David Tua: It Was First And Goal From Day One

Published

12 years ago

March 30, 2012

junior david tua Last week it was announced without much fanfare that 1990's heavyweight contender David Tua, 39, was retiring from professional boxing, for a multitude of personal reasons. In Tua's last bout he lost a unanimous decision to perennial fringe contender Monte Barrett 35-9-2 (20). Actually, the fight with Barrett was a rematch of their July 2010 first meeting in which Tua suffered the first official knockdown of his career en route to the fight being scored a majority draw.

Set aside whatever his personal reasons are for retiring – the fact that he couldn't beat Barrett once in two fights is sufficient evidence that Tua, who finishes with a stellar career record of 54-3-2 (43) having never been stopped, will never fulfill his dream of becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion.

The first words that come to mind when thinking of or describing the career of David Tua are “unfulfilled potential.” Wouldn't it have been something to see how things would've unfolded in the heavyweight division had Tua's career had not gone off the tracks after his great fight with Ike Ibeabuchi, a decision loss on his record. That was a fight that he looked sensational in and would've gone through any other heavyweight in the world that night with the exception of Ibeabuchi. For the record I had Tua beating Ike by a point.

Tua won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics as a 19 year old and turned pro after wards. He fought the only way he could being he was just 5'10″ — as a swarmer. Fighting as a swarmer is the hardest route to travel as a professional boxer and requires a fighter to be in the greatest condition possible and he also must be very disciplined. That's why there's only been four great swarmers in heavyweight history, Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson.

Tua was blessed at birth with two things that a swarmer must posses that can't be learned or taught, a cast iron chin and one punch fight altering power. And David Tua was a genuine life-taker. Nobody lived with him when he was at or near his best by trading with him. I believe, along with Freddie Roach who was once in line to train Tua, that he would've knocked Mike Tyson out had they fought. No, he wasn't better nor did he achieve as much as Tyson, but in a head to head confrontation he would've beat Mike in what would've been a great two round fight.

Some have stated that Tua should've emulated Tyson stylistically, but they couldn't be more wrong. Joe Frazier, who was a much better swarmer than Tyson, is the fighter Tua should've done everything in his power to emulate. Joe cut off the ring better, was harder to hit, and applied more bell-to-bell pressure than Tyson did at his best. Mike attacked more so in spurts. Also, Tyson couldn't fight on the inside and was easy to tie up. On the other hand, Frazier was murder inside and even “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali took a beating trying to tie Joe up. Another thing David and Joe shared that Mike didn't was, they didn't get discouraged or lose focus when they got hit. Perhaps Tua did once against Lennox Lewis, but Joe never did.

Tua, like Frazier, carried his power. Whereas Tyson was a three or four round fighter and became less effective the longer the fight went. Mike also didn't score many late round stoppages against quality opposition. Had Tua been able to slip the jab and bob and weave while pressing the fight like Frazier, he would've been murder and a handful for either Klitschko on their best nights.

When one thinks about how Tua destroyed Oleg Maskaev, John Ruiz, Hasim Rahman and Michael Moorer, who all won a piece of the heavyweight title, yet he never did, it's almost mind boggling. But in his defense, he did meet Lennox Lewis who was at the top of his game in his only title shot. Maybe that's the most mind boggling, the fact that Tua only got one title shot during an era where at least four titles existed that he could've challenged for.

For his entire career fans waited for a fully flowered and not overweight Tua to show up. However, no one ever saw that version. For years we've heard David say how much he loved the sport of boxing and how it was his life. The only thing that blurred his words was the loudness in which his actions spoke as Tua usually came to the ring too heavy and was huffing and puffing after a few spirited rounds. Not the way for a swarmer to approach combat when he's looking to be crowned heavyweight champion.

Tua talked a great fight and actually convinced me that he was gonna throw 120 punches a round at Lennox Lewis when they fought and eventually knock him out. But David came in way too heavy at 245 and once he got hit and realized how much work and risk were involved in getting near Lennox, he went through the motions and lost by a landslide. Nothing was more frustrating than watching fighters like Rahman and Chris Byrd touch him with a few inconsequential jabs and then take a step or two to the left and force him to reset. Had Tua fought with the same zeal and tenacity when it came to forcing an opponent to have to fight and trade with him the way Frazier did, Tua may have only been an underdog to George Foreman circa 1973-74.

Imagine finding a heavyweight who you could hit across the chin with a baseball bat and it wouldn't faze him. In addition to that he had dynamite in both hands and was a rarity in that he carried his power from rounds one through 12. The thought would have to be that with a few refinements along with the fighter’s desire and willingness to learn how to fight as the attacker and not follow opponents around the ring, he'd have to at some point win a piece of the title. Not to mention that Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Larry Holmes, who would've been a nightmare for Tua stylistically, were long gone by the time he arrived.

