I know I am going to get it, because the legend of Ike was that he would ahve been an ATG, knocked Lewis out, etc. Fact is, his wins, while spectacular, both showed flaws, as Byrd and Tua were both figthers who were dominated by Wlad and Lewis, respectively. Ike's fight with Tua was razor thin, with many thinking Tua won, and before he got stopped, Byrd made Ike miss. Tim was an excellent boxer with a good right hand, taller than Tua and more of a natural heavy than Byrd. I believe he would have outboxed Ike- certainly would not have hurt the Pres, but would have had the power to keep his respect, and the chin to take it when a good shot did get through.
Tim's experience would have probably brought him to victory. Ike showed a lot of potential, but he was just starting to get up into fighting the better fighters at that time. Had they fought in the late 90's I would go with Ike, too young, too strong. Prime for prime, Ike never reached his, too green when he was incarcerated. The only problem I see with your assessment of Ike is that he doesnt have the same style of Wlad and Vitali. He wasnt an outside boxer like the two statues who just beat him with a jab at distance. His style was to box and punch in close. Noone was able to do to Byrd what Ibeabuchi did by getting close and drilling him with a two punch combination, so really it was quite impressive. Byrd made everyone miss, but most of them missed the entire fight. Ike eventually caught up to Byrd.
