Was Ike really a murderous puncher?

[TheGreatA]

Vitali couldn't stop Byrd. How long did it take Ike, give the man credit. Also name me a boxer who could trade with Tua and throw that many punches.

Vitali was fighting with one hand but it's true that he couldn't stop Byrd while Ibeabuchi could.

Byrd did say that he had learned his lesson against Ibeabuchi and wouldn't be as vulnerable to pressure.

The Klitschko's aren't exactly pressure fighters like Ibeabuchi anyway, so Byrd had an easier time against them. Wladimir did wipe the floor with Byrd twice though.

[Steak]

lets put it this way...even after 10 or so years of Wladimir fighting, his best win is still his first fight with Chris Byrd.
Ibeabuchi has that win too.

Tua already had two wins over future champs at the time he fought Ike I believe, was in his 220s and threw a ton of punches. When you think of a prime Tua, you think of the one that destroyed Ruiz and brutalized David Izon. that was the Tua that fought Ike, and Ike beat him at his own game. honestly, is there anyone from the last 20 years that could sit there and trade with Tua on the inside and win?

I dont think he would have beaten Lewis, and Vitali would have been a question mark...but he would have torn apart everyone else. yep, even Wladimir. not until 2005ish would Wladimir have a good shot at beating him.

...well, this is all assuming he didnt go insane and completely stop training and everything.

[them_apples]

Was Ike Ibeabuchi really a murderous puncher? Many on these boards make him out to be, but I disagree. His 75% ko ratio is misleading since most of the knockouts came against stiffs, with the exception of a small Chris Byrd who was shorter and gave up 36 pounds in weight?

Some of his contemporaries had better KO ratio's in there first 20 fights. Tommy Morrison was only taken the distance 3 times in his first 20 fights. Hasim Rahman, also 3 times. Lennox Lewis, twice. Bowe, twice. And Andrew Golota once. With the exception of Lewis and possibly Bowe, none have reached the heights that were predicted for them within those first 20 fights. why would Ibeabuchi have been different? We know he wasn't any kind of mental giant, and you just cant get there with the physical part of boxing.

So.....was he a beast as many have claimed? A prospect? Or just plain ol overrated because of two fights? Vote and discuss.

he has decent power, decent speed for his size..but mostly his workate and toughness that would take him far. He brawled with Tua and beat him, nobody was going to knock him out anytime soon.

[JAB5239]

lets put it this way...even after 10 or so years of Wladimir fighting, his best win is still his first fight with Chris Byrd.
Ibeabuchi has that win too.

Tua already had two wins over future champs at the time he fought Ike I believe, was in his 220s and threw a ton of punches. When you think of a prime Tua, you think of the one that destroyed Ruiz and brutalized David Izon. that was the Tua that fought Ike, and Ike beat him at his own game. honestly, is there anyone from the last 20 years that could sit there and trade with Tua on the inside and win?

That brings us to another question mark about Ike. Could he adjust his game plan? We know he beat Tua at his own game, but why? He had clear advantages in reach and height, and in my opinion hand speed. Looking back, this is another reason to believe he wasn't the future of the heavyweights. Tua could be outboxed pretty easily (sorry LefthookTua) as proven by Byrd Rahman and Lewis.

Now I know somebody is going to want to say Ike beat a boxer like Byrd. But he still didn't show any new dimensions in that fight. All he did was bully and use his size advantage over a much smaller man who was still only a prospect himself at the time.

I dont think he would have beaten Lewis, and Vitali would have been a question mark...but he would have torn apart everyone else. yep, even Wladimir. not until 2005ish would Wladimir have a good shot at beating him.

...well, this is all assuming he didnt go insane and completely stop training and everything.

I don't think he would have ever beat Lewis, Vitaly, Bowe or Holyfield. And there are a few guys that may not have won, but I can picture them giving Ike loads of trouble.

That said, Ike was nuttier than a squirel turd and I doubt he had the mental wiring to have carried him to a championship or hold it very long if he had managed to get there.

[JAB5239]

Byrd has always been talented and limited by his size yet how long did it take someone to do what Ike did to a prime version?

Who did he fight though? Both Klitscko's put it on him pretty good. I doubt anyone believes he had a shot at Lewis. and he struggled with Golota, McCline, and to a lesser degree Oquendo. I admire Byrd, but he wasn't exactly fighting a murderers row of fighters.

And Tua was hardly the one-dimensional fighter he would become. Again, he and Ibeabuchi threw about 100 punches per round that night and never took a step back.

Tua was always one dimensional my friend. It was an incredible dimension, but one just the same.

[IMDAZED]

Tua was always one dimensional my friend. It was an incredible dimension, but one just the same.

What dimension was that?

[Chase8400]

Ike was alot more talented than your description of TANK,10x the talent level of Peter

I doubt you would have made that statement about a week ago. You just downplayed Vitali's win over a prime heavyweight who outboxed James Toney. I would pick Peter to KO Ike based on him being hittable. Tua never was able to load up on a flush shot, or else he would have stopped Ike as well. Workrate is not everything and he definitely was overrated. No way he beats and active Lennox, Vitali or Wlad K. Accuracy was seriously lacking in his arsenal.

P.S. Mike Tyson would have knocked him out in 2-3 rounds at that time IMO.

[MoneyMay]

James Butler.

[Chase8400]

The punch he laid Byrd out with was crazy (to me it looked like he made Byrd black out for a split second based on how Byrd was acting like he didn't get knocked down, if that is not real power I do not know what is). I watched all those fights and he was a good fighter but from Tua to Byrd you could already see decline, and while I think he could do good against many fighters he is not some unbeatable fighting machine. Who knows what could have been with him it is hard to say. He lacked the proper dicipline to really get to the top and stay there.

He did have real power though, of that I am certain. Really from a physical standpoint I have very little doubt about Ibaebuchi, the mental side of the game and handling any success is really where he falls woefully short.

Byrd being KO'd by a light heavyweight shoots your claim all to hell. Sorry, I had to say that.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Byrd being KO'd by a light heavyweight shoots your claim all to hell. Sorry, I had to say that.

I guess it doesn't matter that Byrd drained himself all of that weight in only 3 months and was not only shot to pieces, but was losing his fights. He was stopped by Povetkin and Klitschko, and hasn't looked the same for years.