Tua vs Holyfield circa '96-'97?

But how good was Ike? with all due respect we only ever saw Ike in the Tua fight and Byrd fight.

Imagine if Razor Ruddock had gone into prison after the Tyson fights? hed be overrated today

wed never hear the end of how he would have tested Lewis' chin etc etc and Ruddock would never lose to glass jawed Morrison etc etc.

Also, in the Tua fight, Ike was there to be hit, Holyfield wont be, not after the first few rounds.

 

Ike was everything that Holyfield was but he was much larger(he was 244 pounds for the Byrd fight while Holyfield was 215 pounds for the first Tyson fight in 96, Ibeabuchi carries 30 pounds of muscle over Holyfield despite being the same height and you can tell he's a natural heavyweight by how wide he is across the shoulders when compared to Holyfield, a blown up cruiserweight). Ike was also much more stronger, harder hitting, more aggressive, had a superior workrate, better chin but he didn't have the mental stability to balance out the intensity of being a brutal heavyweight boxer.

If Ike Ibeabuchi couldn't hurt Tua over 12 rounds of dishing out EVERYTHING he had in one of the most physical fights in heavyweight boxing history then there's no way that "Tua will back off and turtle after getting hit by Holyfield." as some posters are suggesting would happen, I'm struggling to understand the reasoning and logic behind those statements. It's also difficult to understand the reasoning of the poster who stated "Holyfield might drop Tua." Tua has been knocked down ONCE in 59 Professional Heavyweight bouts and that was at 39 years of age, WAY past his prime but Prime Evander was KNOCKED OUT by Riddick Bowe in 1995, only a year before this purported matchup. If anything, Holyfield would be the one to get dropped by Tua and knocked out in a fight like this.

It really makes me cringe when I read posts by guys saying "Tua would go into a shell like he always does." He went into a shell against Lewis not because he was hurt by Lewis's punches, HE HAD A RIB INJURY 2 WEEKS BEFORE THE FIGHT IN SPARRING! People think it was an excuse because he said it after the fight but the occurrence of the injury was recorded in the "Destiny in my Hands" documentary on VIDEO FOOTAGE BEFORE THE FIGHT! Go type that in on youtube.

The reason why Tua went into a shell against Lewis and didn't go after him is not because he "turtled" from the "immense power of Lewis" or that "he didn't like getting hit hard" but because nearly half the power in a power punch like a hook comes from the rotational torque of the core, the obliques and the intercoastals which is the area that Tua injured before the fight so every time he tried to power punch Lewis he felt the pain in that area.

 

-Tua shelled up the first 5 rounds and lost a SD, and only got going when Ike wasn't throwing.

-Holyfield has a larger listed height and reach, Ike was a bit heavier, but lets not pretend there is a huge size difference.

-Did Ike really hit harder than Evander? No way to know for sure, Ike KOed Byrd, but Holyfield has dropped iron chinned guys like Mercer, Bowe, and Tyson with well placed punches.

-The HBO record. And Evander wouldn't need that many punches to beat Tua. Ike was throwing and missing lots of jabs, Evander would be ripping combinations to the head/body and smothering Tua like he did Tyson, controlling the pace.

 

What's his excuse for turtling and giving many rounds against Wooden, Oleg, Izon, Rahman, Ike(Holyfiled x2 apparently), Chris Byrd,.etc.

 

You mention that Holyfield had a larger height and reach as if that was significant when he was half an inch taller and had a mere 2 inches more in reach. Let me ask you something, how is one fighter having 30 more pounds of muscle than the other fighter at the same height NOT a huge size difference?

 

What's Holyfield's excuse for getting knocked out in Round 8 after getting dominated the entire fight by Riddick Bowe in 1995?

 

Ike was 235 for Tua, Holyfield was 215-218 for Tyson. So not a 30 lb difference. As I said, you could say Ike was a bit heavier. Ike started coming in over 240 in his last few matches, and didn't look in the best shape, he was huffing and puffing before catching Byrd.

 

I would say you haven't seen the fight.

 

If you think Tua turtled against Ibeabuchi then you haven't seen the fight my very special friend.

 

"Holyfield was 215-218" :huh Source? I clearly remember him being listed at 215. One fighter having 20 pounds of more muscle than another fighter IS A BIG DIFFERENCE IN SIZE.

 

1997-06-28 : [url]Mike Tyson[/url] 218 lbs lost to [url]Evander Holyfield[/url] 218 lbs

[url]http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:11808[/url]

 

-I've seen the fight, friend. And Tua certainly pissed away the first 5 rounds doing his turtle impersonation.

-Now care to explain how Bowe dominated Holyfield the entire fight? Was he dominating when he got hurt and dropped in the 6th?

 

Tell me this, if a much larger and stronger Ibeabuchi couldn't put down Tua while dishing out EVERYTHING he had in one of the most brutal heavyweight bouts in history while setting the record for most punches thrown in a 12 round fight then what makes you think Holyfield, a cruiserweight who struggled and almost lost to Qawi but you think he would drop cast iron chinned Tua? Why do you think that?

 

How was Tua turtling when he bombed on Ibeabuchi 30 seconds into the first round with an overhand right that started the war?

 

-I don't agree Ike was "much larger" and "stronger"

-I've done explained this. He dropped Mercer, whom the "much larger" and "stronger" Lewis couldn't drop. He dropped Tyson, whom the "much larger" and "stronger" Ruddock couldn't drop..etc. It's certainly possible, accuracy and timing is everything.