November 11, 2000 Lennox Lewis defeats David Tua

One of Lewis's best wins.

 

A very good win from Lewis against a very dangerous puncher, and I feel Lewis was already a few years past his prime.
Tua's performance left a bit to be desired. It seemed like his ambition was to 'challenge' for the world heavyweight championship, but not to win it.

 

Lewis's legacy is marred with fights like this..
Not many people today give this win much credit, but at the time Tua was highly touted as the most dangerous man in the division. Lewis made it look easy, Tua put in an underwhelming performance, and was never considered a top heavy from that point on.
The exact same thing happened in 1997 when Lewis obliterated Andrew Andrew Golota in less than a round. The boxing elite dismiss Andrew Golota as a sub par HW today , but back in 97, those same 'experts' were singing his praises as the second coming of Ernie Shavers. I specifically remember reading a KO magazine article at the time picking Golota to beat either Tysin or Holyfield.
To a lesser extent the same could be said about Michael Grant in 2000, although it's true he did have some doubters even back then.
But point is Lewis made it a point throughout his reign to seek out the supposed most dangerous challengers available, at the time they were the highest rated.
It's ironic those same boxing elites dismiss those wins today

 

The same happened with Razor Ruddock

 

This is true for those fights, but I feel like Lewis has quite a respected resume overall (it’s among the best, especially for recent fighters), much more so from dedicated fans. However, I seriously doubt Lennox will ever get his dues from the majority of casual fans.

Lewis looked great in this fight, and he made a habit of taking top level fighters and doing this to them, but frankly Tua looked subpar.

 

I honestly did not see that performance coming from Tua especially after how he fought against Ike and Rahman. I thought he would be competitive against Lewis based on how hard he fought in those previous fights but he basically **** the bed.

 

I respectfully disagree here on Lewis being past his prime. He looked as good as ever in 2000, IMO. Demolished Grant and Botha and schooled Tua. I would even go as far as saying Lewis looked the most unbeateable at that time, certainly far more so than he did look in Mavrovic and Briggs fights.

 

Yeah, I've thought that too, and he certainly had a more obvious confidence and presence about him post-Holyfield - but reviewing his fights recently I think his prime was probably from the Ruddock to the Golota fights.
He demolished Grant and Botha and schooled Tua, yes, but those were good styles for him to deal with.
In terms of speed, agility, mobility, I think he had lost a degree.

I'm not sure any fighter is prime at 35, to be honest.

 

Thee were plenty who picked Tua to win!

 

Easier as well.

 

Tua looks like he's not familiar with how to explode and reload. Initial speed wasn't his thing. Pathetic from him, otherwise a decent enough contender, only. Lewis was probably glad to see that.

 

Tua seemed to get tenative after tasting some of Lewis's early shots, both to the head and body. Byrd would later hurt Tua to the body a few months after this fight.

After the Izon & Ibeabuchi fights, Tua seemed to never show that type of workrate and stamina again. After that, he was more selective with his punches, for whatever reason. Lennox had the type of power to make anyone tenative and more selective with their punches, but Tua was like that in other fights as well.