Great matchup. A "prime" HW Toney, if there even is such a thing, would carve Tua up IMO. It would definately be a close-range fight. Both guys have stellar chins, though, so I can't see anyone knocking out the other. Toney's crisp counters and his defence, which is far better than Tua's, will be the difference.
Think there's any chance Toney could hurt him? Byrd hurt both Tua and Ike with well placed bodyshots, suprisingly.
Tua's problem was that he had a habit of constantly waiting for an opening to present itself rather than working to create an opening. That's how guys like Byrd and Lewis managed to outbox him. Toney, like Byrd, would never allow Tua that opening and would thus win a comfortable decision.
James Toney would not hurt Tuaman whatsoever IMO.. but you don't need a K.O. to win a UD. Toney on points.
It is my observation that clever boxers can bang well above their actual power when they set traps. Its the shots that you dont see coming that sting the worst and slicksters can utilize their somtimes limited power to its maximum potential.
If the ring size is under 20 x 20, Tua wins for sure. I would pick Tua anyway. Tua is not a person to counter punch, which is how Toney liked to fight. You need to jab and move, stay off the ropes, and pepper him with the Jab. Toney heavyweight run has an * next to it due to a flunked steroids test in the Ruiz fight.
The Tua from the Ibeabuchi fight? By easy decision. Toney throws no more than 30 punches a round. Tua averaged over 60 punches a round. Obviously this is a bit of an over-simplification, but fact remains that Rahman won (on a fair scorecard) mainly because he simply outworked him. Dito for Peter; they are not boxing wizards. And neither is Tua, but he won't have to be. Especially if you consider he can easily walk through Toney's best shot (like Rahman did), while Tua's shots are extremely hard. "Lights out" has one of the best chins of all time, in a pound for pound sense, and i think he could survive Tua, but not without trouble. Let's not forget that Peter had Toney down and in trouble more than 3 times each fight. Another interesting aspect that no one has commented on yet: Tua, at 5'10 tops, always had a gigantic reach disadvantage which took a bit off the steam of his punches. Toney is 5'9 and won't run from him. A stoppage is not out of the question.
