‘YOU’RE FIGHTING A CRAZY MAN’
THE last time Ike Ibeabuchi appeared in a boxing ring was on March 20, 1999, when he faced fellow unbeaten contender Chris Byrd at the Emerald Hotel and Casino in Tacoma, Washington.
Ibeabuchi’s five-round destruction of Byrd that night would enter boxing legend. But the fact that the unbalanced boxer could even fight that night was a miracle. In this excerpt from his book President of Pandemonium: The Mad World of Ike Ibeabuchi, Luke G. Williams recreates the chaos that surrounded the Ibeabuchi-Byrd bout and captures the recollections of those who were there–including Chris Byrd, Bill Benton, and Eric Bottjer.
WHEN he was slated to arrive in Tacoma for his heavyweight showdown with Chris Byrd, Ike Ibeabuchi sat with Bill Benton over 800 miles southeast, in the departure lounge of Salt Lake City International Airport. Benton – a former matchmaker for Ike’s promoter Cedric Kushner – had been tasked
