David Tua versus Jim Corbett

Good question!

I believe there was a rapid "growth" in evolution during the 20s and 30s - with Joe Louis maybe representing the "end result", as he was as close to technical perfection, as any fighter I have ever seen.

In the early 40s we of course had brilliant boxers like SRR and Pep, and by that time boxing was as "modern" as it is today. I don't really see any overall improvement in skills since then.

On the other hand, I don't subscribe to the idea that boxing has devolved over the last half century... as a lot of posters here apparently think. We have some excellent fighters today, who would have held their own in any era: Gonzalez, Rigondeaux, Lomachenko, Golovkin, Ward, Kovalev; to name but a few.

 

The fighters improved dramatically in the 80's.they became more Ali like style,moving with more footwork,overall technically better,less brawling style .It was more refined maybe not as exciting but more refined.Even from the early 1900'a to a Louis era you can see the technical advancements...I would say you cant use what ifs,just because a past era fighter would have access to modern era accessories doesn't guarantee anything.Put modern fighters back in other eras with the same scenario and you cant definativley say they would be outmatched,on what basis?There is no proof either way,we can only go by real life footage and what we know a fighter was like not what he COULD be.Im speaking mainly Hw's but this should apply to most weight classes.

 

from ricardo mayorga to vernon forest there are massive technical improvements, except they were at the same time and mayorga beat him twice.

 

Well it's a fact that if Wlad was born in that era he'd be a giant with a big punch and a weak chin, he certainly wouldn't have the skill set he has today.

 

I think it's pretty clear to see the fighters of the early 1900's are light years behind fighters of the modern era's. Let's be honest they were no better than bare knuckle gypsy fighters of today, Jim Jeffries aka Joe Joyce...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je0Jqg1hGBc
After watching this ,do you seriously believe you can compare him to Jeffries? Joyce or any of those others would not be competitive with Jack Munroe!

 

there's a lot of truth to that comparison as during the early years people like corbett took what bareknuckle fighters did and were adapting it to gloved bouts and new rules. in many cases they were trained by bareknuckle fighters too.

The fact they are professional is a big difference tho. I admit i don't know much about gypsy fights(how much they actually train for one), but i've seen a few and they didn't have the composure, punching technique or fitness we can see even in the bad film quality of fitz koing corbett.

I agree boxing has evolved, and in lots of ways for the better, but in the context of this fight we are taking a guy who the evolution has prepared for limited rounds, scored bouts and putting him in a fight with someone who actually fought well past 20 rounds and scored stoppages past that point. I'd want more details, like ring size, location ect before I put money down, but in a big ring with moderate temperature i'd be tempted by corbett, and if it reached 20 rounds i would definitley go corbett.

 

What are the rules?

How big is the ring?

I think Corbett out points Tua in 12 or 15 rounds in a 22 x 22 or larger ring. Tua could not land anything on Byrd. Having power is great but what good is it if you can't land? Corbett was very quick, and had head movement and countering ability to make attackers think twice.

While Tua's chin was a rock, I found his heart to be iffy in a few fights. vs Byrd and Lewis for example. Tua's stamina wasn't good in most fights either.

Corbett's chin could be a little under rated. He took the big shots from Joe Choynski, and Peter Jackson, and both guys were punchers wearing light gloves. Jeffries eventually KO'd Corbett but did not take him out early and his foot speed / athleticism / reach was much better that Tua's.

Tua didn't KO lots of guys early either.

 

Dude let it go. You lost. Poor choice in mcneeley. He was not a good fighter in any era. Corbett gives him a boxing lesson

 

I lost what?You cannot change video footage or records for that matter,corbett fighting McNeely would be like Floyd trying to fight Roy Jones.

The simple truth Corbett wouldn't even be ranked today or a pro boxer if he fought like that now,as stated go to your local boxing gym and fight like Corbett and see how idiotic you look with that out of date B.S.

 

To beat a man of Corbett's lineage Tua would need to fill his gloves with Kryptonite and that stuff is hard to come by.

 

In lineage times, with lineage gloves and a lineage ring. Tua would have no chance but to succumb to the lineage. I know its a bit of a linear argument, but its futile to try and refute lineage.

 

What era?

 

In the era of the early heavyweights.