David Tua and other shoulda been champs?

Good post, UppercutKO, but I wouldn't lump Rahman in there with the others. He held the undistputed heavyweight championship, if only for a few months. While he has some talent and skills, I don't think his potential was ever greater than that. I can't see his skill level being high enough to allow him to be a long reigning champ. And that's not a knock against him. I give him his props for what he accomplished and for his current efforts to get another shot.

 

Poor timing, possibly bad management, and the fact that he was just too dangerous for his own good.

 

is this concerning heavies only? Bennie Briscoe and Derrick Jefferson would be 2 cases. dayum i was really hoping Derrick woulda made it, but he was very close. he had the guns and it was admirable how he threw every shot with conviction but maybe too much. it was heartbreaking for me to see him lose to one of the klitschko's. i blame it on his trainer for not showing him to box, relax, and work more on defense. the guy was a janitor at a college and was close to achieving the American dream. his war with Maurice Harris is an all-time classic and one of my top 5. if any of you haven't seen it you'll love it as well.

 

Rahman's inability to succeed further lies in the fact that he cannot take a decent punch for ****.

 

james toney seems to have won the heavyweight title heaps of times but for some reason he keeps getting stripped of it

 

I guess I don't see where Rahman had the same potential as Bowe, particularly when it comes to size and natural skills. Rock's got a good jab when he uses it, and pretty good power when he lands, but I never thought that there was anything about him that really stood out above other heavies. He didn't have Tua's power, or McCline's size and athletic ability, for example. I think he made the most out of what he had.

 

The reason being he's a steroid using fat overweight **** talking useless sloth.

 

Riddick Bowe is another one, seems like he had the tools to become one of the greatest heavyweights of all time but seem to age REALLY badly, seemed like he was really really old at the age of 27(reflexes gone, big time slurring words, just all around slower). dunno wtf happened to him though

 

Audley Harrison :yep, but he will correct that soon enough

 

He should've gotten rid of Rahman.. but he couldn't, he and his management had to CHEAT Rahman TWICE.

He sucks.

 

He got his shot but couldn't go far with it, his opponent was Lennox Lewis after all.

 

I agree. I was really hoping that Jefferson would make it big, in part because he's a fellow Detroiter, but also because his fights were usually very exciting. The beatdown he got from Wlad was hard for me to watch.

I heard from some guys on the local boxing scene that because of Derrick's power, he and his trainers always focused on winning by KO and rarely put in enough work on stamina. The best example of this was his fight against Izon, where he punched himself almost to the point of unconsciousness, without Izon landing hardly anything of significance.

And you are right about the Harris/Jefferson fight. It is one of my all time favorites.

 

In my opinion Tua was weak minded fighter, once lost to Ike he was never the same fighter ..

 

I'm still hoping Tua isnt done yet....the heavyweight division as it is I think he could put the lights out on any HW champ right now.....Waldo doesnt have a chance against a fit 230lb Tua....No chance