So in order to beat a guy that is vastly inferior in skill a fighter has to beat someone his size or bigger? I am 100% sure that Charles wouldn't fold in the face of a size difference. tua would just be a bigger target.
Elmer Ray and Marciano while not as big as Tua, showed that he could handle the pressure and power, more important, did the speed, power and size of Tua helped him against the natural 168 fighter that copied plenty of the arsenal of Charles, Chris Byrd?.
That's exactly the point, Charles was no where near the defensive fighter Byrd was. Charles liked to trade and got hit a lot. If he traded at all w Tua it would be over.
First thing Charles will do in the fight is hit Tua where he is open, letting him know that he won't be getting away with any defensive mistakes this fight. This will put Tua on his toes, and will cause him to take on a more patient pace. Charles had great showings against Marciano and Louis, two of boxings best punchers ever. He took terrific shots against both. He is definitely in a class of fighters who will not give easily, and can take some serious punching power while remaining calm. Tua will quickly adjust to using quicker, shorter punches with less power so that he can trade with the slick Charles. He will be opting to stand toe to toe with Charles, but not on the inside. Charles will be controlling the pace, and the distance. He will be outboxing Tua, and will outdo Tua in ever aspect. The great equalizer is Tua's power. He has a dozen rounds to land just one big hook to take Charles out. Charles needs to box till the end for a W, and Tua will need the KO. I favor Charles slightly, but it's almost a coin flip for me.
It's because Lufcrazy wanted to prove most historians would pick size over substance...But it backfired.
Tua wasn't a champ. That is what matters. He was a contender his entire career and that is about all he amounts to. A very good contender.
Perhaps because it wasn't that difficult (relatively) to win a title in his own era. If the title had split into four when Louis retired, then a fair few guys that Charles fought would have held one. You might have seen Ray, Savold, Oma, Maxim, Henry, and Layne as belt holders.
So contenders in each era are equal? Because I could name plenty of contenders that would have been champions in different eras. Does Tua beat Tommy Burns ,JimCorbett,Marvin Hart,Primo Carnera,Jim Braddock etc that's just a sample.
No you wouldn't Savold and Oma were so so ,Savold was already on the way down and Oma was absolutely horrible as far as consistency goes, from May 46 until may 48 he had 9 fights winning just 1 of them!. When Louis retired Ray was 40 years old!Louis retired in July 51 Layne was ruined by Marciano in October of that year he was no longer a factor at top level.
Louis was no longer a top puncher when he came back to face Charles ,plus he had been out of the ring for over 2 years.Louis didn't really land any great shots on Charles ,he did all his damage with his jab.
You should watch the fight again. Louis landed more than just jabs. I can pull up some examples if you'd like. Charles was taking some real powerful shots. And Louis at this point wasn't the Louis of old, but was still a tremendous puncher. And he was still the title holder.