What would Tua have done to the heavyweights who won a piece of the title circa 1997 to 2005 had he been a 20 pound bigger version of Frazier? Yeah, it would've been something to see, but cookbook analogies don't apply in the ring on fight night. It's doubtful even Joe himself could've molded Tua into the fighter he would've needed to become in order for him to dominate the heavyweight division.

I was told by some in the Tua camp that in the gym during training there were times when the “Tuaman” looked like “Smokin” Joe slipping the jab while cutting off the ring as he was closing the distance and working his way inside during sparring. But on fight night he'd end up stranding a little more erect and just followed his opponent around the ring. And as it's been said in this space many times over, sparring in the gym and correcting mistakes and refining fight plans are a world apart. And that's what separates good and great fighters. Like Tyson, but not to nearly the same degree, Tua lost focus when he got hit fighting the best of the best, something that never happened to Joe, even against the most destructive wrecking machine in history, George Foreman.

My guess is that deep down David Tua wasn't defined by fighting or becoming the heavyweight champion of the world. He fought because he was good at it, it paid well, and he achieved some notoriety along the way. And that's what separates the greats and the near greats. And that's why Tua never reached his potential and his name cannot be added to the list of all-time great attackers and swarmers the likes of Dempsey, Marciano, Frazier and Tyson.

If one wants to think about how much Tua was blessed with at birth as a fighter, think of a football team taking possession of the ball on the other team’s 10 yard line every time they get it. In order to score they only have to move it 10 yards as opposed to the other team who has to go the length of the field after returning the punt or kick. Yet the team starting at the 10 yard line never gets in the end zone.

Well, that's the story of David Tua's career that fell about 10 yards short of what it should've been. He had what most fighters would give up 10 years of their life to possess, a concrete chin and one punch knockout power in both hands. What a monumental advantage he started with but unfortunately he never learned the teachable things that would've rounded him into an almost unbeatable professional fighter.

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Frank Lotierzo

In a Massive Upset, Dakota Linger TKOs Kurt Scoby on a Friday Night in Atlanta

Published

9 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Arne K. Lang

In-a-Massive-Upset-Dakota-Linger-TKOs-Kurt-Scoby-on-a-Friday-Night-in-Atlanta

Although it was an 8-rounder on a show with two “tens,” Kurt Scoby’s match with Dakota Linger was accorded main event status on tonight’s card at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. This had everything to do with Scoby (pronounced Scooby), a former record-setting college running back who was considered one of the brightest prospects in the 140-pound weight class. “[Scoby] works harder than almost anyone I’ve ever seen,” said veteran New York promoter Lou DIBella in a conversation with Keith Idec. “But he’s literally getting better after every fight and he’s got the hammer of Thor, man. He can punch through walls.”

The Duarte, California product who has relocated to Brooklyn and trains at Gleason’s Gym, was undefeated (13-0) heading in and was expected to make Linger his ninth straight knockout victim. But Linger, a 29-year-old Buckhannon, West Virginia policemen whose first ring engagements were in Toughman competitions, wasn’t intimidated by Scoby’s press clippings or by Scoby’s bodybuilder physique.

Linger, who improved to 14-6-3 with his tenth win inside the distance, took the fight right to Scoby and repeatedly found a home for his overhand right. In the sixth round, after Linger strafed the ever-retreating Scoby with a barrage of punches, referee Malik Walid determined that he had seen enough and waived it off. The decision seemed a tad premature, but neither Scoby nor his cornermen offered anything in the way of a protest.

Tournament results

In the first installment of an 8-man super welterweight tournament, Brandon Adams returned to boxing after his second three-year layoff and showed no ring rust whatsoever. Adams, a 34-year-old family-man who grew up in the Watts district of LA, dismissed Ismael Villareal with a wicked punch to the liver in the waning seconds of round three. The official time was 2:59.

A former wold title challenger, Adams who improved to 23-3 (16 KOs), has become the king of boxing tournaments. He first attracted notice in 2018 when he won the fifth edition of “The Contender” series, scoring a wide 10-round decision over Shane Mosley Jr in the championship round.

Villareal, a second-generation prizefighter from the Bronx whose dad fought the likes of Hector Camacho, declined to 13-3.

Adams next opponent will be Francisco Veron who will bring a record of 14-0-1 (10).

In an energetic 10-rounder, Veron, a Florida-based Argentine with a strong amateur pedigree, scored a unanimous decision over Mexico-born, LA southpaw Angel Ruiz (18-3-1). The judges had it 100-90, 99-91, and 96-94.

