Was Ike Ibeabuchi the biggest threat at HW went they locked him up?

He would have been one of top contenders for Lewis title

 

I remember reading about the incident with Jeremy Williams. Could you please refresh my memory on what transpired between the two camps and why Ike pulled out? I'd appreciate it Freddy!!

 

I don't portray myself as anything I'm not. I was right there Curtis was a great friend as was Dave Gorman in Ft Worth. To be honest I don't really care what you believe lol. But I do think you ought to be more careful about calling someone, who you have never met " Seriously Mentally ill & damaged" Have a nice day

 

Glad to -Williams quotes Larry Merchant (who was asked by Cedric Kushner to try and talk sense into him) that essentially Ibeabuchi thought beating Tua and Byrd meant he should be fighting Lennox Lewis next and was saying he should get millions to do so. Seems he also resented that Michael Grant was being paid more to fight Savarese and headlining a fight card. Did not want to (or get that he might need to) build a bit more momentum to get the shot at Lewis. Says that he was asked about the Williams fight by couple of boxing writers and also about it after the Grant -Savarese fight. Does not appear (from this) that there were any issues from the Jeremy Williams camp.

It does go on to mention that in July 1999 Steve Munisteri says they got a three fight deal (including against Michael Grant). That if he got through that he would probably get a fight against Lewis. Kushner is quoted as acknowledging that to a newspaper. Ibeabuchi then got arrested.

It's a very short book (120 pages) but well written and seems informative.

 

I remember the hype around Ike, he was a bad dude

I don't think he beats Lennox. Ike is a scary man and I expect Lewis to come in at his very best. The fear of losing brings the best out of true greats like Lewis

I would have loved to see Ike vs The likes of Lewis and Evander. Even a past it Tyson would have been a mega fight

I miss the 90s, boxing was awesome then and the Heavyweight scene was much greater than these lumps now

 

Tua was mowing down a bunch of heavys and Ike went to war with him over 12 and got a close decison, that immediately put him on everyone's radar. Then he was again showcased on HBO again and KOd unbeaten and future champion Chris Byrd, rather brutally.

After that I put him at the top of the young heavyweights Lewis had to watch out for. The Klitchskos were also in that discussion at the time, but Wlad was derailed at one point by Ross Purrity which set him back.

Grant seemed to be a forever work in progress.

 

If you’re talking about Ike, he was diagnosed as such. There’s no question about it. His behavior in many ways was completely unhinged.

Sorry if that disturbs you, but that’s absolute fact.

 

Ike had mental problems & needed help. They said he was probably Bi Polar & needed treatment. Kushner & co that were promoting him then ignored it all they saw in Ike was $$$$$$$$$$$$$$He had no help whatsoever only one man tried to help him really that was the late great Curtis Cokes. He made a big mistake in calling that hooker in Vegas. What happened in that hotel room, only they know.. they argued over $$$ she said "I'll call & claim ****" Ike said go for it. Ike was in the bathroom when the police arrived. The hooker claimed to the police " I only came to dance for him" ROFL Yeah right. She wasn't touched or hurt at all neither were the police. If he was as crazy as people try to make out they would have been for sure. It was purely a he said she said situation. He was incarcerated for months & kept heavily sedated for fear of what he "Might do" all the while they kept telling him Plead no contest & you'll be back boxing in 6 months. Ike eventually did as they asked but when it came to the trial the judge instead gave him the max sentence 5-30 years. If that happened to you you'd probably be mad too. He was still not getting treated like he needed to be.
He never got a chance The justice system failed him All those years in jail because he called that hooker

 

Ibeabuchi was the next best heavyweight in the world after Lewis, and maybe Holyfield. But he definitely was the biggest threat to Lewis' crown. Whether he would have beaten Lewis, we'll never know, but he definitely would have provided a very stiff/stern test with his power and volume. Not an easy fight for Lewis at all! I think he'd beat Vlad Klitschko around that time, but not necessarily an emerging Vitaly. Again, we'll never know.

 

Ike's wins over Tua and Byrd (both undefeated) should have put him next in line for Lewis!

 

Right.

I mean, Ibeabuchi stopped future champion Byrd.

If Tua had been removed from the picture after his KO wins over THREE future champions - John Ruiz, Oleg Maskaev, and Hasim Rahman - I'm sure some would be talking about Tua as the 'sure-fire' heavyweight who would've ruled everything if he'd stuck around.

Truth is the wheels were coming off Ibeabuchi before he got arrested, anyway. As was mentioned, he turned down a fight with Jeremy Williams, of all people, on HBO. (And Williams ended up losing that fight against Maurice Harris.) Then he couldn't hold it together long enough to even face Michael Grant in an eliminator (and Grant nearly lost that to Golota).

You need your wits about you to become champion.

And Ibeabuchi couldn't hold on long enough to even fight or be "a threat" to Jeremy Williams or Michael Grant ... and people still insist he would've been a threat to Lennox Lewis.

The sport didn't need another McCall-style meltdown in the ring because some mentally ill guy got pushed into the ring for a title fight.

People need to let the Ike Ibeabuchi stuff go. It's been nearly 25 years.

 

The talk in home base Dallas was one more fight , probably Grant, Ike would have Ko'd Grant no problem
then a probable title fight with Lennox. Sadly Ike decided to call a Vegas hooker that night so we'll never know. Actually Kushner was Ike's worse enemy, he was the one pushing for fights when he should have been getting medical help for Ike's suspected Bi Polar problems. But $$$$$$$$ took preference of a fighters welfare obviously.
I'll have to look out for that book

 

How can we let it go? The man was incredible. We missed out on a good 5 year run of him laying waste to the division. He had some great matchups ahead, even just against other contenders like Rahman and Briggs,....who was the guy with the scorpion tattoo and the corn rowes that beat Jameel Mcline? ...him too.. and I think he would have manhandled young Wlad, possibly Vitali too.

 

Just induct him into the IBHF based on would/should and could have. Hall of fame material he was.

 

Yes & the guy was sacrificed too. Jailed for months, heavily sedated, coerced into copping a no contest plea
purely because the He said she said scenario where no one was touched or hurt, especially the woman who
"only came to dance for him" ?? Yeah right Pull the other leg . Would not stand in a court of law
If Ike had the treatment he needed, but didn't get, who knows what would have happened. I know Curtis tried his best
Yeah that's real nice of you Let it go screw the fact the guy never had a chance huh!!