let's just say in 2000, tua manages to catch lewis with a magical left hook and knocks him out. what would tua do? would he fight tyson? holyfield? bowe? any others? also, what would we think of lewis' stock afterwards?
Once you have the title, you have some leeway to select opponents who are favourable for your style, and avoid ones who are not. Some of those guys were ripe for the taking.
how do you think lewis' career would of turned out? say if he did everything that he also did, except he lost to tua in 2000, would you still hold lennox in such a high regard? :think
If he had lost to Tua instead of Ramhan, it might have increased his standing. Tua would more easily have been built into sombody worth loosing to. If he looses to both, then he dosn't realy look like he has dominated the era any more.
Yes but if a big upset happens, people suddenly start looking for the greatness that they overlooked, in the fighter who causes the upset. In Tua it would be easier to see the phantom, because he did not suffer knockout losses, and was a spectacular finisher. People already over rate Tua because of his power.
Lewis would probably rematch him and then his career resumes as normal. Tua would never have fought Tyson/Holyfield. He would have fought a load of bums to feed his mcdonalds habit
Basically Tua replaces Rahman... in that Lewis gets an immediate rematch & dominates him. Then Lewis takes Rahman seriously the first time, so doesn't lose to him.
So it comes down to wether it is perceived to be less damaging to breifly loose your title to Tua than Ramhan. I lean to yes, although it is probably on a par in reality.
What if Lewis lost to Tua AND Rahman? It puts a whole different complexion on things. His failure to fight Byrd takes on a whole new complexion. So Lewis would have three prime losses and a failure to beat the fighter that beat his conqueror (Chris Byrd). Actually, if Byrd had beaten Tua before Lennox was rematched, Lennox may not have ever re unified the titles, which would have sent him well out of the top 10 and maybe the top 20. Even worse, if Tua had beaten an old Tyson and an old holyfield before fighting Byrd (or if Byrd had beaten them), it would take away most of Lennox' legacy. I think he might struggle to make the top 50 in those circumstances. I guess by contrast, Vitali also would struggle immensely with his ranking, although because of this, Wlad would probably be rated much higher especially with the two Byrd wins and general acceptance that his brother was not as good as him.
What makes u think Tua would fight those after winning the title? He hasnt done jack **** his whole career His career consists of beat ranked name, fight bums disappear, come back fat repeat cycle And as i stated earlier, Tua is the sort of guy, who would NEVER have a long reign. LL rematches him and schools him. Simple as
the need 4 money ? He fought Lewis , Rahman*2 (although he never beat Rahman) , Maskaev , Ibeabuchi , Byrd , Ruiz , Izon , Wilson , Sullivan , Nate Tubbs , Gary Bell , Dannell Nicholson , Cise Salif , Robert Hawkins , Jeff Wooden , Moorer , Oquendo , Cleveland Woods . In 2 fights , Tua was not stopped by Rahman and Lewis was , in 1 fights Tua stopped Maskaev while Rahman was stopped twice by him , Tua at least lasted the distance vs Lewis which Rahman didn't do in their rematch and many others failed to do , in fact , he did not even go down . The only man who might have a claim to beating Tua is Lennox Lewis . Tua was/is the quickest stoppage loss on many of his top opponents' record. These opponents above proved their worth and danger by stopping other world class fighters fair n square . I didn't even think or state Tua had a fair chance vs Lewis , just the what if so yes , Lewis would have decisioned him in a rematch anyway.
