That sums Tua up. Half is own fault, for wasting his prime by being fat and lazy. The other half is bad luck; not being born in an era where two fucking bums in Wilder and AJ can hold belts for multiple years.
Yeah he really should have been beating guys like Byrd. For that training camp, he was taking ice baths to help keep his body fat down.....and had yogurt for breakfast.
I find it weird that Tua only got one title shot, in an era where there were tons of belts on offer, and that was against an ATG. Where as guys he beat like Ruiz, Rahman and Maskaev had multiple shots and picked up belts like they were shopping in Topman. He was more exciting to watch than most of them as well.
What's really sad is that we called Tua fat in 2000 because he started weighing in the 240s. Fast forward to the current era, where you have an obese piece of shit like Andy Ruiz... even the 245 Tua was in shape by comparison. Andy couldn't hold prime Tua's spit bucket. So yeah, there is a big portion of tough luck that goes into the Tua story. He'd be a star in 2024.
In terms of titles, but he was a main event fighter for a long time and popular. So the other side of it is that he was amazingly popular for a guy who never won a title.
He didn’t have good connections either. He probably would have gotten more title chances if he was with King. He ended up getting 1 against an ATG.
No chance. Ruiz was traumatized and no tactic in the world would make him win. Plus the key to beating David is movement and jab. Not lunging hugs and sweaty armpits.
I remember Tua interviewed about the possibility of a Ruiz rematch in the early 00s, and he replied: "This time, I'll spot him the first 19 seconds."
It wasn't that bad as I it was a close fight and a case could have been made for him. Byrd got way too much credit for not getting blown away imo. Still, Tua never should have let it be this close and it was obvious at that point he was never gonna get his weight under control.
Tua only got himself to blame for not getting more than 1 title fight as he dropped the ball numerous times after the Lewis fight (Byrd and Rahman and a lucky break vs Oquendo too) and just wasn't committed to the sport. Even prior to his fight with Lewis, he was offered a ton of money to fight Michael Grant of all people and he turned it down as he'd rather sit on his ass and wait for his mandatory shot.
Roy was protected by the ref that's a fact. Ruiz's bullshit tactitcs were condemned only in that one fight....
those tactics were really something...I think Ruiz vs Rahman is the worst fight I have ever watched in its entirity
Golota inspired the Cult of the Prime. His fists had fools reaching for the Calender like amateur historians. Primes took on whole new meanings after 1996.
Fres Oquendo is another one who got like three shots at the title. Oquendo got 3 and Tua got one. It's like they never watching Tua-Ruiz.
