Lennox Lewis v Ike ibeabuchi yr 2000 who wins ??

You'd have to favour Lennox.

Ike would be a live underdog with a shot to win if Lewis has an off night.

 

Lewis turns up motivated, Lewis far too mature (if motivated) to loose that fight.

Think it would be easier than most people think.

 

This isn't a thread about an Ibeabuchi/Lewis rematch, though.

(I do agree that Lewis would be vastly more favored in a rematch against Ike, should one occur.)

 

In the year 2000 Lewis pumped Grant and Botha and then schooled David Tua who had fought Ike to a standstill in a fight that it's fair to say could have nipped either way. In the two years after that Ike had two absolutely nothing fights in a row then a superb knockout of
Byrd.

Lewis didn't find his inner actor and part time boxer until 2001 and took Tua very seriously as a challenger so obviously would do the same with Ike at that time. I think Ike had been stagnating a little when (under ideal circumstances) he could have been gaining invaluable experience and rounding out his already impressive game.

I think Lewis would have outboxed him in a similar mode to what he was in against Tua. There could well have been a couple of anxious moments along the way. Lewis had the brutal sort of power that could stop anyone taking too many liberties against him as seen in the Tua fight. He's deep in the conversation regarding the hardest hitters in history at heavyweight.

I think if Ike didn't end up a total nutjob he would have been right in the mix after this fantasy fight. He had a fine trainer in Curtis Cokes and i think he would have won some straps moving forward. He had a helluva lot going for him even at that early stage and it would have been fascinating to watch him mixing it up at the top of the division. Potentially he could have really put a spanner in the works in the future of the Klits and i think he would have feasted on the likes of Ruiz and Brewster/Peter type guys.