Unbeaten heavyweight contender Efe “The One And Only” Ajagba (11-0, 9 KOs) will battle Jack Mulowayi (7-1-1, 3 KOs) in a 10 round fight on October 26 shown live on Showtime from Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.
The three-fight telecast features super welterweight contender Erickson “Hammer” Lubin facing Nathaniel Gallimore in a 10-round main event and former lightweight world champion Robert Easter Jr. making his super lightweight debut against veteran Adrian “El Tigre” Granados in the 10-round co-featured attraction.
I’ve seen Ajagba in a couple of his fights. Is this the new Ike Ibeabuchi? Man if Ike ever kept his head in the right place we could have had a hwt who I.M.O would have gone down as an all time great. one of the most gifted hwts i’ve seen.
He isn’t Ibeabuchi. He is too slow and unskilled. He seems to have a good chin but has no head movement. He will be kayoed as soon as his opposition is upgraded.
Haachitaba
From a boxing perspective, Ajagba and Ike have little common. Ike was one of the fastest rising heavyweights in history. To TKO a 26-0 Byrd or UD a 27-0 David Tua is quite amazing. Too bad he couldn’t shake off his problems and demons. I think its safe to say that he was one of the biggest losses the heavyweight division ever had. His 20-0 record will live on.
Ajagba has some talent and power, but pales in comparison with Ibeabuchi.
In the past 15 years, every time a Nigerian heavyweight comes around, folks try to draw comparisons to Ike Ibeabucci. This guys is from Nigeria, but that’s where the similiarities end. From what I’ve seen, Ajagba doesn’t have the mobility nor show the angles and craftyness of Ike. He’s more like a long, heavyweight Tommy Hearns. He looks awesome and explosive, but it’s too early to tell, and fighting a guy with a 7-1 record will do nothing to reveal how good he really is. I thought Lateef Kayode was a monster when he was coming up and he turned out to be a Nigerian Nightmare, his own nightmare that is.
I’m going further to end the comparison, Efe isn’t full of steroid like Ike was !!
You think Ike was roided out? I never thought that or even considered it. You might be right, in fact, he probably was. He was huge and moved very quickly. Had good footwork and upper body movement. He had fast hands and threw punches in bunches, 6-8 punch combos. He could take a punch like no other, as Tua dropped bombs on him that didn’t seem to faze him. He was also a loose cannon and he would fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. He once assaulted sparring partner Ezra Sellers because he saw he was wearing a ring after a spar session. He accused Sellers of wearing it during and proceeded to attack him. Sellers was convinced (by Benjamin Franklin?) not to press charges. That all is consistent with steroid use. I always thought he was just a nutcase.
I think he was officially diagnosed to be bi-polar. A personal mess maybe, but an incredible boxer.
I have watched many heavyweight fights, and Ike’s stood out for me. It was always clear that he was a bit out of control, but I remember looking forward to every single one of his fights.
His raw talent was off the charts, but so were unfortunately also his personal problems.
In any case, thank you all for sharing some of your memories of Ibeabuchi.
Shame on you!
It is obvious he has mental issues. A sane person wouldn’t have behaved so erratic. Ike was never on steroids.
There will always only be one Ike Ibeabuchi.
The closest I have ever seen to fight like Mike Tyson.
Its good to see that some serious boxing fans still remember Ibeabuchi. He was an amazing boxing phenomenon.
Another thing about Ike was, he looked like a twin of Sonny Liston. And his power was on par with Listons.
He was supposed to make a comeback a few years ago after being released from prison but I think maybe he went right back to prison or had immigration issues. He would have been over 40 years old at the time and his comeback most likely would not have gone very far. But yes, he was a phenom. I think he was one of the last real heavyweights that could really move and box and throw combinations. His former foe Chris Byrd could move and box, but he wasn’t a natural heavyweight, same thing with Fast Eddie Chambers-he wasn’t a real heavyweight and couldn’t hang with the elite big men.