[kenyan_cheena]

IBEABUCHI OVERCOMES COURAGEOUS OKOCHA,
TAKES FINAL WORLD RANKING SPOT

Thursday 26 September 2002

Fighting in front of an excited, capacity crowd at the Surelere Stadium in Lagos, Nigerian combatants Ike Ibeabuchi and Omovo Okocha brought the curtain down on the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's feeder league tournaments in style, Ibeabuchi winning a thrilling eight round contest by unanimous decision (79-73, 76-75, 77-74) to claim the title of African Boxing League Champion. In what was perhaps the most anticipated of the eight tournament finals Ibeabuchi was able to turn back a determined challenge from Okocha, dropping him with a body shot midway through the 5th and proving just a little bit too classy for the 20 year-old.

Both men came into the contest with perfect 6-0 records, Ibeabuchi having decimated James Eldren in the semis while Okocha recovered from a 3rd round knockdown to defeat Stanley Drexxon by split decision. The hype surrounding the fight had been huge throughout Nigeria, with most favouring Okocha and his more humble attitude over Ibeabuchi's perceived arrogance. This was clear as the two made their separate walks to the ring, the applause for Okocha much warmer than that for Ibeabuchi. The fact that Okocha was accompanied to the ring by fellow Nigerian boxers Celestine Amakochi (Light-Heavyweight), Tebiro Diaw (Middleweight) and Samuel Peter (Heavyweight) didn't do any harm either, all three of whom did their best to pump up the crowd. Both men were decked out in the Nigerian national colours of green and white, Ibeabuchi's trunks green with white trim and Okocha's white with thin green piping.

Ibeabuchi made his intentions known early as he caught Okocha with a smashing right cross seconds into the 1st round, following up with a wild right hand that slightly buckled his opponent's legs. Okocha came into the round with some solid work during the middle minute, continuing it into the bottom third before Ibeabuchi looked to seal it with a pair of snapping uppercuts late, the second of these causing Okocha to backpedal. The crowd applauded heartily, chants of "I-ke-ke!" and "O-ko-cha!" resonating around the stadium. Ibeabuchi retained control in round two, a jolting right cross and a flush left hook doing some damage early on and another one of those crunching uppercuts finding the mark midway through the stanza. Okocha appeared to hurt Ibeabuchi with a straight right shortly before the bell and while it brought howls of excitement from his supporters it wasn't enough to compensate for his lack of activity through most of the round.

In the 3rd Ibeabuchi really stepped up his aggression. He was once again dictating the pace through the top half but when Okocha looked to be getting into the round with some effective body work the #1 seed simply put it beyond doubt, peppering Okocha with a series of stiff jabs before clocking him with a smashing left hook moments before the bell. Okocha recovered well during the intermission and started the 4th nicely, outboxing Ibeabuchi through the first half of the round before he got careless and ate a hard left hook. His response was impressive, though, a right hook that bounced off Ibeabuchi's head and stunned him. But once again Ibeabuchi was able to finish strongly, a pair of combinations and a left hook in the final twenty seconds enough to sway two judges to award him the round.

Seconds into round five Okocha's fans were on their feet as he caught Ibeabuchi with a beautiful left hook flush on the chin. Ibeabuchi stumbled back into the ropes and Okocha followed, pounding away at his man and connecting with a winging right. But Ibeabuchi countered brilliantly, a right hook backing Okocha off, enough to allow him some space. Moments later Ibeabuchi unleashed a right hook to the body and Okocha dropped to one knee, clutching at his side and shaking his head. Many in the crowd fell into a suddenly stunned silence, the air sucked out of them just as certainly as it had been taken from Okocha. He was up at six but wore a despondent expression. The remainder of the round was non-eventful, Ibeabuchi content to jab and move in the knowledge that he'd be awarded the round 10-8. Once again Okocha showed promise to start the 6th but a crunching Ibeabuchi uppercut about a minute in turned it in his favour. He followed it up with some hard left hooks and a straight right that sent the sweat flying from Okocha's bald head. Okocha tagged his man with a hard left hook as the bell was sounding but once again, it was too little, too late. He was merely competitive and on this night that wasn't going to be enough.

The action slowed somewhat in the final two rounds and although the crowd didn't exactly get a grandstand finish, they did get some impressive work from Okocha. He won both rounds on two scorecards but to be honest it was more than likely that Ibeabuchi allowed it. He took his foot off the gas in the 7th and didn't re-apply it in the 8th, appearing confident that he had a big enough lead to cruise to the finish. The scorecards confirmed that he was correct in that assessment and while the verdict was not a popular one the audience grudgingly acknowledged Ibeabuchi's brilliant performance. He exchanged words of mutual admiration with Okocha but spoke of his relief at, as he put it, "dodging a bullet".

"It's a great place for me to be in," Ibeabuchi said. "It's a real relief to know I'll be competing in the World Ranking tournament. I have some sympathy for Omovo because he's a great fighter, he had a great tournament and he really deserves to be there, also. I'd like to wish him all the best as he moves forward with his career."

Punch totals

Ike Ibeabuchi: 227/447 (.508)
Omovo Okocha: 154/433 (.356)

"He was too good for me," Okocha said, shrugging. "As simple as that. I had chances to control most of the rounds but I couldn't maintain the standard I needed to do that. He's really talented and I wouldn't be surprised if he finishes high up in the WR tournament."

Now 7-0(1), Ibeabuchi is one of only three fighters to make it through the feeder leagues with a perfect record, the others being Florida Alliance member Terone Haynes and the Irishman Artuir Claffey. It will be fascinating to see how far the trio can extend their undefeated runs as they progress through the World Ranking tournament.

(Undercard Highlights to follow)