what if cus had trained tua?

He'd be better and more skilled, how much we dont know

 

tua would be unstoppable to be honest. as a big fan of tua, im not gonna lie to myself and say tua has good boxing skills, he doesn't, tua is like goerge foreman if he were 5'10. but his granite chin and inhuman punching power makes up for just about any and all flaws. if he were under cus' wing, where he would be taught head movement, jabbing, working the body, slipping punches etc, then tua would probably be undefeated. and he would have a much higher KO percentage along with putting chris byrd away

 

lennox is a different story, simply because his punches were so hard and straight down the pipe that even someone with head movement akin to a prime tyson would probably be on the recieving end of getting hit with straight punches. but if tua came in lighter, more focused, and more hungry then i dont think the fight wouldnt have been as one sided. i think he couldve beaten lennox if he had a better game plan and came in shape.

 

Tua would have been more effective with a better array of punches. His money punch was the lefthook he had little else. His defense was more of a glove blocking defense than slips and counters. It would be interesting to see a tick tocking Tua coming forward throwing combinations. He would have never had the speed of a Tyson, but if he was became more a counterpunching defensive fighter he would have probably done a little better against a lot of the boxers that took him deep in the early part of his career.

 

The only thing Tua would have needed to be a champion is a better work ethic.

 

Cus would have certainly given him that, but Im not sure he would have ever made it past Lennox Lewis.

 

I dont know who his trainers were, but I think Tua was trained pretty well.

It's more his own ring intelligence and adaptability, and will, that seperates him to a level below a Mike Tyson, rather than purely technical deficiency.
Tyson was prone to shut down and plod a bit too, but Tua far more so. I think that's the difference.
Tua had decent style and some nice moves, to be fair.

 

He was with Ronnie Shields Roger Bloodworth and Lou Duva. When Dan Duva passed away, his wife separated from Lou and Dino. When that happened Main Events retained Fernando Vargas and just a couple fighters, Golota and Vernon Forrest I think. David Tua went with Dan Goosen and the now defunct America Presents who also signed Camacho Jr as their two marquee fighters, yuck. It was at that time that David Tua started fighting less often and against softer oppposition, just biding his time for a big money fight for the title.
It was very important for Tua to stay busy and active because of his horrible genetics, and I dont feel he was ever the same after the Ibeabuchi fight because of it.

 

He might have slightly better head movement, be a bit faster but I think it's doing Tua a disservice. He's good at what he does, has an iron chin and hits like a horse kicks.

He's done alright for himself IMO, besides, being trained by a ghost can't be good for a mans psyche.

 

Really its a bit shocking the man never won a title. He beat some really good contenders on his way up the ladder, and look at some of the guys who won titles and he didnt. Rahman, Ruiz, Maskaev, yet Tua has never been a title holder. Im sure if went with Don King instead of Goosen, he would have been at some point.

 

Tua's problem wasn't the lack of a good trainer. For his style, he was always well-schooled and I can't think of any technical flaw or limitation he had. His problem was dedication and that ultimately is decided by a boxer's intrinsic qualities and the way he gets on with his trainer. The former wouldn't be changed by Cus and the latter is unknowable.

If you want an example of a heavyweight who would have been a lot better if he'd been trained by Cus D'Amato, check out Lamon Brewster. He was dedicated, had raw talent and the right style for Cus, but didn't have a team that could refine him into a consistently impressive boxer. Ricky Hatton would have also done well under Cus.

 

At the verry least he should have gone round Lennox Lewis.

 

Even Tony Tucker, who got three shots at a title courtesy of King, only won a belt because Buster Douglas was even less dedicated. Golota has had four title shots and hasn't won once, though two were questionable. If you don't REALLY want a title, you almost certainly won't, no matter how much talent you have. On the other hand, the likes of Brewster, Briggs and Braddock all made it to a title, though that might have to do with the mystical power of "Br" surnames.