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Just how good was he or how good do you think he could've been?
For those who don't know, Ike Ibeabuchi was a very promising heavyweight. He shot through the ranks fighting mostly unranked journeymen. In 1997 he was paired up against rising star David Tua. Tua was known for gargantuan power, had run through Ruiz and was quickly drawing comparisons to Tyson.
Ike stormed out and took control in the early rounds. He showed incredible cardio and managed to absorb all of Tua's power punches. In the end he won a unanimous decision. What the world didn't know was that Ike Ibeabuchi was very mentally unstable. Following the greatest win of his budding career he claimed demons and spirits were overwhelming him. These psychopathic ramblings led him to kidnapping his own son from a former girlfriend and purposefully driving his car into a cement pillar.
The boy suffered permanent injuries and Ike was inexplicably given only two months jail time. Needless to say, he received no notable psychiatric evaluations or treatment. A year later, Ike would return to the boxing arena successfully. He destroyed two more mediocre fighters before fighting Chris Byrd. Byrd a very slick fighter who would later go on to become a champion, was thoroughly beaten by Ike and stopped in the 5th round.
This is Ike Ibeabuchi's last professional bout. After a stripper refused to render Ike private services in his room, he beat her and sexually assaulted her. Following his arrest Ike was found to be both bi-polar and schizophrenic. Three different doctors were asked to determine if he was fit to stand trial. Two of the three believed he could and Ike was sentenced to 2-10 years for battery, and 3-20 years for sexual assault. His parole has been perpetually denied by the State.
Before his mental collapse Ike was perhaps the greatest young talent in boxing. He showed incredible cardio and work rate for a heavyweight while still retaining power. Additionally, David Tua was unable to knock Ike down... in fact no one who faced Ike was able to hurt him, much less beat him.
I didn't follow his career that much and only found his story after studying Tua's career. My question is for the people that did watch him box, exactly how good could Ike Ibeabuchi have been?
For those who don't know, Ike Ibeabuchi was a very promising heavyweight. He shot through the ranks fighting mostly unranked journeymen. In 1997 he was paired up against rising star David Tua. Tua was known for gargantuan power, had run through Ruiz and was quickly drawing comparisons to Tyson.
Ike stormed out and took control in the early rounds. He showed incredible cardio and managed to absorb all of Tua's power punches. In the end he won a unanimous decision. What the world didn't know was that Ike Ibeabuchi was very mentally unstable. Following the greatest win of his budding career he claimed demons and spirits were overwhelming him. These psychopathic ramblings led him to kidnapping his own son from a former girlfriend and purposefully driving his car into a cement pillar.
The boy suffered permanent injuries and Ike was inexplicably given only two months jail time. Needless to say, he received no notable psychiatric evaluations or treatment. A year later, Ike would return to the boxing arena successfully. He destroyed two more mediocre fighters before fighting Chris Byrd. Byrd a very slick fighter who would later go on to become a champion, was thoroughly beaten by Ike and stopped in the 5th round.
This is Ike Ibeabuchi's last professional bout. After a stripper refused to render Ike private services in his room, he beat her and sexually assaulted her. Following his arrest Ike was found to be both bi-polar and schizophrenic. Three different doctors were asked to determine if he was fit to stand trial. Two of the three believed he could and Ike was sentenced to 2-10 years for battery, and 3-20 years for sexual assault. His parole has been perpetually denied by the State.
Before his mental collapse Ike was perhaps the greatest young talent in boxing. He showed incredible cardio and work rate for a heavyweight while still retaining power. Additionally, David Tua was unable to knock Ike down... in fact no one who faced Ike was able to hurt him, much less beat him.
I didn't follow his career that much and only found his story after studying Tua's career. My question is for the people that did watch him box, exactly how good could Ike Ibeabuchi have been?
