Only had one shot at the heavyweight title. He ko'd Oquendo and Oquendo had 3 shots. He lost a UD to Byrd, but Byrd was just as beat up or more than he was afterwards.
Ruiz went on to have multiple shots.
Why not Tua?
Boxing politics.
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Only had one shot at the heavyweight title. He ko'd Oquendo and Oquendo had 3 shots. He lost a UD to Byrd, but Byrd was just as beat up or more than he was afterwards.
Ruiz went on to have multiple shots.
Why not Tua?
Boxing politics.
No, Tua disappeared for long stretches. When he came back to the public eye he never earned a shot. This has nothing to do with politics. It's about fighting guys outside the top 100.
http://i.imgur.com/JHtqLkF.jpg You can also say his chances would have been better had he put down the spoon and defeated that beat up Chris Byrd you mentioned
Tua shit the bed against Lennox, largely due to Lennox being smart and boxing from the outside in a very boring fight.
For obvious reasons, Ruiz was never gonna give him a shot.
And Tua shit the bed against Chris Byrd.
He was powerful and very sturdy, but not quite active or consistent enough.
Yeah, Chris Byrd outboxed him handily and wasn't beat up. I'm sure Tua had some management problems at different points or maybe certain people didn't want to face him, but as Hulk said he was pretty poor in both of his legit title shots. Aside from that, he was sometimes inactive or just didn't manage to string his good performances together, not really a hard luck case imo.
Tia didn't deserve another title shot due it the haircut he came into the ring with , when he fought Lewis .
I for one love your big Rack AlQuote:
Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al
Thank you my friend.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpicoliI for one love your big Rack AlQuote:
Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al
But someone like Vaughn Bean can get multiple? Shannon Briggs, Mike Moorer and Bert Cooper can get several shots?? Andrew Golota??
Tua did not sign with the right promoter and went absent. He only has himself to blame.
I remember reading an interview from Tua back like 8 or 9 years ago and he said the Lewis fight really messed with him mentally to the point of severe depression and that he wanted to quit all together. I think he also had a bad management team behind him also Cedric Kushner comes to mind. I think he is wasted talent and could have been a superstar if handled right.
He was shafted.Quote:
Originally Posted by jon09
i seem to remember tua being inactive for long periods.
Yeah well said. I'm a big fan of Tua, but he looked like shit when he got chances against Lennox and Byrd.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hulk
In fairness to Cooper...compared to Tua didn't he actually prove he was prepared and brought the champs to the brink of hell when he got his chance ??? And he was a sub for a sub vs Holyfield
So there are plenty of reasons why he got only 1 shot. :)
lololol...
Tua's fight with Ike Ibeabuchi was one of the greatest fights in heavyweight history. Both of those guys had great potential and the fact that Tua was a fringe contender (at best) shows the depth of that heavyweight class. Contrast Tua with some of title holders and "contenders" in recent heavyweight history. I think the main points have been hit sufficiently, but I think it's interesting to look at it from the context of how deep the talent pool was back then.
So the real question is why did Ike Ibeabuchi not get a single title shot when he beat both Byrd and Tua?
The rape conviction killed his career (as it should have). As much as I would have LOVED to have seen Bowe vs Lewis, I think I would've preferred Lewis vs Ibeabuchi. I would make Lewis the favorite, but I give Ike a VERY good chance of stopping Lennox. It would've either brought the best out in Lewis and been a spectacular win, or he would've broken Lennoxs spirit and been a great win. Too bad the guy was a sociopath and overall degenerate.