the post-prison Mike Tyson vs PRIME David Tua

i think tyson would make the most of his rare height and reach and vantage here to pump a shotgun jab from mid range in to tua's face with little sidesteps when tua lunges in with the left hook to counterr with uppercuts. pre holyfield tyson still had good timing and on the rare occasions tua bobs to throw his left i think tyson could time an uppercut on that chin and move away, like he did wtiht mathis. tua has a great chin so i reckn it would take tyson till 7 or 8th round to get the stoppage, tson wouldnt be ko'd by one shot, all of his losses were by methodical beat down and i dont believe tua could deliver on that especially against a great counter puncher in tyson.

 

Post Prison Tyson's biggest problem among many things was he didn't like to fight with a strategy.

He always loved to fight but when put in a situation ala Holyfield (which by the way was a very winnable fight for Mike) he failed because he didn't have a game plan. He was doing the same thing over and over and Evander was fighting with a strategy.

Tua's style is not hard to solve. Its a matter of being able to take his punch and being tough enough to go blow for blow.

Fortunately for Tyson, Tua was even lazier than he was and he couldn't box his way out of a paper bag. Tyson had the better chin, faster hands and sharper power. In addition he was a better counter puncher. This a fight in which his physical attributes and his "just wing it mentality" would see him through the day.

I remember Lennox saying back in 2000 right before they fought that: "its gonna take more than a left hook and a bad hair cut to beat me"

I think Tyson could say the same.

 

Love this post. It's one of the biggest reasons Tyson became less effective later in his career. He started to just fight on pure emotion and talent. In one of his classic interviews he even says "**** it, it's a fight. Whatever happens, happens." when questioned about his failure in the Holyfield fights. Says a lot when you really think about it.

As for Tua, he may just be the most overrated "what if" fighter on these forums. He has never impressed me.

 

He was hoping to unify the titles which is why he side stepped Lewis for the time being, he thought Holyfield was old and shot so Mike thought he could beat him and get him out of the way, However after Evander beat him i think Mike just realised he dont have it anymore and stuck to fighting bums.

Of course he was to fight Mcneely, Seldon, Mathis etc, these were warm up/tune up fights after coming out of prison! He wasnt going to fight Lennox/Tua straight away after coming out now was he?

I dont think Tyson avoided Lennox or Tua, esp David Tua.

I think Tyson beats Tua all day all night. to beat post prison Tyson u needed to hit him, move, make him miss and when het gets close tie him up and tire him out to soften him up for the later rounds. Tua just doesnt have this style sorry. I see Tua going on the retreat after realising hes facing a guy who punches just as hard as him, similar to what he did against Lewis. I think this would be an easy fight for Tyson because he would get to do what he wants and thats wing away with hayemakers!