BoxRec

Probably those two are the most popular heavyweights from New Zealand.

Tua made some noise in the late 90s and early 00s. He was an entertaining slugger and had lots of spectacular KO wins including the ones over top fighters, but he had never been a World champion, not to count minor titles.

Parker has become the first heavyweight champion from New Zealand. He has decent scalps, despite his reign was controversal to some degree.

Obviously Parker is a young and active competitor, who will probably fight for quite some time, but how do you look at those two boxers' accomplishments for the current moment?

tua ranks higher for me at the moment. ya parker won a title, but you have to look at what he did to do that. what he did was a highly controversial majority decision for a vacant belt over obese andy ruiz , who really has done nothing else.

tua has better wins imo. knockouts of john ruiz, maskaev, prime oquendo. not great but all imo better then the likes of andy ruiz. and guys like nicholson, izon, moorer , and willson fresh off the briggs ktfo as tuas 2nd tier wins easily tops the 2nd tier of parkers record. also i thought parker lost to andy ruiz and to hughie fury, so the nature of those wins was also totally unimpressive. he hardly even touched fury and could feasibly have 4 losses now instead of 2

also, tuas losses in his prime, to lewis, bryd, and ike, imo to fighters all much better then anyone parkers beat, so in this comparison i cant really punish tua for his losses. i would rate all those guys who beat him above whyte too, i think whyte is the type of fighter tua wouldve knocked out, just cant help himself from getting sloppy and slugfest happy eventually.

thats one thing i havent really liked about joseph parker.

in his notable fights, vs contenders or champs, he either loses or just barely wins in a fight where he does no damage.

tua, for all his flaws, had some big bang memorable moments. so i rate him higher not only as a fighter, but as someone i enjoyed watching

btw...i know parkers only 26 and may well still accomplish some good stuff, but i really wouldnt be surprised if he doesnt do much more. he came up early and i get the sense he may burn out early too

as an undefeated fighter he was often just barely getting by, and now hes lost his belt, and lost straight after that and just has not shown body language like he really wants to be there imo

lets see what he does

Tua without a doubt, Parker is somewhat of a boring good boxer.

Even without becoming champion, Tua faced top oposition, and showed great heart, chin and KO power.
He was a spectacular fighter and one of the best left hooks in history, every boxing fan remembers some of his kayos.
Not very smart in the ring tho.

Parker still young to do great things, but i doubt he has the desire.

I agree with the main points mentioned. Tua had more wins over top opposition, than Parker has for the moment. Tua's wins were more decisive. Parker arguably lost his controversial fights, Tua arguably won Ike fight. For the moment Parker's biggest accomplishment is the possession of the belt. Of course, Parker has a lot of potential and time to improve, but for the current moment I'd also name Tua a one with bigger legacy.

DrDuke wrote: ↑02 Aug 2018, 04:03 I agree with the main points mentioned. Tua had more wins over top opposition, than Parker has for the moment. Tua's wins were more decisive. Parker arguably lost his controversial fights, Tua arguably won Ike fight. For the moment Parker's biggest accomplishment is the possession of the belt. Of course, Parker has a lot of potential and time to improve, but for the current moment I'd also name Tua a one with bigger legacy.

I don't think how can anyone question Ike's win over Tua. I scored the fight 117-111 for Ike, 1116-112 is the closest score I can see for that fight. But yes, I'd favour in shape Tua against current version of Parker.

Boxing Writer wrote: ↑02 Aug 2018, 04:22

DrDuke wrote: ↑02 Aug 2018, 04:03 I agree with the main points mentioned. Tua had more wins over top opposition, than Parker has for the moment. Tua's wins were more decisive. Parker arguably lost his controversial fights, Tua arguably won Ike fight. For the moment Parker's biggest accomplishment is the possession of the belt. Of course, Parker has a lot of potential and time to improve, but for the current moment I'd also name Tua a one with bigger legacy.

I don't think how can anyone question Ike's win over Tua. I scored the fight 117-111 for Ike, 1116-112 is the closest score I can see for that fight. But yes, I'd favour in shape Tua against current version of Parker.

