Underappreciated? He eats some fairly heavy shots from Tua in this clip and keeps boxing as if they were nothing. https://streamable.com/3b6p
He'd be pretty high up on the list of what could have beens, along with Bowe, Sanchez, and a few others.
Proven what, that he could take punches from less powerful fighters than Tua? He'd done quite a bit of that already.
Power is a grossly overrated commodity. An ounce of technique is worth a pound of power. Tuas power never saw him a convincing victory over a ranked opponent!
I agree with this. Power gets overrated. Or else Earnie Shavers would be the greatest heavyweight of all time. It's harder to outpoint a mobile strategist than it is to beat a powerpuncher. But knockouts are more scintillating. It's a good reason why I feel the 80's heavyweight scene was loaded with talent but gets frowned upon, especially compared to the power surge that were the 90's heavyweights. Tua has some good wins. The drubbings of John Ruiz and Michael Moorer were explosive. Rahman was a good win, as were the come from behind KO's of David Izon and Oleg Maskaev. Other than that his resume is fairly thin.
Personally i wouldn't be mentioning him in the same breath as Bowe let alone Sanchez. Both are infinitely more proven. Bowe had his chance in the ring, and did all he was ever going to. This of course is a lot more than Ike, who got cut short as he is a psychopath or close enough to it. Sanchez achieved a lot, more than Bowe. He still had a lot ahead of him and we would have learnt so much more about him.
I agree on the sense that both Sanchez and Bowe achieved more than Ike and l probably should have stopped when l said he was a talent that was never fully realized. So your comment is definately correct. My bad.
Nooo all good. Just putting him in his place. Lots of potential but only two small bits of realization.
No its not overrated. It is the great equalizer. It is the only asset that can win you a fight if you're hopelessly outclassed in every other department. Shavers didnt make it at the top level because he had n chin and bad stamina Power is especially dangerous if it comes with a good chin, and if you add the stamina to throw power punches for 12 rounds on top of that you have a very dangerous opponent even if he is slow as hell, swings like he never learned how to throw a punch, uses his face as defense and has the ring IQ of a dodo. Obviously that doesnt mean that every other aspect should be neglected but power can change any fight real quick. When i first started sparring after maybe a month or two of training i was 17 years old, 6' tall and a very muscular 200 pounds. My coach put me in with a southpaw who was maybe 20 pounds lighter but he had been boxing for a decade and was fast and in great shape. I had no idea how to box him, my jab was useless, i was eating his straight left over and over and i was gassing out very quick from the nervous tension. The southpaw was taking advantage of that hitting me hard to both the head and body. He was a very sadistic person who would beat up on novices and much smaller guys in sparring. My nose was streaming blood and my coach was yelling that he would take me out if i kept taking those shot. I got angry, took a step back and when he stepped in to close the gap i threw a straight right to the body followed by a left hook to the head as hard as i could and he went down hard. Now he tried to make me pay for it in following sparring sessions but i always managed to get a good shot in to atleast make him respect me. Point is he had me beat in every department, but my power made the difference
I agree with all of this. But, who seemed more dangerous to you, Chris Byrd or David Tua? Who received more accolades coming up through the ranks? Yes power is the great equalizer, but you have to have a reasonable good skill set to dominate with that power. It's a big reason why Lennox Lewis was able to shine and rise above the other power hitters of his generation like Tua, Briggs, Grant and so on. Lewis's SKILLS made him a better fighter. Yes, AND Shavers lacked the necessary tools to beat the best. Without his power Shavers would be rather ordinary. Aren't Jimmy Ellis and an old Ken Norton the only guys worth note who Shavers beat? For example, the 90's heavyweight scene gets a ton of accolades because the division was hot and loaded with power punchers. But you take some of the better skilled 80's bunch and I'd pick them over the 90's power guys every time. From top to bottom the 80's were chock full of talent, it's just some of the guys lacked focus and consistency.
