Thank you. Like a James Dean, his greatest career move was not sticking around long enough to be exposed. That is the perfect recipe for folks to get carried away with their estimations and imaginations.
Ike Ibeubuchi would have been the next ATG heavyweight, the savior to the weakest era in boxing history, He would have reigned for a long time gone down as top 10. Ike had it all from the neck below, he had it upstairs in the ring, not just out of it. a damm shame. I still rate ike in my top 30 heavies of all time as it is. IMO ike accomplished more in his prison shortened career than vitali did in his whole career. what has vitali done that match wins over prime in shape undefeated top contenders david tua and chris bryd?
You are asuming that he could stay on the straight and narrow which is a big asumption. You wrote an article once comparing Ike to Henry Flakes. How far exactly do you think that Flakes could have gone under favourable circumstances?
I think Ike is over rated, once people start saying he beat Dempsey, Louis and Marciano, and start comparing him on Ali like level, than yes he gets overrated. I belive Lewis would have been the first person to add a lost on Ike's record. Than he will decline like Tua did.
Ike would of been easily Lewis most dangerous opponent during his title reign, with the possible exception of Vitali. He wasn't going to be easily outboxed by using basic movement like Tua, although it's impossible to tell how he'd do against a great fighter like Lennox...
Lewis (2000) - would have happened in 2000. I believe Lewis would have some shaky moments but would ultimately pull off a very tough win ala Mercer. Lewis UD Vitaly (2001) - I give Ike the nod here. Ike has the power, stamina, size and workrate to effectively pressure Vitaly. Vitaly is no slouch himself and would be a handful for anybody but I believe he can be beaten with pressure. He has not faced a fighter capable of delivering that pressure and IMO the way he fights backing troubles me. Vitaly's defense is proficient and that will enable him to avoid a stoppage loss though. Assuming no injuries or cuts- IKE UD Wladimir (2002) - At this point I'd give Ike the edge. The younger Wlad was more exciting and offensively he's a powerhouse but I do think that he'd be fighting a back and forth fight with a man who seems to have the endurance and durability to match him shot for shot and exceed him over the long run. I give him a better chance than his brother (ironically) but only on the basis that his more potent offense that may further test Ike's chin. IKE TKO (Remember Sam Peter was once considered an Iron Chinned fighter only to be demoted to an average chin after the McCline fight) Holyfield (2001) - Easily Ike. By knockout. This isnt the Evander Holyfield that fought Tyson, or Bowe this the one who fought Ruiz in a three fight series and later fought Rahman. Evander didnt have enough left in the tank to compete with Ike, though I believe he would have probably bested him in his prime had he fought Ike the way he fought Bowe the second time around. IKE by TKO John Ruiz (2002) - Ike, Ruiz's jab and grab style is suprisingly effective. But a top flight puncher, with a high workrate is not going to lose to John Ruiz. Conventional fighters with a low punch output can easily find themselves on the wrong end of a decision. Against Ike I think Ruiz would be able to hold enough to delay the inevitable. Ike by TKO Hasim Rahman (2001) - As inconsistent as they come, I don't think Rahman has the ablity to step his game up to the extent that he'd beat Ike. Stylistically he doesnt match up well. He has decent power but he doesnt have the handspeed to keep the fight competitive especially since Rahman can come off as a 1-2 fighter. Ike by KO.
Just goes to show it is better to never reach the apex of your career and leave them wondering what could have been. Then your estimation is blown out of any fathomable reasoning.
O wow forgot about that, Im glad you pay attention! great comparison, henry Snow flakes is perhaps the most forgotten promising young heavyweight in history. I think the difference between him and Ike is, Ike never lost and beat two of the best of the era at there peaks, while flakes before his career was cut prematurely did not beat the very best contenders. but other than that, there careers were practically identical. Never heard of any film of flakes, there is great footage of ike.
I think he would beat mostly everyone except for maybe Evander and Lennox....and maybe Vitaly...and they are all big maybe's ..... except for Lennox who was probably the best big man he would ever face
I'd favor him over Rahman and that is about it. Ruiz- at his prime- would frustrate him and pull a dull decision. WK would KO him late, a brutal beating offered by Ike's rather wide open attack. VK would be close, I could see Ike busting him up. Like WK, Ike offered far too many openings for Lewis, who would- like WK- beat him to a pulp. Holyfield would make it a war, which is not good, but which he would probably win.
I totally agree. While Ike defintily had very good tools and could have become something special, there´s no prove of it. The Ike we´ve seen would be a tough fight for all on your list but Lennox Lewis who would whip his ass badly. Vitali and Ike are a lot alike, chin, stamina, workrate, power but with the exception of workrate i think V. Klitschko is superior in every other department and has the better defence and technique. This would be a war with VK coming out on top of a close but clear UD. WK then was still a bit green but much more impressive offensivly and confident than he´s now. This could go both ways. Ike setting a too fast pace for Wlad and knocking him out when WK has punched himself out or WK overwhelmimg Ike from the beginning, using the holes in Ike´s defence and TKOing him early. While Holy was already past his best he still had something left in his tank but is it enough? He could certainly outbox Ike but i doubt he would, he would brawl and get outworked to a tight UD. Ruiz imo is a bad match-up for Ike. The Quiet Man would clinch him, hold him and totally negate his workrate while scoring with his jab and in the clinches. Ruiz UD. Rahman based his whole career on a fluke win over an un-motivated, untrained Lennox Lewis and his chin wouldn´t be able to take Ike´s shots. Ike by early KO.
If he hadn't gone to prison, he'd have fought for one or more world titles (either the Lewis or Holy/Ruiz route), could have become a champion, and would've caused massive damage to the sport by doing something not a million miles off what he actually did. Avoiding Ike as HW champ was one of the best things to happen to boxing. He was never mentally the same after the Tua fight and it's scary to think just how destructive it would've been to the division and sport in general when the (possible) heavyweight champion of the world got busted for ****, manslaughter or even murder. And make no mistake, that fuse was already lit.
I'd back him to lose v Lewis and Vitali, and beat the rest. Peak Holyfield would've beaten him, but IMO peak Holyfield ended in '97 (Tyson and Moorer), and I'm pretty sure that was a year or two before Ike's incarceration.