He was out of shape for the Byrd fight, allegedly only having sparred a few rounds, and only linking up with Curtis Cokes two weeks prior to the fight. Neither would have outboxed him to a wide decision. Ibeabuchi at 20 fights was still a work in progress, and no where near his prime. He'd shown the ability to adapt, in the ring, and change gameplans, as well as having an iron chin and good power. Tua vs Ike was a close competitive fight, and that was probably the best version of Tua I had ever seen. He was in shape, and had good head movement. A shame Tua couldn't keep up that fitness further on in his career.
Ibeabuchi was a solid fighter no doubt. Chin, Power, strength, hand speed etc. I just think he gets way overrated by some on here like he was this unofficial uncrowned champ of that era. I just see the main HW’s of that time or the early 2000’s like Vitali, Lewis, and Wlad out boxing him pretty handily had Ike not got in trouble and started “Seeing demons” do to too many Tua hooks. Lol
He would have been special. He was a head case though, he had issues well before the Tua fight, talking to spirits and doing crazy ****. I think he would have been a champ had he kept progressing. He'd have beaten Evan Fields as is. People saw the growth, and potential, so of course we had high aspirations for him. He'd have half killed Wilder.
Anyone would be a head case after being heavily sedated for 14 months while they harassed him to take a plea deal
He’d have beaten Wilder within an inch of his life. Now that we are in agreement with. Lol That ‘Hookercut’ that Ike caught Byrd with would have put Wilder out for a 100 count.
Definitely. The way it was set up was beautiful as well. Was interesting the way the ring rust seemed to gradually dissipate, over the rounds as well. Byrd was making Ike create a ton of AC to cool the fans in the first row with his superb defense. As the rounds went by Ike slowly started to get his timing and accuracy down. Then it was like, adaptation complete, and Ike started to land. Extraordinary considering having hardly had a training camp, or any sparring. You don't see that type of adaptability in heavyweights today. Or the trap setting.
It was a tragedy how things worked out for Ike. But spare a thought for Curtis Cokes, one of boxing's genuine good guys, who worked hard to make Ike the future champion he was bur remember Curtis also trained Kirk Johnson who was robbed of the WBA title by Joe Cortez bias & John Ruiz Oscar worthy acting. Curtis had two champs in waiting onlyto see them both denied the glory
Oh how the mighty have fallen!,,not long ago some Classic fans were explaining how Joshua would beat Muhammed Ali ,now the consensus is Ike Ibeabuchi executes AJ.
