Your thoughts on Ike Ibeabuchi vs. David Tua?

[Spicoli]

Who exactly do we have on his record to conclude how he would fair vs a Wlad style let alone a sharp jabber.Anthony WadeThe man was fury vs Tua and caught a light Bird (I cheered) but what else.He was full frontal and walked in often...no straight set up.Solid Body combos and volume but dude had some flaws and less than 20 fights,seriously?

You bring up a good counter argument for Wlad but of course this is all a guessing game. Nobody will ever find out who would win. Ike was not even in his prime when he last fought so we must guess how much better he would've gotten. But with only 20 fights he already beat world class competition a couple of times in David Tua and Chris Byrd. Wlad hadn't beaten world class comp until his 36th fight. Maybe you are onto something and Wlad's style may have exposed Ike as one dimensional. We'll never know. But if we only go by facts then Ross Purity, Corrie Sanders, Lamon Brewster, and Samuel Peter all walked right through Wlad's jab and 3 of the 4 knocked Wlad out while the only loser, Samuel Peter, knocked him down 3 times. These facts makes it very easy to assume that Ike would have KO'd Wlad eventually due to the fact that Ike(who actually used head movement not just walking right in) was a much more murderous puncher, relentless pursuer, and had an iron chin. You pose a good question against Ike in this imaginary matchup but there is a very glaring question against Wlad in this matchup that can not be ignored.

You are correct on Wlads chin being a huge asterisk.Once a guy gets opened up like that vs Sanders and gas out vs Brewster its totally valid to expect his beard to go brittle vs an Ike.Wlad straight up got blitzed in that one.Brutal.The Ross fight was a lifetime ago in boxing years and Thompson was always a big,strong,durable sort.Wlad took an acid test and though leading again he pooped out.

I think the Peter fight was as much chin/head as it was Wlad being as stiff as a board and very tense.He controlled it with jab and though dropped did not totally short circuit.Remained collected and came back at end.Wlad learned alot that night.Almost a case similar to Peters fight with McCline.Dude was bounced like a ball with harsh kd's but came back and kept game plan for win.Think Wlad is much calmer,better thinker & better fighter these days.

I def am not flying a banner for the we love Wlad society and he at times bores the ever loving crap out of fans.Drives em to late night info mercials.Too much paw-jab-paw...right hand for many when they are used to heavys of old going the other way with it.For me its more a case of Ike and what exactly we came to know of him,in realistically only 2 live body fights.He beats Tua & sits out for over a year?The Ike of that night would cause many heavys to ask for a change of shorts and physically a beast with some variety in hands but was a head case as opposed to todays Wlad.The right night and right punch who knows,totally agree.Can see it and will go down as a huge 'what if'.We'll never know but I think alot of just that mystery puts Ike on a more generous plateau.