This would have been when Ike was 20-0 (15 KOs), and coming off one of his best wins in March 1999, stopping Byrd in 5, and Vitali was 25-0 (25 KOs) and coming off his biggest win up to that point via KO2 over Herbie Hide in June of that year. I don't think Vitali started peaking until at least 3 years after this point, but he was still good at fighting from range, and was quick to clinch whenever an opponent got in close. I could see that style being a problem for Ike. Would have been interesting to see how Ike would have dealt it. The other scenario would be Ike just overwhelming the slower Klitschko with his high volume attack. Both guys had power and rock-solid chins. I can see it going the full 12, but not sure which way this goes. Thoughts on who wins this?
You have it wrong. Ike was slower than Vitali who threw straighter and faster punches. This content is protected This content is protected There's a CLEAR speed edge in Vitali's favour.
Just went back and watched Ibeabuchi for the first time in years, and he isn't as fast-handed as I remember him being. Rewatched his fights vs. Tua & Everton Davis, as well as Klitschko-Obed Sullivan, and Vitali is arguably faster. Strange to be saying it, because I always had Vitali as one of the slower top 10 fighters from around that time, along with maybe Maskaev. Also hard to rate Ike's power. He did knock the poop out of Byrd, and clearly could punch some, though I'm not sure he was elite in that category. I guess I have to reassess how good Ike was. After taking another look, I'd definitely lean towards Vitali by decision, maybe 8-4ish.
Vitali looks slow because he looks like Frankenstein's monster. He's got wide paces and lurches back and forth so he looks ungainly. He's a very deceptive fighter in that his hands are actually quite fast and his reflexes very good. He's hard to land clean on. That said technically his punches aren't as correct as they should be, he tends to throw arm punches whereas Ike really puts his shoulders into it. Vitali's sheer size means that even his arm punches are going to be hefty whereas I think Ike has that clubbing Foreman like quality to him. Both have surprising stamina.
My modest knowledge of boxing tells me that Vitali would win this fight. And on the other hand, the two most important fights in his career - Vitali managed to lose (and he had a point advantage in both fights).
