Mercer Or Tua - Legacy

I think ultimately Mercer will be rememebered as the "greater fighter" who despite his inconsistencies at the very least got himself a strap around his waist from a formidable fighter Morrison.

Tua IMO was the better prospect. He never lived up to it though he showed more promise....

 

Formidable? LOL Morrison was a glass jawed bust. He was more of a toughman contestant than a world class boxer.


Tua actually knocked the crap out of 3 MULTIPLE time heavyweight champs oleg maskaev, john ruiz, and Hasim Rahman. Those these 3 wins didnt come for the title, take note it was because Tua was so highly feared no one would give him a title shot except lennox lewis. He was also argueably robbed against the most talented heavyweight of our era, Ike Ibeubuchi. His 19 second knockout Win over JOhn Ruiz is remarkable when you consider john ruiz has faced the best competition(including top punchers) out of all the heavyweights of the past 10 years and only one man ever stopped him....David Tua. 19 seconds! Huggy Bear OUT COLD!

Tua showed he was much more consistent than mercer. Both fought old former linear champs(moorer and holmes)....Tua flattened moorer in 27 seconds, while mercer got badly outboxed by 42 year old Holmes. Mercer did perform better vs lennox lewis(tuas worst performance) but he also had a draw against clubfighter Marion Wilson who deserved the win. Tua never had this much of a letdown performance in his prime.


h2h Tua easily gets the higher ranking

When you compare wins Mercers wins over Damieni and Morrison dont stack up against Tuas wins over Rahman, Ruiz, Maskaev, Oqueno, Sullivan, and Moorer.


While Tua never picked up a belt, I think he did enough that he deserves a ranking over mercer. if you want to include h2h in the mix.....Tua with his Unbelievable power, concrete chin, high workrate, underated defense, and incredible LATE CLUTCH POWER takes the cake.

 

Both are disappointments ... Tua was never the same after the loss to Ike ... he was never in the same shape again or willing to make the same commitments ... Merc er won the Olympic Gold which earns him a place in history ... he simply entered the game at an advanced age , ceased to develope as a pro and also was not the world's hardest trainer ... he had his best fights in the second half of his career but threw out too many years when he had a shot of being very good ...

 

Tua will end up being viewed as the better heavyweight in the future. He simply scored the bigger wins. Mercer's best win is Morrison but after that it gets pretty thin. Tua has a long list of victories against good to solid fighters. Mercer also has his share of poor results that Tua doesn't. Mercer has Wilson, Ferguson, and an old Holmes on his record. Tua's losses were against the best out there-Lewis, Ike, and Byrd. Tua has the better resume comfortably compared to Mercer.

In a head to head match-up I view this as an even fight. Both guys had great chins so I'd expect a decision fight. Tua had a better workrate and stamina but Mercer had a very good jab. Tua showed in several fights that he has trouble with jabs. I'd expect an entertaining fight here and lean very slightly towards Tua, but tomorrow I could lean towards Mercer.

 

Tua's mystique and power, especially with all those brutal first round KOs, (and the occasional late round one, such as with Daid Izonrieti, who later changed it to just Izon) will keep him in the public imagination longer. Boxing fanatics may be dissecting the tape of Lewis-Mercer 20 years from now to score the fight, but both the boxing fanatic and the casual fan are always going to be blown away by Tua-Tuiz, Tua-Moorer, etc.

 

Tua easily.

 

They'll also be blown away by the scoring of Lewis-Tua, though.

 

Only in retrospect is Morrison a "tough man fighter" but at the time he fought Mercer- Morrison was considered a top level fighter and a serious contender to the throne...Damiani was also a top prospect at the time he fought them.

Ruiz, Maskaev and Oquendo were really never anything serious at the time Tua faced them. They may have turned out to be better fighters afterwards but they were not legitimate threats to the Champ at the time he fought them.

H2H I give the edge to Tua, but Mercer was no slouch.


Mercer's biggest let downs came against Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis in hard fought battles where he showed his talent but came up short. Ray often fought up or down to the level of his competition and as a result he performed alot worse than a fighter of his talent should.

Tua had a let down performance against Lewis where he seemed to have mailed it in early in the fight almost happy he didnt get knocked out.

 

I don't know. Frankly, I don't think either man deserves to be rated much higher than the other. But, if I were to break the tie, then I'd say that Mercer's longer list of defeats, hurts him a bit more. Especially dropping decisions to an old Holmes, Jesse Ferguson, and a draw with Wilson..

 

I thought Rahman was a clear winner in the Tua rematch. I thought Mercer lost to both Holyfield and Lewis but they were close and tough fights and I'd put both Holy and Lewis in the top 10 of heavyweights. So you could use those close fights with great heavies and Tua's fortunate draw to make Mercer and Tua a close call as to who was better.

But the biggest think that will keep Mercer behind Tua is his blemishes. No shame in losing, especially when the fights were so competitive, to Lewis and Holy but when you have the Ferguson, Wilson, and 42 yrs old Holmes as blemishes on your resume and Tua has nothing like that than Tua still comes out on top.