David Tua vs. Joe Frazier

This is gonna sound lazy as hell but that covers how I feel about it as well - both about Tua's chances, and also how Frazier could still win this fight.

I really have a feeling Tua doesn't enjoy body shots. It was very noticable that a few whacks to the tummy from both Lewis and Byrd made him back off. If Frazier can blast away with his usual body attack then he has a chance to intimidate Tua.

 

Tell that to Ruiz and Moorer. :yep

I think Frazier would pull it out late, perhaps after visiting the canvas. Probably a UD win, it's hard to imagine Tua getting stopped. Tua has a puncher's chance.

 

Frazier would mix a bit of clever boxing in there with his pressuring style, probably win this on points.

People think Frazier was a stupid strategist because of the first Foreman fight, but Frazier didn't always get it wrong against strong opponents. He knew to be slick against burly tough guy Ron Stander and he set Chuvalo up with the jab and used better angles of attack once he'd felt the Canadians strength.

Tua has a puncher's chance against anyone. But Frazier took some awesome punches in his career and kept coming, or picked himself up off the canvas.

Tua at his best was good coming forward, but once he started getting picked off by a quick opponent he'd become less intense and more predictable. But his power remained 'til the end.

 

This would be a great fight I think. I think Tua was definitely the harder hitter and the owner of the better chin. I think Frazier was the busier fighter. But I think this might be a hard fight for Frazier. Tua's chin could take Frazier's power; Could Frazier's take Tua's? I think Frazier could conceivable outwork Tua, but there would be some scary moments along the way.

 

Excellent analogy! I wonder what Tua would weigh for a fight with Frazier? 240? 250? I know Joe would probably come in about 210-215. These guys would be fighting a rough and tumble type of a fight - there wouldn't be much dancing, clowning, and posturing going on - so I think Tua's weight advantage would be a big obstacle for Joe to overcome - especially in close where Joe did his best work!

But damn, Tua can sure pack on the weight. Early in his career he weighed like 220 or so, but he ballooned up nicely!

But in the immortal words of Samuel L. Jackson(Jules Winfield) - "the brother's got a bit of a weight problem, but he's Samoan, what's he gonna do?"

 

I think Frazier is getting sold a bit short here.

Yes Tua hits harder IMHO and is more durable. Any weight advantage he has can be chalked up mainly to his body fat index.

The key advantage that Frazier has here is defence. He has perhaps the fastest head movment of any heavyweight and Tua is a relativley static target by comparison.

In a slugfest between two hard punching swarmers it can get a bit random who is the last man standing but typicaly the guy with the better in close defence wins.

 

What great fighters has Tua knocked out again?

 

David Tua and every other heavyweight in history has a real tough time beating the FOTC, 205 1/2 lb Joe Frazier. In fact, I'd pick this Frazier to knock out all those guys late, even Foreman.

There is no way Tua would be able to catch the FOTC Frazier. Ali missed a lot of punches against that version of Frazier, so what makes people think Tua would catch Frazier and stop him early?

An overweight, out of shape, Frazier got knocked down six times, got up six times and still tried to find his legs against Foreman. Tua would probably KO the 1973 version of Frazier if he's lucky inside 4 rounds. If Frazier makes it out of the early rounds, he knocks Tua out around 9 or 10. Look at Foreman in the interview with Don Dunphy after the Kingston fight. He can barely catch his breath and seems fatigued to me. What would have happened in 1973 if Frazier made it out of the second round and started to warm up? Tua doesn't have the total punch power that Foreman has in both hands but I could see him knocking Frazier down once or twice early in the fight.

There's no way he beats the FOTC 1971 Frazier, but possibly the 1973 Kingston version.

 

I agree with this. Although I might have to favor a prime Tua over a prime Frazier, I disagree with those who feel that Tua would blow out Frazier the way Foreman did. It's possible that punch for punch Tua might hit as hard as Foreman did - they both carry a huge wallop - but I agree with you that Tua didn't have Foreman's overall strength. Tua being as short as he is - Frazier would actually be the taller man by an inch or two - wouldn't enjoy the same height/reach advantages that Foreman had. Foreman was able to bomb away at Frazier from long and short range; Tua wouldn't have the luxury. Foreman's power was utilized more effectively than Tua's could be. So, it would be a great fight. Even though I'm a pretty cheap guy when it comes to paying to watch a boxing match, I'd definitely pay to see this one!

 

Damn! I can't imagine Tua ever weighing 204 pounds, even at birth!

 

Tua had decent hand speed ,but slow feet,he probably is the more durable ,and has better one shot power ,but Fraziers superior hand and foot speed ,plus his work rate make him favourite for me I give him an edge ,say 60/40.

 

Which Joe Frazier are you referring to? The Frazier from 1966 - FOTC, was known for punching off the angles, staying low and using his right hand after moving in on his opponent with his jab. He hit Quarry, Bonavena, Ali and Jimmy Ellis with hard right hand shots. Frazier wasn't just left hook alone but it is documented that Frazier couldn't extend his left arm fully due to a childhood accident. It certainly wasn't out of Frazier's game to use a jab in order to set up his hooks to the body. Frazier was almost always bobbing and weaving off the angles.

I watched Joe Frazier stand up to George Foreman and try to out-muscle him, not using the angles, only to get knocked down 6 times in 1973. If Frazier fought Foreman in the condition he was from the FOTC with Ali, he would have seen a lot more angles, much more head movement and a barrage of body punches.