If Tua would have signed with King he would have been a mutiple world champion. King had all the belts and contenders and he was fighting every no named fighter not attached to King. He had to wait an eternity to face Lewis who was the worse styled champion he could face, but the IBF was the only santioning body who would make Tua a mandatory.
Tua is out of retirement from what I've read, If he does fight again, he needs to get back to the weight he had in 2009.
wholeheartedly agree. I rarely think going the DKP way is the ideal scenario, but this is a classic example of the benefits of comparing the Barry management to that of Don King/Carl King. It really doesn't get much wider than that. That being said, The Tuaman wins a title but he sure doesn't defend it much. Maybe 2 wins. Then he'd come in overweight or unfocused or in love with his power & drop a decision to a guy he shouldn't have lost to. It could be to a guy like Bean or Fres after beating better fighters even. But he'd find a way to show up with his B game and the other guy would be in top form and gets the decision win. Kind of like a lot of those 80's heavies in some ways. Competitive, but aside from the 2 biggest names, just not a consistency level of their game to constantly beat top 10 competition. Reflecting on his career, I still think of him as an "if only" fighter due to his management. There are so many parts to a fighter's career that are crucial and when it comes to the best fighters over the years, very very few have had the luxury of a successful career w/o top management. And a more difficult obstacle to overcome than speed or power.
If this is true then I'd agree that anything below 105 kg is acceptable. Otherwise, he's gonna be far too sluggish and get beat up by top 50 HWs...tarnishing his legacy even further in the process. C'mon, it can't be that difficult to get in shape with this much money on the line. Danny Green is still making millions per fight FFS...
he is . i read it on ESB front page i believe . his formal retirement was very short . his actual (2nd) retirement by now will b at least 3 times longer than its 4mal part .
Tua really blew it when he sat on his IBF #1 ranking and started taking on softer opposition while also getting softer in the midsection.
realistically , d only thing he can still achieve is a KO over Barrett . Povetkin wouldn't fight him . ppl like dissing fighters 4 being fat , but 4get that so they R . Tua's biggest problem was and will b his shortness , not his fat .
Disagree. Tua's biggest problem is his footwork. He was flatfooted and didn't have the balance to fire off punches while moving his feet either. Shorter guys can and do use footwork and workrate and upper body movement to compensate for a lack of height. What do you use to compensate for his lack of footwork?
Tua's footwork was fine against Ruiz and then late in fights against Maskaev , Izon & Oquendo , his footwork was enough 4 him 2 close d distance and do his magic . His 2nd biggest problem after lack of height is his relative lack of body punching . If i had 2 pick his 3rd biggest problem , i still don't know what it is .
