David Tua versus Jim Corbett

Corbett's best result is a draw/no contest with an injured Pater Jackson. Who did he beat over 178lbs who wasn't totally shot or totally ****?

 

We agree on a lot of this.

Tua's best "win" is a loss to Ike, or the Rahman win for whatever it is worth!

Against that, a draw against Peter Jackson, who we both agree was the best in the world that the time, looks fairly impressive!

As for Corbett's previous resume, I can't quite work out how good it is yet!

Too many politics of the era to work out first.

 

Corbet kills Tua with a devastating punch to the solar plexus.

 

Corbett wouldn't qualify as a sparring partner for Andre Ward, let alone any competent skilled heavyweight boxer from the Louis era onward.

 

Jackson had an injured ankle.
Corbett's resume is one of the weakest of all the undisputed heavyweight champions. I wouldn't pick him to beat only decent heavies such as Sanders,Rahman,Ibeabuchi,Golota etc.

 

I have gone along with this argument a lot of the way, but I have to wonder if we are missing a thing or two.

 

listening to some old timers, this is how they think Boxing history has developed: gloved Boxing started out in 1890...…. with a bang!! sure the Sport was mostley illegal at the time and finding a Boxing gym was basicaly impossible...……..but who cares. the fighters had perfect technique, superhuman punching power, blazing Speed, anvils for chins and conditioning that would literally last forever. and from then on, EVERYTHING went Downhill. while in every other field of human activity People started getting smarter, faster, wiser etc...….NOT SO in Boxing!! technique got crappier and crappier, the fighters whimpier and whimpier. sure, the heavyweights today are basically twice the size of corbett and Friends……..but those are just Facts!!! and never let Facts get in your way of grasping Boxings rich history!!

and if you should ever get to see some footage of the likes of corbett doing his "Boxing" and you start thinking something like "damm, they look like a bunch of kangaroos trying to have sex on Acid"...……...the fault lies with you!!!! cause you let the Facts get in the way of you "Boxing history"!!!!

 

You seem to have some trouble understanding the difference between facts and assumptions!

 

As I said before, I don't think that Corbett has enough power to stop Tua from rushing into him. Corbett's huge defensive strength is clinching which would likely not work against someone much heavier like Tua. Still, his legs and craftyness should earn him some time. Corbett would lose by KO in mid rounds to me. He lost to every single elite puncher he faced outside of old Sullivan.

 

What would they be? Corbett himself talking to Tommy Loughran ,never claimed more bouts than those he is credited with. Wins over a thoroughly washed up dipso Sullivan, a middle weight Mitchell,a novice Choynski ,and Kilrain who was 25lbs over his best weight,do not convince me Corbett could cope with a modern heavyweight built like a tank ,with an iron chin ,and terrific power.I think Tua would ruin Tom Sharkey and we know Corbett couldn't handle his physicality.

 

I wonder if some of Corbett's pre title wins might have been better than we realize.

 

It's a fact that Ive seen high schooler amateur boxers who had better defense, technique, and sharpness in their punches than Corbett. He is only relevant due to historical significance.

This content is protected

-The guy has both arms down and loops his shots in a weird "overhand jab" with an equally ugly overhand right. It almost looks like he's trying to throw a baseball with none of the grace or explosiveness.

-he raises his chin in the air.

-pretty slow hands for a guy regarded as a "technician" and outside fighter.

-leans forward when throwing combinations, leaving his entire mid section wide open and a sucker for a right hand lead.

-his stance is ugly and almost looks like a half assed front stance in shotokan karate. If your goal is to use a jab with lateral movement and set up counters, that's a horrible stance to use. Having the back leg bent that much with the weight on the front foot makes it that much harder to turn or shuffle your feet to get out the way. I know what I'm talking about because I took karate for 11 years.

Maybe some of these "tricks" and his finesse would work on some flat footed barroom brawlers but they would get you slaughtered if applied today or even 20 years after Corbett retired. By then you had a rise in more fighters using a traditional guard, snapping the jab out instead of pawing or just using it as a clubbing weapon, better balance and stance, hell even the lumbering jesse Willard had better fundamentals than some of the footage in this video.

 

The problem with this argument, is that Corbett was not a technically orthodox fighter, even by the standards of his day.

He was a fighter who relied heavily upon reflexes, and use of feints, and got away with it where other fighters of the day would not have done.

Yes there are fighters like that in every era.

So while your analysis is largely right, it doesn't necessarily mean that Corbett could not beat fighters from a later era.

 

Ok let's say you're right and he was "unorthodox" and relied on feints and reflexes. He still doesn't look very fast on screen and left himself open a lot. That's an observable fact regardless of what era we're discussing.

Tua had good timing and decent hand speed himself, he wasn't a lumbering oaf who relied on his hook. Look at the stoppage of Rahman, he pivots and twists his waist and upper body very quickly and throws a barrage of shots at all angles. Tua was also patient and didn't just swing for the fences as soon as he got someone in a corner or hurt them. The fact he was never stopped and didn't gas out is proof he managed his stamina well too. I think it would just be a matter of time before Tua saw an opening with those ugly overhand jabs and rights of Corbett's before he cracks him and he's counted out.

You seem to be implying Corbett was some sort of ancient Roy Jones who would make people look silly with his speed and unorthodox randomness.

 

Wasn't Corbett only about 170lbs. Tua would literally kill him!