George Chuvalo (1967) vs David Tua (1997) 12 rounds - who would win it?

Well done!

 

Love Chuvalo but get real ... Tua was bigger, stronger, faster, a harder puncher, equally well conditioned and took a terrific punch ... he wins a lopsided decision or forces a ref stoppage ..

 

I highly doubt that young Foreman was as physically strong as prime Tua, and at any rate they're two very differently built men. Tua's squat and muscular and Foreman, the young version at any rate, was long and lean. Different centres of gravity at play. Prime Tua was never physically pushed back by anyone. He was liable to be outboxed and put on the defensive, but in a straight gruel-off he was never bested. And he got in the ring was some absolute beasts in his time.

I don't know much about Chuvalo's background but it doesn't surprise me that he was into bodybuilding. He had a massively developed upper body, large arms and large traps, and was obviously strong. Tua, though, was just massive all over, including his treetrunk legs, and clearly the more athletic man overall. To say that he was weaker than Chuvalo because he looked weaker as a youth is ridiculous logic and simplistic to the extreme. People develop at different rates, and the adult Tua was clearly a hugely powerful man.

What Chuvalo says about himself is secondary to what he actually displayed in the ring, and he did not at any stage display any incredible defensive prowess. On the other hand he displayed brute resilience and a sickening ability to soak up damage for round after round without visible harm. He was not, however, the indestructible man. He was stopped twice and unofficially knocked down by Bonavena (both knockdowns were legit IMO, though the first was a balance shot).

That he displays little signs of PD today is amazing, but imagining that he could never be stunned or stopped, let alone stopped by a monstrous puncher like Tua, is making him out to be something he wasn't.

 

I'd give the handspeed advantage emphatically to Tua. It was his feet that were slow. I'd also strongly dispute that Chuvalo was the more athletic man (if you're talking natural athleticism and not mindset). Size? Well, Chuvalo was the larger man overall, but Tua was more compact. Offensively I'd say they both had their strengths and weaknesses. Chuvalo kept coming forward throwing thudding shots to the body and head, whilst Tua tended to attack in bursts couple with long periods of inactivity. Stylistically I agree that this one's fought in a phone booth. If Chuvalo can consistently attack Tua's body (his one weak spot) then he might have success, but if Tua starts getting to him with his left hooks I don't see his face holding up.

 

Kurgan, that is about the best analysis of how this may have played out over all the other responses, both from the youngsters that **** on the old-schoolers and the oldies (like myself) that tend to underrate the new-breeders. One thing I'm sure of, this fight goes the full schedule.