I don't remember, how exactly this fight was going in details, I just remember, that it was action packed and extremely close. If I'm not mistaken, I had 115-113 for Tua. Anyway only 3 rounds for him is too low score.

DrDuke wrote: ↑02 Aug 2018, 04:35

Boxing Writer wrote: ↑02 Aug 2018, 04:22

DrDuke wrote: ↑02 Aug 2018, 04:03 I agree with the main points mentioned. Tua had more wins over top opposition, than Parker has for the moment. Tua's wins were more decisive. Parker arguably lost his controversial fights, Tua arguably won Ike fight. For the moment Parker's biggest accomplishment is the possession of the belt. Of course, Parker has a lot of potential and time to improve, but for the current moment I'd also name Tua a one with bigger legacy.

I don't think how can anyone question Ike's win over Tua. I scored the fight 117-111 for Ike, 1116-112 is the closest score I can see for that fight. But yes, I'd favour in shape Tua against current version of Parker.

I don't remember, how exactly this fight was going in details, I just remember, that it was action packed and extremely close. If I'm not mistaken, I had 115-113 for Tua. Anyway only 3 rounds for him is too low score.

Tua lost first 4 rounds clearly and the rest of the fight was really close. 4-4 in the last 8 rounds would be a good score, but David clearly lost rounds form 1 to 4, so 116-112 would be an appropriate score.

David Tua Also gets a mention in an episode of Family Guy so he will be well remembered long after both have gone :)

Funny comparison. Parker does most things well and nothing great. Tua did a few things a great but many things badly.

At the end of the day, Tua runs away with it. Rahman, Maskaev, Ruiz, Moorer are good names on the ledger.

Parker is young and can still accomplish a lot but it just seems like he has no ace card to play. Tua had a cannon of a left hook and the ability to be aggressive for 12 rounds not to mention an iron chin.

The problem with Tua was that he was inconsistent. In some of his fights he was not nearly aggressive enough.

Too early to judge. Parker isn't finished yet.

If he did stop now it would be Tua despite Parker picking up one of the versions.

Posters from down under would be better qualified to judge though

Tua has the much bigger legacy in spite of Parker's trinket. David Tua had to fight a peak Lennox Lewis in Vegas for the title proper; Parker fought Andy Ruiz for a WBO belt in New Zealand. There's just no comparison.

Also, an aggressive guy like Whyte trying to muscle and stay on Tua the way he did Parker would at some point get decapped. I know the question is legacy rather than punch power but I think the point stands because the Tua hook is part of his mystique and thus legacy.

It still boggles that Tua in his long career only ever got one crack at the title. Yet his victims enjoyed in total 26 world heavyweight title fights after they lost to Tua--and that figure will climb to 27 after Fres Oquendo boxes Manuel Charr in September!

271 That is unbelievable isn't it? One chance and it was against Lewis. John Ruiz in particular got one chance after another at one trinket or another.

At least fans appreciated him. He may not have won a belt but he is remembered more fondly than Ruiz.

Tua's still at the moment, but it wouldn't take a whole lot for Parker to narrow the gap. Winning a title is already something Tua never achieved, but it wasn't over a particularly dangerous opponent, and it wasn't all that good of a fight.

6 years passed, how do you see it now?

Can't help but think Tua underachieved, by 2002 he was only 29/30 but his career kinda skydived after destroying Moorer in one. Parker has a better record now I think.

Controversial wrote: ↑17 Jun 2024, 08:49 Can't help but think Tua underachieved, by 2002 he was only 29/30 but his career kinda skydived after destroying Moorer in one. Parker has a better record now I think.

I'd agree. Parker is on a roll and this takes him past Tua. Though head to head, it would have been fun.

Flump wrote: ↑19 Jun 2024, 08:26

Controversial wrote: ↑17 Jun 2024, 08:49 Can't help but think Tua underachieved, by 2002 he was only 29/30 but his career kinda skydived after destroying Moorer in one. Parker has a better record now I think.

I'd agree. Parker is on a roll and this takes him past Tua. Though head to head, it would have been fun.

It’s almost like Parker has seen the light and realised if he trains hard and keeps himself in great condition he will have success. Most HWs don’t live the life and Parker having that extra cardio and fitness puts him in a good place. He looks in tip top shape these days, good to see.