Nigerian-born heavyweight legend Ike \u2018The President\u2019 Ibeabuchi has reignited his career in dramatic fashion, calling out unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk after securing a third-round technical knockout victory over Idris Afinni at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Saturday. The 52-year-old, fighting for the first time in 26 years, forced Afinni to retire in his corner, extending his unbeaten professional record to 21-0 with 16 knockouts.
Ibeabuchi, once regarded as one of the most feared prospects of the 1990s, showcased flashes of his old power and precision as he broke down Afinni with punishing body shots. \u201cI was catching him with good punches, I was banging him down with body shots, and sooner or later I believed he was going to wear down,\u201d he said afterwards. \u201cNow, I want to fight Usyk. I am 21-0 with 16 knockouts\u2014why can\u2019t he fight me? I love fighting, but I want him before time elapses.\u201d
Afinni, who dropped to 18-9-2 (15 KOs), showed respect for his opponent after the bout, declaring Ibeabuchi \u201cthe world\u2019s best.\u201d The event drew attention not only for Ibeabuchi\u2019s performance but also for the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control\u2019s (NBBofC) decision to sanction a fighter of his age. General Secretary Remi Aboderin defended the ruling, insisting Ibeabuchi had passed all medical requirements. \u201cAge is just a number. He felt as young as he did 25 years ago, and his lifestyle meant there was no significant wear and tear. We had no choice but to sanction the fight,\u201d Aboderin said.
The NBBofC also pointed to global precedents, noting that older fighters have been cleared to compete under proper medical supervision. \u201cIf the international world could sanction a Mike Tyson at 58 years old to fight a 27-year-old Jake Paul, nothing should stop a 51-year-old fighting a 40-year-old once medicals are cleared,\u201d Aboderin added. NBBofC President Dr Rafiu Ladipo hailed the comeback as \u201ca testament to the enduring spirit of boxing and the dedication of athletes who refuse to let time define their limits.\u201d
Ibeabuchi\u2019s return caps a turbulent personal journey that saw him imprisoned following legal troubles after his 1999 victory over Chris Byrd. Released in 2015, he later violated probation and served an additional four years before his final release. Now, more than two decades later, the self-styled \u201cPresident\u201d has set his sights on world championship glory, with Oleksandr Usyk firmly in his crosshairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigerian-born heavyweight legend Ike \u2018The President\u2019 Ibeabuchi has reignited his career in dramatic fashion, calling out unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk after securing a third-round technical knockout victory over Idris Afinni at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Saturday. The 52-year-old, fighting for the first time in 26 years, forced Afinni to retire in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/images-99.jpeg?fit=739%2C415&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17081,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17080\/revisions\/17081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}