Ruiz certainly had his moments, but Veron launched and landed many more punches despite fighting the last six rounds with a damaged eye.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 281: The Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia Show

Published

2 days ago

April 18, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-281-The-Devin-Haney-and-Ryan-Garcia-Show

Over the years bouts between old foes such as Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia tend to be surprising.

Yes, both are only 25 but have known each other for many years.

When undisputed super lightweight champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) steps into the prize ring at Barclays Center to meet challenger Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) on Saturday, April 20, fans will be witnessing the continuation of a feud that began more than a decade ago.

And though the champion is a heavy favorite, familiarity is Garcia’s best weapon heading into their fight on the Golden Boy Promotions card that will be shown on PPV.COM with Jim Lampley and friends. DAZN pay-per-view is also streaming the card.

In many ways Haney and Garcia have ventured down the same path. From amateur sensations to fighting in Mexico while teens to asking for the biggest challenges available.

“Whichever version of Ryan shows up on April 20, I will be ready for him. Ryan Garcia is just another opponent to me,” said Haney who holds the WBC super lightweight title after his win over Regis Prograis.

The first time I saw Haney as a pro he battled the dangerous Mexican contender Juan Carlos Burgos at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. It was an impressive performance against a fighter who fought three times for a world title.

Haney was 19 at the time.

My first look at Garcia as a pro was in his first bout in the U.S. when he met Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Cruz at the Exchange in downtown Los Angeles. The Boricua looked at Garcia and tried intimidating him with stares, taunts and the usual patter. During the fight both swung and missed until the second round when Garcia zeroed in and took him out.

Garcia had just turned 18, the legal age to fight in California.

Both fighters did not have the Olympics credentials that lead to fame. But their talent has allowed them to fight through the dense smoke that is professional boxing.

Haney has defeated numerous world champions such as Prograis, Vasyl Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr., while Garcia has stopped champions Javier Fortuna and Luke Campbell.

As amateurs, Garcia and Haney battled six times with each winning three.

“They know each other very well,” said Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. “Ryan is going to beat Devin Haney.”

Haney has a buttery-smooth style with one of the best jabs in boxing. He’s very adept at keeping distance and not allowing anyone to fight him inside. His reflexes are outstanding, yet he seldom fights inside. That’s his weakness.

Garcia fights tall and has superb hand speed and a lightning quick left hook. Though his defense lacks tightness his ability to rip off three-punch combinations in a blink of an eye pauses opponents from bullying their way inside.

“These guys always just look at me and look at me like I don’t know how to box,” said Garcia on social media. “Why was I one of the best fighters in the amateurs. Why was I a 15-time National champion…why did I beat everyone I came across.”

Haney is a strong favorite by oddsmakers to defeat Garcia. But you can never tell when it comes to fighters that know each other well and are athletically gifted.

When Sergio Mora challenged Vernon Forrest he was a big underdog. When Tim Bradley fought Manny Pacquiao the first time, he was also the underdog. And when Andy Ruiz met Anthony Joshua few gave him a chance.

Haney and Garcia have history in the ring. It should be an interesting battle.

PPV.COM

Jim Lampley will be leading the broadcast on PPV.COM for the Haney-Garcia card at Barclays and texting with fans on the card live. He will be accompanied by journalists Lance Pugmire, Dan Conobbio and former champion Chris Algieri.

The PPV.COM broadcast begins at 5 p.m. PT. and is available in Canada and the USA.

Other News

MMA stars Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal will be holding a media day event on Friday, April 19, at NOVO at L.A. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Diaz and Masvidal will be boxing against each other in a grudge match on June 1 at the KIA Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The two MMA stars met five years at UFC 244 with Masvidal winning by TKO over Diaz due to cuts.

This is a grudge match, but under boxing rules.

Fight card in Commerce, Calif.

360 Promotions returns to Commerce Casino on Saturday April 20 with undefeated super lightweight Cain Sandoval leading the charge.

Sandoval (12-0) faces Angel Rebollar (8-3) in the main event that will be shown live on UFC Fight Pass. Also on the card are two female events including hot prospect Lupe Medina (5-0) versus Sabrina Persona (3-1) in a minimumweight clash.

Doors open at 4 p.m.

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Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

Published

4 days ago

April 16, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

There were few surprises when co-promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren and their benefactor HE Turki Alalshikh held a press conference in London this past Monday to unveil the undercard for the Beterbiev-Bivol show at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 1. Most of the match-ups had already been leaked.

For die-hard boxing fans, Beterbiev-Bivol is such an enticing fight that it really doesn’t need an attractive undercard. Two undefeated light heavyweights will meet with all four relevant belts on the line in a contest where the oddsmakers straddled the fence. It’s a genuine “pick-‘em” fight based on the only barometer that matters, the prevailing odds.

