Will David Tua ever have another chance at making an impact?

David Tua is currently 34 years old, which by today's standard doesn't put him at too much of a disadvantage. He has been staying fairly active, but mainly against journeyman. He's never been KO'd, and has lost but three fights, mainly to good fighters.

Can he ever get back into the big picture?

 

If he ever gets his focus back, gets his weight back down to 225-230, and steps up his competition level a little bit, I think he can. Whether or not that happens or not, we'll just have to see.

 

Yes, I think we'll see Tua against a big name in 2008.

 

No. He's not that good, and was never that good to begin with. He had a good chin and a strong punch, and not a whole lot else.

 

That is true, but the thing is, some fighters age faster than others. Tua has a come-forward style which guarantees a short career. Lewis didn't look any bit older than Tua when they fought, while in fact Lewis was 34 or 35 and Tua was 27.


I think Tua will be in at least one more big fight, probably losing a lopsided decision. He was a very exciting and active fighter 10 years ago, but that war with Ibeabuchi took something out of him and the Lewis fight didn't help either. He always has a punchers chance, but someone like Wlad would give him a horrific beating. I think Chagaev and Sultan would beat him as well. Sultan is yet to beat a very good fighter and although i didn't like his lack of agression against Holyfield, he did perform two near-shutouts in his last two fights. A lot of people gave Holyfield a decent chance based on fights against mediocre opposition and the same would probably happen if Sultan fought Tua, but i think Tua will look a lot less good if he fights a live contender. As far as he's looked good , that is..

 

Even though he's past it Tua has still has a big enough name to get at least one last title shot.

 

I imagine you're probably right.

Winning a few fights against mediocre opposition is never a true test of what a fighter has left. Holyfield for example, could probably fight and beat men like Vinny Madelone until he's well into his 50's, and yet it wouldn't prove much. Tua hasn't defeated a truley good contender in years, and like you say, has a fighting style that doesn't particularly have a great track record with old age.

I have to agree with the concencus here, that Tua will likely get a shot at a big named contender or prospect within the next year, and only then will we know for sure if he can still compete.

 

Chagaev would probably stay away from the left hook long enough to outpoint Tua, but I think Sultan gets KOed before the halfway point.

 

The biggest fight left for him that he could win is aganst Shane Cameron, it would be massive in New Zealand and would fill a rugby stadium in Auckland.

 

I don't think we will ever hear much from Tua again. He is too short and slow, getting slower every year. That and he never really learned how to fight in the professional game. Never learned how to set up his left hook. He just plodded around, throwing his left hook. It is a shame that his management never brought in somebody like Joe Frazier to tudor him.

 

He regularly makes impacts on tomato can's heads.

 

If Tua would just fight someone people have actually heard of then he could easily set himself up for a big fight, he is well known for his power and devastating ko's, which fans love to see, a fight against any of the champions would generate interest but he first has to prove he belongs there. There is a long list of guys he could fight to get back into the picture, ie. Brock, Dimitrienko, Virchis, Rahman, Gomez, Ruiz yep), hell even a Mollo or Mesi are leagues better than those dlevel guys he's been brutalizing.

 

Tua is ranked very low in the WBC rankings. He is unranked in the rest of abc orgs. It will be hard for him to get a title shot.