Ike Ibeabuchi – The Missing Link

By Craig Joseph Daly: The month of July 2009 saw the untimely deaths of three of boxing’s marquee name fighters, Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest in chronological order. The aftermath of these tragic events have as expected given rise to numerous well deserved tributes. Whether it’s HBO’s Real Sports documentary, music albums, statues erected, the rumoured film biopic or both books of a biographical nature written and those of condolences signed, these tributes could not have materialized had these three deceased men not accomplished so much in their respective careers.

Indeed both Gatti and Arguello were retired at the time of their death and leaving behind them a storied legacy which would be the envy of any aspiring boxer or even fellow professionals. Vernon Forrest, although not yet retired was the reigning light middleweight champion having recaptured the title, whom one gets the impression would soon, perhaps after one more marquee fight, provided he could secure one, ride off into the sunset. In death the commonality all three men share and indeed what separates them from the list compiled below, is that while their lives were sadly cut short, we as fight fans were privileged to witness the best of their exploits within the ring. The following five combatants are synonymous by their star imploding, and not always necessarily through death, before it ever had the opportunity to shine at its brightest.

Ike Ibeabuchi – The Missing Link

Throughout the history of boxing’s one time talent laden heavyweight division it had become almost a natural progression for one group of aging rivals to pass the preverbal torch on to a younger and hungrier group of contenders. Beginning with the inception of prize fighting as we know it owing to the application of the Marquees of Queensbury rules, men like John L Sullivan, Jim Corbett and Tom Sharkey would pioneer the way for those who followed. Bob Fitzsimmons, Jim Jeffries, Marvin Hart, Tommy Burns, Jack Johnson, Stanley Ketchel and Sam Langford would then pass on to Luis Firpo, Jess Willard, Jack Dempsey, Georges Carpentier and Gene Tunney who in turn would lead us into the first golden age in heavyweight boxing of the 1930’s. A period that included men such as Max Schmelling, Jack Sharkey, Primo Carnera, Max Baer, James J Braddock, Joe Louis and Billy Conn. From this group an eddying would produce Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore and Rocky Marciano all ready to carve their way into the 1940’s and beyond.

The 1950’s would be passed on to Floyd Patterson, Ingelmar Johansson and Tommy Jackson before another purple patch to begin the 1960’s with names such as Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, Ernie Terrell, George Chuvalo, Jimmy Ellis, Ernie Shavers, Jerry Quarry, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton and George Foreman. Again certain names stick out that would etch a passage into the 1980’s like Larry Holmes, the Spinks brothers and most famous of all Mike Tyson accompanied by a host of young American pretenders following closely behind. It appeared the rich vain of form would continue into the decade of the 90’s to dispute sport’s wealthiest prize.

Trouble however was lurking on the horizon. On February 10, 1992 Tyson was convicted of the raping of Desiree Washington and sentenced to 6 years in prison, 3 of which he would serve behind bars. Mr Tyson had however lost his world championship prior to these events via shocking upset to then 42/1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas who was himself duly relived of the title by Evander Holyfield in his very first defence of the crown. Although Tyson’s incarceration would scupper what many anticipated to be the next great heavyweight rivalry, Holyfield and the boxing public wouldn’t be forced to wait long for an adversary to emerge. That man was Riddick Bowe and the two boxers would, over the course of the next half decade engage on one of boxing’s great trilogies.

Lennox Lewis, though constantly overlooked by both Bowe and Holyfield, was undoubtedly the third piece in the 1990’s heavyweight trifecta and would eventually get his opportunity to share the ring with Holyfield albeit too late by the reckoning of most boxing fans. Along the way, other men such as Michael Moorer, Ray Mercer, Oliver McCall and a comebacking George Foreman had their short lived time in the sun but it was Lewis, Bowe and Holyfield who ultimately stamped their authority on the 90’s heavyweight picture and were therefore expected, just as the past greats had done before them, to bestow the flame upon a new group of torch bearers and for a brief moment it seemed this may actually happen.

Two young forces from Kiev were pulverizing their way through the ranks of the sport’s most celebrated weight division. The only problem being, both Vitali and his namesake Wladimir shared the same bloodline and therefore the same staunch reluctance to ever compete against one another. Enter Ike ‘The President’ Ibeabuchi. If there was genuine cause for enthusiasm within the eastern block regarding their heavyweight prospects, then there was a blaze beginning to ignite itself within the minds eye of boxing experts on the other side of the Atlantic.

What wasn’t to like? He was a dominating specimen, standing just over 6’2’’ and sporting a 240lb chiselled physique in a division increasingly inhabited by fleshy mid sections and expanding waistlines. He was undefeated and had faced all opposition put in front of him, better opposition than either of the Klitschko brothers had faced to that point in their careers. Although Nigerian born, Ibeabuchi had learned his trade as a pro in his adopted homeland of the United States lending credence to the popular consensus that one standout home-grown heavyweight captures the imagination of the American public thus creating a knock on effect and infusing young heavyweight talent that would otherwise choose football, basketball or one of the other national pastimes over a life in the pugilistic arts.

So again, with the stage perfectly poised to usher in a new heavyweight trinity, what was there not to like? Well, Ibeabuchi’s penchant for destructive behaviour to rival that of the aforementioned Mike Tyson. While many boxing aficionados and sports writers were tipping Ibeabuchi to be the natural successor to the greats of the 1990’s, following his dismantling of two fighters, Chris Byrd and David Tua that would respectively go on to hold and challenge for portions of the world title, the man himself was a ticking time bomb. Claiming to be under the influence of demons, Ibeabuchi would regularly succumb to bouts of rage. In a prelude of what was to come, he abducted the son of his former girlfriend and in an apparent attempt to commit suicide, crashed the car in which they were travelling into a concrete pillar on Interstate 35 north of Austin, Texas, permanently injuring the 15 year old boy.

Four months after what would be his final fight, the fifth round destruction of Chris Byrd, Ibeabuchi was involved in an incident with a Las Vegas call girl at The Mirage Hotel and Casino which would lead to his pleading guilty to battery with intent to commit a crime and attempted rape. Following two years of psychiatric evaluation to determine whether Ike was fit to stand trail he was sentenced in late 2001 to serve between 5 and 30 years. He had just signed a multi fight deal with HBO and was in line to challenge for the IBF portion of the heavyweight title held at the time by Lennox Lewis. His record remains unchanged form the day he entered prison, 20 wins, no losses, no draws and 15 KO’s. He remains in state penitentiary having been denied parole three times and diagnosed with bipolar disorder amongst other psychiatric afflictions. Ike Ibeabuchi is next eligible for parole in 2012 at which point he will be 40 years old and nothing more than the physical manifestation of what might have been.