Many say Tua and Ibeabuchi get much to much credit for their careers and there is some truth in this however, let us suppose either at the top of their games had fought Tyson whilst he was at the top of his. Q. Would you be astonished if either of them had managed to pull off the upset? Q.Which one would you have given the best outside chance of doing so?
No I wouldn´t be astonished. And that includes every Tyson you want to pick. Both these guys are alomost the worst possible matchup you could choose. Forget about comic hero worshipping. About who they did beat blabla. Tyson didn´t fight any iron chinned Tuas or Ibeagiants who didn´t take a step back and bombed. For 12 rounds throwing! Boxing is made of styles too. But who knows, maybe we´d see Tyson on the backfoot sticking the jab in Tuas face?
This. Neither would beat a prime Tyson, but Tyson from the late 90’s and after was a very beatable and diminished fighter, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he lost or even got stopped by either late in his career.
If it was pre Douglas I'd be surprised. Even when he came out of jail and pre Holyfield 1, I d be surprised. But once Tyson got in to the late 90 s /early 00 s then it would have been seen as Tyson s finished, washed up . Even as good and powerful Tua and Ike were, people would have seen it more as Tyson slipped rather than how good they were. A little like some say about Tyson v Lewis!
Tyson at his best? Yes I would be very astonished. Both were greats talents but imo lacked the mobility to put up a competitive fight. Tua has the better chance because he had the strength and power. But they would both simply be right in front of him to unleash his ferocious attacks. Ike may try to box but he wouldn’t have the speed nor the mobility. I think Ike could survive if that were his goal.
For Ibeabuchi there is the chance he´d fight dumb, jabbing on the backfoot giving Tyson momentum. Nevertheless, Tyson most probably has to win a decision here. The Tua fight would be nasty brutal. Both guys leaning at each other bombing away. Alot of Tyson advantages are thrown out of the window this way. So yeah, I´ll give Tua a better chance than Ibeabuchi, who maybe could be outmaneuverd by Tysons speed and combinations. In the Tua fight, almost anything could happen.
Both could have beaten the Tyson of post-96. If we're talking about prime Tyson, not close. 88 Tyson stops both Tua and Ike. Yes, stops them clearly. Both were too easy to hit for Mike.
I'd be shocked if either beat Tyson. If i had to pick one with the better chance of an upset i'd pick Ike as we actually got to see Tua's ceiling.
Peak vs peak, Mike would easily beat him. Tua's footwork, head movement and overall technique were nowhere near prime Tyson. Its like comparing the greatness of prime Roy Jones to prime Amir Kahn. Past prime vs past prime , its kinda hard to say because Tyson sometimes would look devastating like against Savarese and Golota but in some other figths he just looks idle and slow like when he fought Botha. I could see Tua struggling against someone like Holmes, Tucker, Smith and Ruddock (pre Tyson fight). Tua two most notable victories were against small heavyweights, Ruiz and past prime Moorer.
Tua's power was in his looping shots, Tyson was too much of a bobber, weaver to get hit by those . & Even though Ike got the win over Tua, he took the harder shots. I can see a great battle with each. Plus we tend to forget Tyson could & would switch-hit. All bets are off as to how both guys would've dealt with that. Lastly, the punches Tyson took when he had Rooney in his corner....we had a saying "Don't hit MIghty Mike...you'll just make him angrier!" His punch resistant was solid, but gradually that faded as well. Prime Tyson with Rooney ? I would've been very shocked to see either stop him or just win. His footwork was too on point. His speed was & IMO hands down the fastest only 2nd to a Ali same deal- (1st Ali, not the 2nd version) That hook to the body, then upstairs would've found a home over & over on Ike. Every time Tua throws that looping shot that dropped Ruiz & Moorer? THat caught Ike over & over? those shots fly right over his head. Only Tyson's shots would've been based on timing and not throwing back to retaliate as Ibeabuchi did quite a bit versus David.
