The Popular Perception and Legacy of David Tua

It's kind of hard NOT to have a lackluster attitude when you've been forced at the tender age of 8 years old into doing something you don't care about. This psychological factor was pointed out and addressed in the article, learn how to read.

 

I'm a psychology major actually, Stanford University and I boxed in my teens for 5 years until I was 18. I'm not a pro boxer or a coach, nor am I the smartest man on the planet but I do know a few things about boxing, the physical biomechanical components will always be primary factors as this is a physical sport but in my opinion the mental psychological factors such as the boxer's childhood and the mental makeup of the fighter are also MAJOR DECIDING FACTORS for that fighter and his career, these psychological factors should NOT be overlooked. To me this concept is really not that hard to understand because boxers are human beings just like us. You look at David Tua, he's this extremely stocky guy who's built like a beast and he's so tough that he hardly ever gets hurt and is damn near impossible to knock out but he's still a human being and what took place in his childhood and him being forced to become a boxer and spar against grown men at 8 years of age has definitely affected his career because deep down only he knows that he never wanted to this, in an interview last month he even stated that he does not want his sons to box due to the pressure.

Simple and plain, it takes heart to become a champion, it's not that Tua never had heart but the heart he did have was never channeled into boxing and you can't force human beings to become something they have no interest and expect them to succeed to the highest level of whatever you forced them into. Just look at Marciano, HE decided in his 20's that he wants to become the heavyweight champion of the world and HE put his heart into this dream and went after it like a mad bull. The heart and psychological determination of a fighter are just as important as the physical attributes of the fighter such as size, strength and reach. The fact that Tua reached an elite level and fought in a world championship title fight, the fact that he knocked out 5 Heavyweight Champions. It's absurd because he accomplished these feats without determination and heart but purely on the strength of the genetic gifts he's been blessed with, monstrous power and a titanium chin. What I suspect is that Tua simply never possessed the EGO that motivates men to become the best in whatever they pursue, Tua at an early age was beaten into being humble and docile which was a norm in his Samoan culture as submission to elder members of the family was one of the first things instilled into children through force.

 

First off, you're a ****ing idiot and you need to keep your ****ing mouth shut if you don't know what the **** you're talking about. Bowe and Tyson didn't come from neighborhoods "were the average life expectancy for a teen is 12". I grew up in the 90's in East Oakland, California which to this day is still a more violent hood than Brownsville, Brooklyn, matter of fact, East Oakland right now is one of the top 3 most dangerous places in Calfifornia, along with Richmond and East L.A. The funny thing is I've actually lived what you're trying to tell me and I can tell you that a lot of people do have it very hard and a lot of people don't even have a father and mother like Tua had and they grow up with no parental guidance whatsoever but let me ask you this, name one boxer who was FORCED into the sport at an early age like David Tua was and went on to become a world champion?

I shouldn't even have replied to as you, as you're a ****ing idiot. I'm not even a Kiwi by the way, I don't even know what you based that assumption on but next time shut the **** up because you really made yourself look like an idiot with the "were the average life expectancy for a teen is 12". I grew up in one of the top 5 most dangerous hoods in California and you're trying to tell me about how bad the ghetto is, get the **** out of here.