Ike Ibeabuchi- How good could he have been?

Just read a very good article in Boxing Monthly (which i highly reccomend btw) about Ike Ibeabuchi, Ronnie Sheilds himself said "He could of been world champion for 20 years", how do you all see him doing against, Tyson, Lennox, Holyfield, Klitchkos etc? Personally i have him beating Holyfield, Tyson (Mainly because Tyson was starting to fade when Ike was beginning to emerge) Wladimir, however i see him struggling against Lewis and Vitali, although with Ibeabuchis power and relentlessness he could probably trouble any heavywieght in his day, personally he reminds me alot like Sonny Liston in his hayeday.

Not quite Sonny liston. Excellent hitter, nonstop puncher, freakish stamina and a Iron chin. Lewis camp said they didnt fancy it but I'd probably see Lewis edging a tough fight. Klitchskos not so good, Wlad hasnt got the chin and Vitali prob wont have the stamina. Tyson, Holyfield? I've got no idea to be honest. IF Holyfield brawls with Ike he gets battered, if he boxes - he probably wins a gruelling fight with a few rounds to spare. Probably see Tyson winning actually. He was a fair boxer when he needs to be and has excellent stamina himself.

I just dont think ike had the experience to outdo these fighters who he certainly matched up to in physical terms.

Definatly wouldnt say Tyson had excellent stamina, I recon maybe 1, 2 years after the Tua fight, with abit more expirience, Ike beats him. Bare in mind the year Ike beat Tua, Holyfield lost twice to Lewis, and certainly wasnt his best.

Around 1997 he beats Tyson but losses to Holyfield and Lewis, was an exciting fighter but was lacking in a lot of areas.

Had a lot of potential no doubt.

He was a natural athlete, crazy stamina, heavy hands, granite chin. He weighed about 240 lbs and would be a handful for anybody at the time. He took on an unbeaten tua, who although no Tyson, was a good heavyweight with a lot of power and stamina, yet ike managed to out blast and outland him.

He took out Byrd, a tricky heavyweight in easy enough fashion. He was a bit lacking in the defensive aspect of the game, hence was he was so entertaining to watch.

Tyson vs Ike- if ike could take his power and land his own he could win as Tyson at that stage of his career wasn't the best at digging down or grinding it out for 12 rounds. Is ike fast enough? Maybe. If he can get Tyson into a war, not really something you want, he may just be able to outlast him

Lewis vs Ike- can only see a lewis win but Lewis will hit the floor. Ike has a lot of power and will go at him but Lewis was super talented and would keep hi at long range and wear him down with right leads.

Ike vs Wlad- wlad gets koed, no doubt in my mind. He is a lot like Lewis but more chinny

Ike vs Vitali- vitali SD imo. In his prime he would e able to take his shots and has a high workrate as well. Vitali would also clinch him whenever he got close which would smother ibeabuchi's work

Ike vs Holyfield- evanfer would get drawn into a war like the bowe fight but ike is more suited to that style than riddick was. Ike late TKO after he struggles for the first 3rd of the fight

Wlad is not like Lewis at all.

If Lewis hits the canvas it's fight over, he had a sturdy chin but would have to imagine if he's floored it's similar to Rahman and McCall where he doesn't recover in time.

Vitalis clinching may work against a smaller fighter but it's one area where Lewis dominated and Ike was pretty good on the inside, he has to keep it at distance but doesn't for me have the power to keep him off, Ike on points.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Wlad is not like Lewis at all.

If Lewis hits the canvas it's fight over, he had a sturdy chin but would have to imagine if he's floored it's similar to Rahman and McCall where he doesn't recover in time.

Vitalis clinching may work against a smaller fighter but it's one area where Lewis dominated and Ike was pretty good on the inside, he has to keep it at distance but doesn't for me have the power to keep him off, Ike on points.

I meant more in how he will fight vs ike I.e, fight long and try to clinch when close. But wlad was KOed after ike beat tua so tua would walk him down as blast him out. Lewis is superior to wlad imo and at the time wa sin his prime.

Lewis had success vs vitali on the inside but he outweighed vitali on the day. I also think that ike wasn't as smart as Lewis so might fall into the trap of walking forward not throw then getting clinched over the neck, making him unable to work

Thing is he couldn't stop an inferior inside fighter working so don't see him being able to stop Ibeabuchi.

i think we had too few a fights to know for sure, but i could see him beating all the mentioned if he was properly guided through a career

True Eddy we only really have the Tua and Byrd fights to go on. Byrd i've always felt is a bit under rated, is without doubt the best win of Wlads career for instance, more than held his own in the lower echelons of world level in the mid to late 90's.

we definitely had too few fights imo. Byrd was a good fighter, but from memory he lost to calzaghe as an amateur, he was never really a heavyweight, he just fought there for the money. Which leaves tua... good win against an undefeated and strong, but limited opponent.. and the fight was fairly close.

Certaibly he looked like he'd be a hard nights work for anyone, but not enough info to make any claims for future greatness imo