Boxer charged in sexual assault

Jace Radke

Friday, July 23, 1999 | 10:31 a.m.

A heavyweight boxer ranked in the International Boxing Federation's top 10 was arrested by Metro Police Thursday morning on charges of sexually assaulting an outcall entertainer in his Strip hotel room.

Police arrived at Ikemufula "Ike" Ibeabuchi's room at The Mirage hotel-casino at about 5:30 a.m. Hotel guests and Mirage security had heard a commotion and loud noises coming from the boxer's room, police said.

A 21-year-old outcall entertainer is believed to have been called to the room by Ibeabuchi, a 26-year-old native Nigerian, police said. The woman reported that the boxer sexually assaulted her after she arrived at his room Thursday morning, police said.

When police tried to make contact with Ibeabuchi, who is ranked No. 7 by the IBF, he locked himself in the bathroom, Lt. Tom Monahan said.

"He went in, locked the door and then fortified it with his own size and weight, which is about 6-foot-3 inches and 250 pounds," Monahan said.

Ibeabuchi would not surrender to the police and remained barricaded in the bathroom, so officers shot pepper spray under the bathroom door, forcing the boxer to come out.

Ibeabuchi was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of sexual assault and battery, police said.

Ibeabuchi is regarded as an up-and-coming heavyweight fighter and has a record of 20-0.

Ibeabuchi, nicknamed "The President," beat David Tua in a 12-round decision in June 1997, and knocked out Chris Byrd in the fifth round of a fight on March 20.