The prime and true potential of David Tua.

[Winter king]

Im a big fan of David Tua and it kinda annoys me how much of a wasted potential he is.
In some of his fights he has moments when he cuts the corner right and operates with brutal head body comboes not just his front hook and it just irritates.me when next time i see a fight of his where his output is 50lead hooks 3of them maybe landing. I think it just shows how important it is to have the right trainer. I dont even have a question im just sharing thoughts.

[DrDuke]

He was a technically solid puncher with excellent swarming abilities. He was one-dimensional though and very dependant on his great punching power, especially in the left hook. He was durable and had a granite chin, which helped him a lot. He basically was outboxed by more ingenious boxers, but he always remained dangerous until the final bell. He was a top figher of the late 90s and the early 2000, a solid second tier competitor. He realized all or nearly all potential he had, I'd say.

[Onetimeonly]

I think he reached his potential. Obviously if the chips fell differently he could have snagged a belt but he never could have beaten Lewis, vander, Tyson or bows.

Bit overrated with his power, what was impressive about was he carried it through the entire fight. Dead average skills, excellent chin.

[margaret thatcher]

He stopped 2 world champs (though they weren't at the time) in 30 seconds or less, anyone else ever done that?

Overall I liked Tua, though sometimes he could be a sleepy fighter who was frustrating to watch

Agree with above, he reached his potential or close to it, and if his prime had been a few years later he may have grabbed a title, as some of those mid 2000s champs were very beatable and included a few he actually beat. That's more just timing than potential though.

[DrDuke]

He stopped 2 world champs (though they weren't at the time) in 30 seconds or less, anyone else ever done that?

Overall I liked Tua, though sometimes he could be a sleepy fighter who was frustrating to watch

Agree with above, he reached his potential or close to it, and if his prime had been a few years later he may have grabbed a title, as some of those mid 2000s champs were very beatable and included a few he actually beat. That's more just timing than potential though.

And it depends more on Tua's management than on Tua himself.

[Onetimeonly]

That just couldn't be competitive with top guys. Even second tier guys like rahman and oquendo boxed circles around him. I guess Byrd was a level above them and tua was Rock's bitcb

[oogiebe]

Never thought of Tua as not reaching his potential. Just didn't have it to beat the top guys during his prime.

[Ambling Alp II]

His prime was from about 1996-2002.
I always thought he was inconsistent. sometimes, he was really aggressive. However other times, he seemed passive and was just looking to land the big left hook. Most of the Byrd, fight, the Oquendo fight, and the Lewis fights he was seemed to be doing that.
On paper, he does have wins over Ruiz, Rahman, and Moorer; though Moorer pretty much just rolled over for him.

It's hard to believe, but he just had one title shots (for a real title anyway) and that was against Lewis; so he was a little unlucky in that respect. he was much better than many heavyweights who won a WBS title.

With a little luck and more consistency on his part, he could have had a better career.

[DrDuke]

It's hard to believe, but he just had one title shots (for a real title anyway) and that was against Lewis; so he was a little unlucky in that respect. he was much better than many heavyweights who won a WBS title.

He was better than many HWs, who won the other belts as well. He could repeat the bashiong out of Ruiz for WBA.

[Onetimeonly]

He also couldn't lay a glove on Byrd.

[AntonioMartin]

Im a big fan of David Tua and it kinda annoys me how much of a wasted potential he is.
In some of his fights he has moments when he cuts the corner right and operates with brutal head body comboes not just his front hook and it just irritates.me when next time i see a fight of his where his output is 50lead hooks 3of them maybe landing. I think it just shows how important it is to have the right trainer. I dont even have a question im just sharing thoughts.

I met the guy quite unexpectedly after a Roberto Duran promoted card in which-again like when I met Phillip Holiday-I could not pay to see the fights so I went outside the venue, hoping to meet Duran and Joel Casamayor. I met Duran who I'm glad to say did not dissapoint at all (he even mentioned a rice brand from Puerto Rico, showing me he appreciates my country!) I didnt meet Casamayor but I met Tua who was there as a fan himself, like me. A very very nice guy, genuine!

As a boxer, he could be outboxed but he had that raw power. He is truly another one of those guys in the Heavyweight division that I listed here recently..he falls in with the Tommy Farr, Galento, Shavers, Carl Williams of this world: had he not been in an era dominated by a hall of famer or hall of famers (like Shavers and Williams in the latter case) he truly could have been one of the special world champions. And he beat a couple of them. He is one of my favorite non-champions in the Heavyweight division.

[polecateddy]

He also couldn't lay a glove on Byrd.

He was in peak shape for Byrd too. I think really Tua did fight to his potential.