David Tua vs. Ike Ibeabuchi
Once upon a time there were two heavyweights. Both had heavy hands and loads of potential. One of them is still fighting today, in a more or less sputtering fashion. The other, probably the greater of the two, has been locked away in prisons and mental wards forever. David Tua and Ike Ibeabuchi met on July 6, 1997, at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. Both fighters were undefeated. The Samoan Tua was the rising star from South Auckland, New Zealand, whose 21-0 record included knockouts of future heavyweight champions John Ruiz and Oleg Maskaev. The shooting star Ibeabuchi, hailing from Isuochi, Nigeria, was 16-0 and had what it took to go all the way. Ike may be nutty as a fruitcake and his incarceration has been society’s gain. But at the same time, it’s a dead certainty that his absence has been boxing’s loss…
