How great could Ike Ibeabuchachi have been?

[shinobi108]

He already showed in his young career the ability to deal with vastly differing styles, the first man to defeat a prime undefeated KO artist David Tua, then defeating a prime undefeated boxer in Chris Byrd, both of which went on to show they were world class heavyweights during their careers and he beat both pretty convincingly. At 6'2 i dont know if he wouldve had too much of a chance against Lennox or Klitschko but he seemed to have a great mix of boxing ability with an inside game. Reminded me very much of Evander Holyfield. Too bad he went to prison soo early in his career

[nathan_nall]

He already showed in his young career the ability to deal with vastly differing styles, the first man to defeat a prime undefeated KO artist David Tua, then defeating a prime undefeated boxer in Chris Byrd, both of which went on to show they were world class heavyweights during their careers and he beat both pretty convincingly. At 6'2 i dont know if he wouldve had too much of a chance against Lennox or Klitschko but he seemed to have a great mix of boxing ability with an inside game. Reminded me very much of Evander Holyfield. Too bad he went to prison soo early in his career

I have no comment other than to say I've wondered the same thing. I know he's in his 40's now but he might be a young 40's, considering he hasn't had a career of getting beat on. Wonder if he'll try and fight again.

[kafkod]

I knew about Ike back then but didn't see any of his fights till I got on line in 2007. I thought maybe people had been building him up too much because of the "bogey man" factor.

He was off the scene, locked away in jail, and invisible threats and dangers are always the scariest.

Half way through watching his fight with Tua, I knew that everything I'd read about him was true, and then some!

It's a shame, but we'll never know the answer to the question the OP is asking.

[SN!PER]

Ike threw a tremendous amount of punches for a heavyweight, punched hard, and had an iron chin as proven in his victory over Tua.

I believe he would've followed in the steps of Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, dropping Lennox Lewis and capturing the world title.

He would've had to face Vitali, Corrie Sanders, and Wladimir. The heavyweight division might be completely different today if Ike was never imprisoned.

[NO/BS2468]

he was also a big-time steroid user. If you looked at his physique back then you'll see what I'm talking about.

[PainfromUkraine]

I have no comment other than to say I've wondered the same thing. I know he's in his 40's now but he might be a young 40's, considering he hasn't had a career of getting beat on. Wonder if he'll try and fight again.

He definitely doesn't look a 'young' 40...there is a website up which is about him and his time in prison, set up by his mother I believe...and there's pics of him where he ballooned up and really fat and out of shape, looks a completely different guy.

And I think he got deported back to Nigeria now, with probably no right to travel, so fair to say his fighting days are more than done.

[Robbie Barrett]

Would have been the biggest threat to the Klitschko reign, we could have had the Ibeabuchi reign instead.

[southpaw74]

Ike was an amalgamation of Tyson and Holyfield. He would have been one of the greats for sure. Huge waste of talent!

[Canvas]

Completely over rated by internet kids. He wasn't anything special.

[boliodogs]

I think he would have been one of the top guys but not quite good enough to be champion. He lacked the dedication needed to be the best. Look where he ended up.