Once-Feared Heavyweight Ike Ibeabuchi Ends 26-Year Layoff

Twenty-six years and five months after scoring a fifth-round stoppage win over the then-unbeaten future champion Chris Byrd, Ike Ibeabuchi finally returned to the ring and emerged victorious.

According to ringmagazine.com, Ibeabuchi’s comeback fight took place late Saturday at Lagos’ Teslim Balogun Stadium, Nigeria, where he faced short-notice replacement Idris Afinni (18-9-2, 15 KOs).

Originally slated to fight Danny Williams, Ibeabuchi instead battled the 40-year-old Afinni, who fought gamely on the back foot before retiring after three completed rounds.

Ibeabuchi (21-0, 16 KOs) still looked every bit the muscle-bound 6-foot-2 heavyweight who was once branded a divisional boogeyman in the 1990s. Yet at 52, it’s impossible to overlook the turbulent road that led him back to the ring.

Known as The President, the Isuochi-born Nigerian was making his first professional appearance on home soil after years of being based in Dallas, Texas.

His career was derailed after serving a 16-year prison sentence in Las Vegas on charges of battery with intent, attempted sexual assault, and parole violations, before being deported to Nigeria in 2021.

Prizefighting.tv promoted the event as a historic occasion, offering it on pay-per-view for $30. Ibeabuchi had long expressed a desire to return as early as 2015 but repeated legal setbacks delayed his comeback.

Speaking at a pre-fight press conference, he boldly claimed his 26-year layoff meant nothing, vowing to prove it in the ring, even if against an unheralded opponent 13 years his junior.

Despite the modest level of opposition, Ibeabuchi has already set his sights higher.

According to Boxing Magazine, he openly called out two-weight undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk, as well as Tyson Fury and rising prospect Moses Itauma.

Other heavyweight greats have attempted similar returns with mixed results. Mike Tyson and Oliver McCall recently found contrasting degrees of success, while Evander Holyfield’s ill-fated 2021 comeback stands as a cautionary tale.

COURTESY: Sportsdives