Who Was Better - Ron Lyle Or David Tua?

Tua was "better" head 2 head and historically. The number of future champions and ranked guys that he beat can't be overstated......especially when you consider he has KO wins over guys that would win titles after they were ktfo by him. Very bad lot in life that he never held a belt but so many guys he detonated did

 

This.

 

Very similar. I'd put both in the same tier of roughly top 25-30 heavyweights (along with fighters like Ibeabuchi, Byrd, Ruddock, Ellis). Tough call for me. But, gun to my head, I will say Tua.

 

Tua also only beat one top 10 ranked fighter, Rahman thanks to an illegal punch.

 

Really! I admit I haven’t done an in-depth analysis of his opponents but off the top of my head, Moorer, and Ruiz weren’t ranked?

 

He was as competitive as one could get in his contest with Foreman

 

i think Tua destroys Quarry

 

I don't Quarry did very well against punchers, and it's not like Tua couldn't be outboxed. Rahman, Maskaev, did it for large periods.

Obviously Quarry would have to be careful because Tua's power is dangerous at any point in the fight, but I think Quarry has the style to beat Tua.

 

Oquendo was ranked top 10 when Tua stopped him I believe, and maybe Izon was briefly ranked in the top 10 aswell.

 

Resume wise, slight nod to Tua. His wins over guys like Ruiz aged well because some of those opponents went on to become champs. Lyle has decent wins over Shavers, Bugner, and Bonavena, but they were roughly on Lyle's level and stayed on that level the majority of their careers. To Lyle's credit, he seemed much more brave and willing to try to win against his best opponents than the lackluster performances Tua had against Lewis and Byrd.

H2H, the way I see it is that Lyle was more well rounded while Tua was more dangerous. Lyle could either box or brawl, could jab, go to the body, etc. Tua was very hook happy and lacked imagination or depth to his gameplan, but his iron chin and power that never faded made him dangerous for all 12 rounds. But, again, Lyle had more grit and determination so it's kind of apples and oranges. Do you want a less dangerous guy who could do several things who you needed to throw the kitchen sink at to KO? Or do you want a guy who lacks versatility and heart, but has a very high chance of knocking your block off, but almost zero chance of stopping?

Slight edge to Tua overall.

 

Pound for pound it's probably Lyle as Tua usually came in quite a bit heavier and sometimes a lot heavier than Ron did.

 

I’m going to say Lyle was better by a hair. But it’s close either way. I’m picking Lyle because 1. I thought he performed admirably in bouts against Foreman and Ali. He was literally 1 punch away from beating Big George and he gave Ali a good tussle. I did not like how Tua showed up or performed against Lewis or Byrd.
As for wins Tua’s are a little better but Moorer was washed up and the first Rahman fight was a bad job by the referee. He let Tua get away with a clear late punch to End round 9. That really hurt Rahman. Tua should of lost a point and Rahman should of been given some time to recover. Then in following round I think ref called fight too soon. Rahman wasn’t throwing back but he was slipping punches and when the ref waved the fight off Rahman shoved the ref immediately because he was still alert and if memory serves fans began to throw objects in the ring with their disgust. Rahman who was up on the cards kind of got rooked in that bout.
It’s close though

 

I don't think "he performed admirably" against Ali at all. It looked more to me like Ali was in a lazy mood. Doing nothing, except the rope a dope, and clowning around, As soon as Ali turned it on, he stopped Lyle in no time.

 

Well he was up on two cards and even on the 3rd after 10 rounds. It wasn’t a great fight. But Tua was never even the fight with Lewis or Byrd really