Quote Originally Posted by Majesty
He wouldn't have lasted much longer after that Byrd fight the way he looked. He had power but he was one dimensional, he did good for chasing down Byrd but I don't see Ike beating Lewis, not on any day not on his best day he couldn't beat Lennox Lewis. And the Byrd that beat Tua would have danced circles around Ike but not been caught. Ike is in the "what if" category. But I couldn't stand that they were trying to make him the new Tyson and watching the Byrd fight made me sickened seeing them call a miss a hit and a combination from Byrd they said nothing. If the HBO commentators are anything like the kessler fans on this board I would have wanted to see Ike lose just for the sake of shutting them up.

He's done though. And he only has himself to blame.
WOW!! don't know if I would say all that.


As much as I am tired of seeing the guy get sucked off on the forum for what he "could have" done...

I will admit three positve facts about everyone's favorite nutty nigerian.

1) He stood toe to toe with Tua trading blows with him in the center of the ring round after round and taking Tua's best shots----(this translates into endurance, heart, awesome chin)

2) He fough a different fight with Byrd (on the outside as opposed to on the inside with Tua) showing style versatility

3) His KO of the elusive Byrd man was both gruesome and violent...which translates into effective and powerful.....that was a beautiful "underhook" and just when he started lulling Byrd into thinking that he was gassing out...WHAM explodes out of nowhere.

NOW....it can adversely be stated that:

1) Byrd and Tua had not reached their peaks in terms of skill experience and effectiveness and they were no one when he fought them

2) He did show quite a bit of frustration during the Byrd fight.

3) We never really saw him fight anyone of championship calibre.

4) He was obviously prone to making bad decisions outside of the ring.

Still, I think that the Lewis who avoided facing Chris Byrd wouldn't have been eager to face this guy either...he had a chin, technique and he could throw a punch.

BUT we will never know just as we will never know what he "could have" been capable of. he may have been a champion or he may have gotten KO'ed in his very next fight.

For this reason I try not to give the guy undue credit.