Well said. in Johnson's time they used to fight for food in halls in mines; they don't breed them like that anymore. Johnson is the ultimate display of slickness and toughness combined with a great uppercut and an awesome chin that could only get cracked by an ATG hard punching machine in the 160lbs Choynski. no way the midget ass Tua does better then the forgotten great fighters of the past in the O'briens, Harts, or Choynskis. Johnson is definitely a top 3 ATG heavyweight and top 5 H2H, as well proved by his awesome resume and battles with peak Jeffries or Fitzsimmons
Wow what a tough choice. One has a huge reputation and was a champion yet to me looks unimpressive on film and the other has a huge reputation yet looks unimpressive on film and couldn't even win an alphabet belt. I'll go with Johnson by virtue of the fact that Tua was a proven big fight choker with limited skill, severely one dimensional and generally was lazy and fat.
Incidentally has anyone seen Tua's performance on NZ Wheel Of Fortune? [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaIZF8uUTtk&feature=player_detailpage[/ame] O for awesome pretty much sums up his performance here. (I don't know what was worse, his spelling or his forgetting that you have to buy a freaking vowel on WOF if you want one):bart
This. One may argue where Johnson ranks in the all time HW list, top 5, top 10 or top 15...but I don't see anyone claiming that Tua belongs at that level...there's the answer.
Once again a gaggle of Classicists confuse comparing "all time greatness" to actual head to head abilities. Had Tua fought in Johnson's era, he would be remembered as Sullivan, Louis and Liston rolled into one. Rather, he fought in an era of real heavyweights nay superheavyweighs, not one populated by starving hobo's, pudgy hillbillies, fulltime blacksmiths and battle royale vets. I see the potential for a real blow out here. If Lil' Arthur thought spindly lil Ketchel or Choynski hit hard, he'd be in for a real shock against a fit version of Tua. Johnson's only hope is to warm to the task quickly and thwart Tua for the early rounds when he tends to be busier. However, Tua has the power to end it in any round. And what Johnson lacks is the real reach and height to keep Tua at a distance all night.
And what Tua lacks is a thing called BOTTLE, as he showed when after sampling a couple of Lewis's right hands, he settled for going the distance and not getting hurt, rather than fighting to win.
Unlike Johnson, whose apologists have a litany of "out of shape" and "hungover" stories to explain away his many less than overwhelming performances...
This could go 1 of 2 ways, Tua has the power to knock a man cold, he's technically pretty skilled but at his worst lazy, which for a pressure fighter is no good thing. I'm not sure Johnson came across a technical sound pressure fighter with this type of power before. But Johnson is still a smart counter puncher, a master of using range, quick, and a good defensive fighter, if not 1 with technical flaws himself. He could pull a Chris Byrd, although that version of Tua was a little past his best