Would Ike Ibeabuchi give Ali a harder fight than Foreman/Liston/Frazier/Norton did?

I will agree with you here. Speed and accuracy kills. Ali has some very good stoppages on his record.

 

I believe it is the same David Tua that violently ended his meeting with John Ruiz a future champion who gave Evander Holyfield fits, and maintained his standing and relevance in the Heavyweight division for a years.

Tua when in top form can be a challenge for anyone in some cases a nightmare, but all can acknowledge his inconsistency. Frankly, I don't see anyone on either Champion's (Vitaly or Wlad or Haye) resume that would be a favorite to the Tua that fought and lost to Ibeabuchi. In fact the Tua that fought Ibeabuchi may have very well beaten Vitaly, Wlad or Haye (though I give Wlad a better chance than Vitaly or Haye). Look, Tua only fought for the Title once and was never in another title fight. Otherwise he would have had a belt.

The Tua and Byrd victory was a litmus test showing that Ike can hang in there with Big Puncher and put up a tremendous workrate, it tested his chin and it showed that Ike can deal with slick fighters. I don't see it any other way but to berate him for not beating any elite fighters when he never had the opportunity to fight them, when he was clearly still a very talented work in progress is a disservice. I firmly believe to this day that he was the heir to Lewis's throne, not Wlad (who I think is pretty damn good), and not Vitaly.

Rating Ibeabuchi highly is based on his attributes, and in the ring performances against top flight contenders. We don't have anymore to go on, so as far as I'm concerned all we can do is speculate.

Could he have beaten Ali? Probably not. But to be fair not many fighters could have beaten Ali either so it doesn't really tell us much. But do think he could have picked up a good name on Ali's resume.