At his prime, he would probably lay waste to every heavyweight champ up to Liston... Oh, this isn't the controversial opinions thread?
Let's face it, David Tua was easily outboxed. However, if you got tired, or if you let him get too close, he could take you out with those bombs of his. A very well conditioned athletic boxer beats him every time by decision. He probably would have done better in the era of the 15 or 20 round fight.
He completely obliterated two fighters that went on to be beltholders. With the politics in boxing, getting shots isn't a great gauge. He wasn't elite but he would beat the majority of those in the ts's post. A few of those guys are top 15 though let alone top 50. He was enigmatic in the sense that he could be outboxed pretty easily, but at the same time is dangerous in the extreme for fighters of a certain style due to his attributes. So it's hard to know how to rank him. Also i though that both him and Lewis were beyond disgracefull in their title fight. Lewis was an athlete and not a fighter and Tua is just a lazy ****ing idiot who didn't have the heart to at least go out on his shield. That fight alone puts him down the ranks come to think of it lol.
Tua was 100 times the fighter that Marciano was. If Marciano is a top 10 heavyweight even though he wasnt a heavyweight, never fought a heavyweight and never beat any fighters who were still in their primes then David Tua is the best heavyweight who ever lived.
I am sorry that Rocky sodomized when you were a child, and would reccomend serious counseling to help you on the road to recovery. And I don't mean a single counselor, but something on the university level...you need a team!
He's a good example of a one dimensional fighter who was excellent at only one thing. In my opinion, he might not even make the top 20 HW punchers, certainly not overall fighters.
In terms of power, he would easily make the top 20, even top 10. It's hard to measure, because even tho some fighters have great power, they don't always have the skills to put it to use (Shavers) against higher level opponents. I will say, anecdotally, that being near the ring when Tua lands punches sounded different than other fighters.
Essentially, Tua became another Earnie Shavers, but with a solid chin. A power punch was the only trick up his sleeve. But the prime David Tua would be more of a threat for anyone.
Tua defines the puncher's chance. He could in theory beat anyone, or lose badly vs. the best by getting out boxed. Tua's 1st round Ko's over Ruiz, and Morrer were impressive. Tua's war with a prime Ike was also impressive. Yet he punked out vs. Lewis, and failed to engage after being smacked around by Byrd. I would say top 50, but not top 25.