many, many heavyweight fights are fought in the trenches but none equalled that sort of output. That's hardly an eliminating factor for that performance's exceptionalism.

 

I’m not eliminating anything. It was a good fight but it’s a different fight altogether to Ali-Frazier 3 for example which had the previous highest recorded punch output before this clash apparently. It’s not nearly as gruelling or energy sapping a fight or as impressive a feat in my view.

People make out that it was a brutal, give and take war based on punch stat when it wasn’t. It was a very busy close range fight, with neither guy seriously hurt or in trouble. Again it was a good fight (not great) and a very good win for Ike but also nothing for Tua to be ashamed of either.

Apparently Ike complained of headaches after this fight and went nuts but who knows whether it was punches or pre-existing mental problems manifesting themselves.

 

And seeing him eke out a toe-to-toe slugfest with an absolute top-of-his game David Tua, yes. The eye test and those fights tell me that he was a strong, powerful, high-stamina, high-work-rate fighter with a great chin and solid and improving technique and fundamentals, who could beat high-quality sluggers and back-foot slicksters. That goes a long way in my book.

Do you really find the possibility that he could stop Bob Fitzsimmons or Max Schmeling or Ezzard Charles or Rocky Marciano or even Joe Frazier all that far-fetched?

 

That's because they were two tanks who could endure punches that would have folded up some of the little greats of yesteryear. Someone like Marciano would have been a bloody, broken mess if he had stood at close range and slugged it out with one of them. Frazier probably wouldn't have endured it either.

 

Yeah sure. Frazier endured more punishment in Manilla than either of these guys did in this fight from a better fighter than either of these guys for 14 rounds.

 

Well, he also knocked out Everton Davis who went the distance against Tua. Not a huge achievement by any means, but Davis was tough and durable

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This.

I looked at him then more as a bigger, stronger Holyfield than a nuclear puncher. He did have boxing ability and stamina.

 

Boxing is a sport when results matter more than anything else. You have to prove himself against the best to be called one of the best. We don't know how good Ike would become but I can't give him benefit of doubt and say he'd become one of the best players in the world.

 

That’s it.

He looked very good, was an impressive physical specimen and had two promising wins over similar level young fighters. He hadn’t met the best guys and hadn’t proved he was any threat to Lewis, Holyfield, Bowe or even Tyson at that point.
I remember at one point another Nigerian tank in Sam Peter was bowling over cans and fringe types and getting some hype but he never established himself as the man at heavyweight once he faced the elite guys. He simply wasn’t at that level and perhaps Ibeabuchi would’ve been the same or perhaps not. We simply never found out.

 

He KO'd Chris Byrd with a killer uppercut. Byrd who was at one time ranked #1 overall had a good chin and went many rounds with punchers. Ike was a big puncher. When you use the words Monstrous, you're down to a select few.

But go ahead and watch the KO. 1:59 mark. Ike had heavy hands.

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To those who watched Ike, he has an iron body and chin, and proved it by going toe to toe with the best version of Tua. He had the stamina and skills to catch up to a very elusive Chirs Bryd. He had had a developing jab, and was coming on at a time when we have seen Bowe's Tyson's and Holyfield's best. And yes, Glass Cobra, he hit hard.

An all time could have been. Too bad he was a criminal.

 

Tua and Byrd were both decent-good level fighters at the time. Obviously Ike didn't fight the best of the best of the time (Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis) but there's no reason he couldn't have beaten and being around the fighters below that level (Tommy Morrision, Razor Ruddock, Ray Mercer etc).

Ike wasn't a bum, nor was he an all time great.

 

We will never know the heights Ike could have attained. I feel Byrd was not particularly overrated. But Tua on the other hand was fairly overrated - he really should have picked up a strap at some point but he never did. Whether that was poor management or otherwise, its almost not an excuse given the era and weak strap holders during his prime.

Those on the thread referencing Shavers. IMO Shavers had very questionable whiskers - quite similar to Norton. He was a bit of a glass cannon with far less skill and fundamentals than many of his peers. He's blessed he had thunder in his right hand and left hook.

 

Oh good. Thank you. I was about to say, he hit Byrd so hard he literally slobberknockered Byrd. Well, I guess I still said it. Anyway. Not gonna argue anything else with anyone else. But he knocked the s hit outta Byrd. Also tho, didn't he have about 20 fights before going off the rails?