Ibeabuchi was not in the mix to fight Lewis. Lewis and Holyfield agreed to have the winner of their fight match-up against the WBA #1 contender. The first Lewis-Holyfield fight was a draw, the second fight was won by Lewis. By this time, Ibeabuchi was already incarcerated. Instead of fighting the WBA #1 ranked contender---John Ruiz, Lewis was stripped by the WBA for fighting Michael Grant (who was ranked #5). Don King was instrumental in getting Lewis stripped for not fighting Ruiz
There were talks about challenging Lennox nothing was finalised We all know the Holyfield "draw" was a robbery Jesse James would be proud of. Lennox won both easily As for Ruiz ? he was the laughing stock of the HW div Ike's training companion Kirk Johnson really beat Ruiz but Ruiz academy award acting & Joe Cortez blatant bias Kirk was denied a KO win If you remember Grant was heavily favored to beat Lennox...... WRONG!!!! If he'd met Ruiz instead he would have been accused of ducking Grant