Did Lewis just take Tua more seriously than Rahman? Or was Lewis just as arrogant against Tua as he was in the first Rahman fight, but for whatever reason Tua couldn't capitalise? If Tua beat Rahman, and Rahman beat Lewis, why could Tua not even make a dent against Lewis? I understand that styles make fights, but I expected much more of Tua in this fight.
Because all Tua had was a bad haircut and a left hook..and you require more than that to defeat Lewis it appears.
Lewis was on set for Ocean's 11 before and around Rahman 1 and so didn't train properly. But for Tua he was smack bang in his prime, fully focussed and Tua wasn't in the greatest shape
Tua was far too small and didn`t have Tyson`s ability to slip and cut off the ring to get inside, he was a basic slugger. Tua didn`t have a jab like Mercer or the reach of Rahman or Bruno both of who were able to catch Lewis, Rahman with more effect but Bruno more often with the jab.
Because he wasnt complacent and heavy against Tua. Rahman was never close to Lewis's level when Lennox was focused and neither was Tua.
I was at that fight and watched Tua’s super stretch hummer limo pull in with what looked like a giant party going on inside, people hanging out the sun roofs and windows. I remember looking at my brother and we both pretty much had the same response, ‘that’s a bad sign’ Maybe someone on here can shed some light on Tua’s preparation but it looked to me like he was partying his a... off before the fight.
To this day, that remains one of the funniest comments I ever recall seeing at a post fight interview. If I'm not mistaken, he even snuck in the oft-repeated "I'm like a fine wine, I get better with age" doozie.
I'm not sure if he said something similar after Ruddock, but he absolutely said something like that after the Tua fight.
Tua was much quicker with his feet early in his career when he was 220lbs or so. He slowed down a lot as he climbed the scales into the 230’s - 240’s.
Yep! And Tua sat on his ranking waiting for the Lewis-Holyfield feud to play out, and during that time he turned down several high profile offers to wait it out for his guaranteed title shot. As he waited, he was fighting vastly inferior opposition and he started packing on the pounds.
People have already talked about the lack of preparation Lewis had vs Rahman but there were stylistic issues too. Rahman was taller than Tua with a longer reach and a great OH right (a kryptonite punch for taller opponents). He could set his feet and throw full power at Lewis's chin straight down the pipe. Contrast that to the short, squat Tua who had to lunge every time he wanted to hit Lewis due to the way Lewis would lean back or jab him every time he attempted to take his head off. That takes a lot off your power.
Spending his money before he got it. No wonder he went broke. People from Australia and New Zealand are simpletons when it comes to this sort of stuff....even moreso than the rest of the 'developed' world.
I'm never shocked when I hear of boxers going broke after earning millions. Blame unscrupulous managers and gold diggers all you want, but boxers nine times out of ten have no freaking clue how to look after their own money.
