Teddy Atlas Picked David Tua To Knock Out Lennox Lewis In 2000

That was my line of thinking at the time. There were so many openings that Tua should have utilized. He had Lewis against the ropes a few times and didn't throw anything. I think the 1995-1997 David Tua would stop Lewis late. Possibly early, even. He threw more punches and took advantage of openings.

 

Even so, far superior guys and boxers than Lennox Lewis like Maskaev and Izon were able to win more than a few rounds against a prime Tua by boxing. Even Tua at his best didn't always throw punches and could plod around doing nothing. He was forced to throw punches against Ike and that's the reason it was such a great fight, I'm a Tua fan but he is a guy who simply looks and sounds better when talked about than he actually was.

 

I might be wrong, but Tua landed a nice left hook on Lewis at the very end of the first round that had Lennox flailing back a bit against the ropes. Tua also said that Lennox made him "think" for the first time in a fight.

 

Tua looked to be building momentum and doing okay for the first four rounds or so. After that, he got dominated. It wasn't from the beginning though.

 

True, but in the end, David did knock out Maskaev and Izon late in the fight. The early David Tua would have been a much better fight against Lennox, and would have better chances of catching him. Remember the triple left hook David threw against Darroll Wilson? Lethal combinations like that would have given Lewis something to think about. There were moments when Lewis had his hands down against the ropes and Tua did nothing. Even George Foreman voiced his disapproval as an announcer. I think David was intimidated because he'd never been in the ring with someone of such skill before.

Yeah. I don't think Tua ever caught him flush, though. But Lewis did taste his power. It's a shame that both Tyson and Tua fought terrible fights against Lewis. I think they both could have beaten him if they weren't so intimidated.

 

Did he make that analysis after Tua weighed in at a fat 245lbs?
(A disgraceful weight considering his 5'10 height)

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Tua being in terrible shape was not surprising, since he'd weighed 243lbs & 253lbs in his previous two fights that year. So I expected a lethargic fat plodder, who would be stuck on the end of Lennox's jab all night. :verysad

 

Tyson wasn't intimidated, he was just in dreadful shape, absolutely shot-to-****, with a single round of good stamina.
However he bravely came forward throughout, as Lewis brutally smashed several kitchen sinks over him.

Tua on the other hand was intimidated, since he became very tentative & interested in survival once he was rocked by Lewis.

 

Couldn't he have got into the shape of his life just for this one fight?

It was a chance at imortality after all.

 

Well, in Atlas's defense (just this time), there were any who were predicting something similar for Tua...just past of the trend of overestimating Tua and more importantly, underestimating Lewis.

 

It was too late for Tua, he had to stay busy and was always in the gym. Thats how he kept his weight and fitness in check. The idle time deteriorated him so quickly once he got his mandatory position. Tua hadnt had a competitive fight since beating Rahman over 10 rounds in 1998. He fought Lewis in 2000.

 

It was a footwork fight and matchup from the start. Most people evaluate everything from the shoulders up and considered Tua as having at least average footwork.

Lewis had a big advantage in the footwork department and he was never a twinkletoes in there himself. Tua was considerably worse than that. Where did Tua's feet have to be placed so he can land clean punches?

 

Ridiculous comparison, of course fat Tua did better than fat, no stamina, beyond shot, walking corpse Tyson.

It's not much of an achievement.

 

Tua's camp tried to spin the excuse that his rib was injured, but David has said numerous times that he 100% physically prepared for the fight.

Something happened to Tua after his first defeat. I think Lou Duva drilled into him that he would be the next Rocky Marciano. (I've heard Lou compare David to Rocky millions of times.) I guess after that first defeat, the motivation wasn't there anymore because he now had a permanent loss on his record. After 1997, Tua gradually abandoned combinations and body punching, instead going only for left hook knockouts.