Now this is not some Rocky Juarez deal where he’s had 10 shots at different titles and come up short, the Tuaman has had one shot, and unfortunately for him, it came against none other than Lennox Lewis in 2000; so like most that faced Lewis, Tua fell short. Fast forward almost a decade later and the Tuaman is still fighting looking for his second title shot.
Like most boxing fans, I fell in love with David Tua watching him in the mid to late 90's knock people out with what I have to say is the most devastating left hook I’ve ever seen.
In boxing we’re always looking for the next big thing and in David Tua everyone saw the next Mike Tyson; an undersized heavyweight, with an iron jaw and a monster punch. David Tua’s resume has more notable names than most other heavyweight champions out there. David has victories over John Ruiz (19 seconds folks!) David Izon, Oleg Maskev, Hasim Rahman, Danell Nicholson, Fres Oquendo, and Michael Moorer (30 seconds); his only loses have come against Ike Ibeabuchi, Lennox Lewis and Chris Byrd.
With the exception of say Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, you can say Tua fought the most notable names of the late 90's early 2000's. Unfortunately for Tua even in victory it was clear to see his flaws. David Izon, Hasim Rahman and Fres Oquendo were all out boxing him badly before his trademark left hook bailed him out. Despite setting an all time heavyweight record for punches thrown in his epic bout with Ibeabuchi, Tua’s problem has always been that he doesn’t let his hands go enough; that and the fact that apparently Tua has never met a meal he didn’t like.
Tua has been on the comeback trail for years, and despite of his impressive victory this past weekend over Shane Cameron the last time I saw the real Tua was when he fought Michael Moorer. On that night Tua came in looking fit and ready to fight, 30 seconds later he reminded us all why at one point we all thought so highly of him.
There was talk earlier this year of matching Tua up against Chris Arreola. Personaly I always liked that match up for Tua, since Arreola is not hard to find; and if Tua can find you, unless your name is Ibeabuchi, he’s taking you out.
Now that Tua got a good comeback win and Arreola is in need of a comeback fight, there’s no doubt that their names will once again be talked about for possible fights. With the Klitchko’s and Valuev holding all of the belts, I don’t foresee David winning major title any time soon; but maybe, just maybe, at 36 years old he can get in decent shape once again and give his fans one or two good fights before he calls it a day. Punchers always grab our attention and I have to admit, I have always had a soft spot for Tua.
Random thoughts:
If you’ve never seen THE GREAT WHITE HYPE starring Samuel L Jackson, you need to check it out, it’s a hilarious boxing movie, I just don’t get tired of it.
Does anybody care that Chavez jr. has been added to the Manny/Cotto undercard? Didn’t think so!
So Roy Jones Jr is traveling to Australia for his next fight, my how the mighty have fallen!
If you haven’t seen the show MODERN FAMILY on ABC check it out. The Lion King scene with the baby in the first show is one of the funniest scenes I’ve seen on television in a while.
With the NBA starting back up soon and the fall boxing schedule we have, it’s safe to say that I’ll be a happy camper for the next few months.
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