Conditioning . Tua weighed around 225 when he fought Ibeabuchi, 3 yrs later when he fought Lewis he was around 245 lbs. A lot of weight gained in 3 yrs for a pro fighters especially one who's height was only 5'10". So was he being cautious or just so out of shape to the point of not being able to close the distance effectively when he saw the openings. Lewis dominated the fight. And he should've been even more impressive and stopped Tua whom by that time was clearly just going. Through the motions.
Ike would have been deadly dangerous for Lewis imo. Yes, the odds are that Lennox beats him but can you imagine Ike putting the Pressure on his man, the high workman rate and a his ko punch?? Would have to be Lewis at his best or could find himself as he did against Rahman.
This. Tua caught a straight right early on and it halted his come forward aggression. He's fighting for the heavyweight title in the biggest fight of his career. I think his conditioning would've been decent regardless of his weight? At some point he would've gone all out to force his style on Lewis, unless he felt Lewis' power and decided to play safe.
Sure their is. But Tua broke a record with just as dangerous a puncher as Lewis in Ibeabuchi in a fight that broke a record for punches thrown and landed. Both fighters fought at the pace of young hungry middleweights. Tua also was the 1st fighter to defeat Rahman. Same Rahman that Koed Lewis. But a few shots from Lewis makes Tua completely lackadaisical? No. Very doubtful in my opinion. The facts are Tua gained over 20 LBS between Ibeabuchi and Lewis and questions about his conditioning was out there prior to the Lewis fight. Lewis didn't fight the best version of Tua, and maybe fortunate he didn't.
Other than Chris Bird, what top heavyweight did Ike ever knockout? The list of good heavyweights Lewis stopped is a mile long and you're saying that Ike was just as dangerous a puncher as Lewis? Personally, I think that Vitali Klitschko, Evander Holyfield, Ray Mercer and Hasim Rahman would have all given Ike hell on any given night. He was that unproven. Tua is fighting the biggest fight of his career against Lewis and you're saying that he suddenly got lazy in training? I watched Lewis-Tua live and I recall him flexing his calf/leg muscles before the cameras in a pre-fight video boasting about his condition. Yes, Tua gained 20lbs but these are heavyweights we're talking about. They take 5lb dumps and 15-20lbs is not a huge difference on these guy's frames. Tua passed the eye test and looked muscular and fit to me. He got caught with a big right early and got timid after that. I think you're overrating Tua and not giving Lewis enough credit at all. Timid is much different than lackadaisical. Look at Tua's history. When did he not try to impose his style regardless of his weight? The next fight after Lewis against Danell Nicholson, it was the same old stalking Tua, coming forward and aggressively taking out Danell in 6 rounds. What changed fight to fight? Lennox Lewis' right hand wasn't there to keep him honest.
