Boxing, the sport that never met a bad idea it couldn’t promote, gave us this gem: Ike Ibeabuchi, age 52, climbing into a ring in Lagos after a quarter-century in the wilderness. His opponent? A 40-year-old countryman with nine losses, Idris Afinni.
The result? Afinni quit after three rounds, Ibeabuchi waved his arms around like he’d conquered the world, and then he actually called out Oleksandr Usyk. Yes, that Usyk.
Ike Ibeabuchi’s Comeback: The Return Nobody Wanted
On paper, Ibeabuchi is still “undefeated” at 22-0. His last opponent before disappearing? Chris Byrd in 1999, a fight that ended with Ibeabuchi winning by unanimous decision before prison, lawsuits, and chaos swallowed the rest of his career.
Now, more than two decades later, boxing drags him back out like a retro act on a county fair stage. Afinni wasn’t there to fight; he was there to collapse. By the third round, he’d decided he’d had enough of this charade, stayed on his stool, and handed Ibeabuchi a victory no one should take seriously. And yet here we are, talking about it, because the sport loves recycling ghosts.
The Usyk Call-Out
And then came the punchline: Ibeabuchi calling out Oleksandr Usyk, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Usyk, who most recently schooled Daniel Dubois, is on another planet compared to a 52-year-old living off faded memories.
Imagine a man who just beat a reluctant sparring partner thinking he’s ready for the slickest, smartest heavyweight alive. It’s not just delusional, it’s insulting.
But hey, in this sport, you can’t rule it out. Boxing thrives on sideshows. If there’s a dollar to squeeze, someone, somewhere will whisper “why not?” A man who hasn’t fought since the last millennium versus a generational talent like Usyk? To promoters, that’s not an embarrassment — it’s a sales pitch.
This wasn’t a fight. It was a reminder that boxing will always serve you farces disguised as glory, and too many people will still buy a ticket.