Coming from a guy with the name "Left Banned Tua". I kind of sense some favoritism.
I dont care much for tua but I thought he eked out that fight with ike. it was very close
The odds of him doing any good now are extremely unlikely and back then he was a great prospect that was put away before he could prove himself fully. It was possible he might have been champion with so many belts available but alot of people rate him high on potential only. I watched him most of his early career and he had limitations.
i think holyfield could have decisioned him if he fought properly.
i think holyfield would have gone punch for punch with him though and lose.
Holy in 1999 would have been beaten up. He's giving up at least 15-20 pounds against a smaller volume puncher with a great jab and solid pro power. That's an ugly fight.
Prime Holy...that's so sick a fight humanity doesn't deserve the goodness. :)
He hast fought since 1999. Imo he can just be a contender, not more. Even if he tries to come back, he looks very heavy, and I doubt that he can make his old weight. He would be too fat and I am also sure that he lost his speed.
But maybe he will come back, and there will be Tua vs Ike II:trink26:
I don't know,it's hard these days to be undisputed champ.There hasn't been an undisputed champ since Lewis.
It's hard to say if he would be fighting,he's like 37 now.
But he would definetely be a top dog.
If Ike Ibeabuchi was never imprisoned, would be be the undisputed champ right now?
Part in parcel with this question is IF he wasn't bat shit insane. He was so he was going to melt down at some point.
Let's say he doesn't assault a pro and allegedly try to do an exorcism on her (in other words he stays out of trouble for a little while but stays insane). Lewis wasn't in a hurry to fight him; he's said he didn't want to fight Ike unless forced. He was already showing weight flux by the Byrd fight and, in being forced to wait, he might have let himself go enough to get beat.
If he stays in shape, he had the tools to beat anyone. Wlad pre-Steward would have been wrecked (post-Steward is a little more effective in being a timid if smart giant and could probably last rounds but I still favor Ike because he had balls). Vitali would have been interesting but the faster, more athletic pressuring Ike could have done with two hands what Corrie Sanders couldn't but made interesting with one.
So, in a world where Ike was just less crazy enough to stay on track, yes, he could have been the man.
Holyfield was past it by the time Ike would have been in with him, Holyfield looked poor against Ruiz i cant see him beating Ike at that point a prime Holyfield is a different story though. I would pick Ike over any of the heavyweights of the 00's except Lewis and the Klits as we dont know how well he would have done against tall fighters. Anyway the way he smashed Byrd who went onto be one of the top heavyweights of the 00's shows that he would have been at least a top 10 heavyweight of the 00's.
If Ike Ibeabuchi was never imprisoned, would be be the undisputed champ right now?
He would have been one of best Klits contenders and that's it.
He had a war wih Tua,but that dont make him a lineal champ.Tua was outboxed by Chris Byrd way better than Ike did.It's just Tua,a scary beast,but a guy who lost his bigger fights.
from what i read ike has always been not there but the tua fight really made him worse.
after the tua fight he kept complaining of constant migraines and his actions became crazier and crazier.
i think he had a screw loose pre-tua but after the tua fight that screw got completely knocked off.
before he raped and took hostage that hooker , he also kidnapped his nephew or girlfriend's son or something and crashed a car with him in it.
only people getting paid off prevented him from going to jail on that occassion.
even if he got away with raping that hooker , something else would have eventually turned up.
the guy was never really there but after the tua fight he was completely nuts.
Im pretty sure he wanted (insisted) his team and people in the gym to refer to him as "Mr. President" as well. The guy was definitely a few cans short of a six pack.
ike is extremely overrated. tyson would have destroyed him aswell as lewis, vitali, and possibly holyfield.
Probably. I think Tua scrambled his egg pretty good. I doubt he would have gotten any better, but who knows for sure. I am convinced however that he didn't have the mental stability to reign long had he won a title.
well no one ever said tua was a tough fighter because of his skills. though his skills are not as bad as people think.
i just think ike had the workrate , size and strength advantages to beat evander.
yes holy fought big guys before and yes he has fought guys with big workrates but ike was the rare combination of both.
whereas guys like vitaly and lennox can use their longer reachs and greater size and height to offset ike's workrate (keep him at the end of their jab , clinch , push him off , etc.) , i think evander would have just went punch for punch with ike.
I respect your opinion my man. But Im gonna hold on to my notion that experience would trump workrate. Im not saying Im right and you're wrong, its just my opinion.
With all due respect to your boy Tua, he wasn't nearly as crafty as Evander. I think Holy beats him by 4 or 5 rounds had they fought anytime between 97 and 2002. I think Holyfield would set traps that Ike would be to inexperienced or undisciplined to get out of. Who knows though, its just my opinion.
I agree, I think Holyfield, Lennox and Vitali would be too much for Ike.
i think he could have beat the older holyfield. maybe even the prime 208 lb. holyfield too. who knows?
he can't beat lennox and vitali. maybe wlad if he lands something big.
With all due respect to your boy Tua, he wasn't nearly as crafty as Evander. I think Holy beats him by 4 or 5 rounds had they fought anytime between 97 and 2002. I think Holyfield would set traps that Ike would be to inexperienced or undisciplined to get out of. Who knows though, its just my opinion.
If Ike Ibeabuchi was never imprisoned, would be be the undisputed champ right now?
I highly doubt it. He obviously lacked the mental stability to stat on top if he ever got there in the first place. He never beat a tall, skilled fighter either. His two biggest wins were over somewhat small and limited fighters. I doubt he would have gotten past Lennox, Holyfield or Vitaly. I think he would have been somewhere along the lines of a Golota or Rahman. Jmo.