But Beterbiev-Bivol has been noosed to a splendid undercard, a striking contrast to Saturday’s Haney-Garcia $69.99 (U.S.) pay-per-view in Brooklyn, an event where the undercard, in the words of pseudonymous boxing writer Chris Williams, is an absolute dumpster fire.

The two heavyweight fights that will bleed into Beterbiev-Bivol, Hrgovic vs. Dubois and Wilder vs. Zhang, would have been stand-alone main events before the incursion of Saudi money.

Hrgovic-Dubois

Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 13 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) fought on the same card in Riyadh this past December. Hrgovic, the Croatian, was fed a softie in the form of Australia’s Mark De Mori who he dismissed in the opening round. Dubois, a Londoner, rebounded from his loss to Oleksandr Usyk with a 10^th-round stoppage of corpulent Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller.

There’s an outside chance that Hrgovic vs. Dubois may be sanctioned by the IBF for the world heavyweight title.

The May 18 showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury has a rematch clause. The IBF is next in line in the rotation system for a unified heavyweight champion and the organization has made it plain that the winner of Usyk-Fury must fulfill his IBF mandatory before an intervening bout.

The best guess is that the Usyk-Fury winner will relinquish the IBF belt. If so, Hrgovic and Dubois may fight for the vacant title although a more likely scenario is that the organization will keep the title vacant so that the winner can fight Anthony Joshua.

Wilder-Zhang

The match between Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) and Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) is a true crossroads fight as both Wilder, 38, and Zhang, who turns 41 in May, are nearing the end of the road and the loser (unless it’s a close and entertaining fight) will be relegated to the rank of a has-been. In fact, Wilder has hinted that this may be his final rodeo.

Both are coming off a loss to Joseph Parker.

Wilder last fought on the card that included Hrgovic and Dubois and was roundly out-pointed by a man he was expected to beat. It’s a quick turnaround for Zhang who opposed Parker on March 8 and lost a majority decision.

Other Fights

Either of two other fights may steal the show on the June 1 event.

Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) meets Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs) in a 12-round featherweight contest. New Jersey’s Ford will be defending the WBA world title he won with a come-from-behind, 12th-round stoppage of Otabek Kholmatov in an early contender for Fight of the Year. Liverpool’s “Wrecking” Ball, a relentless five-foot-two sparkplug, had to settle for a draw in his title fight with Rey Vargas despite winning the late rounds and scoring two knockdowns.

Hamzah Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KOs) meets fellow unbeaten Austin “Ammo” Williams (16-0, 11 KOs) in a 12-round middleweight match. East London’s Sheeraz, the son of a former professional cricket player, is unknown in the U.S. although he trained for his recent fights at the Ten Goose Boxing Gym in California. Riding a skein of 13 straight knockouts, he has a date with WBO title-holder Janibek Alimkhanuly if he can get over this hurdle.

The Forgotten Heavyweight

“Unbeaten for seven years, the man nobody wants to fight,” intoned ring announcer Michael Buffer by way of introduction. Buffer was referencing Michael Hunter who stood across the ring from his opponent Artem Suslenkov.

This scene played out this past Saturday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was Hunter’s second fight in three weeks. On March 23, he scored a fifth-round stoppage of a 46-year-old meatball at a show in Zapopan, Mexico.

The second-generation “Bounty Hunter,” whose only defeat prior to last weekend came in a 12-rounder with Oleksandr Usyk, has been spinning his wheels since TKOing the otherwise undefeated Martin Bakole on the road in London in 2018. Two fights against hapless opponents on low-budget cards in Mexico and a couple of one-round bouts for the Las Vegas Hustle, an entry in the fledgling and largely invisible Professional Combat League, are the sum total of his activity, aside from sparring, in the last two-and-a-half years.

Hunter’s chances of getting another big-money fight took a tumble in Tashkent where he lost a unanimous decision in a dull affair to the unexceptional Suslenkov who was appearing in his first 10-round fight. The scores of the judges were not announced.

You won’t find this fight listed on boxrec. As Jake Donovan notes, the popular website will not recognize a fight conducted under the auspices of a rogue commission. (Another fight you won’t find on boxrec for the same reason is Nico Ali Walsh’s 6-round split decision over the 9-2-1 Frenchman, Noel Lafargue, in the African nation of Guinea on Dec. 16, 2023. You can find it on YouTube, but according to boxrec, boxing’s official record-keeper, it never happened.)

Anderson-Merhy Redux

The only thing missing from this past Saturday’s match in Corpus Christi, Texas, between Jared Anderson and Ryad Merhy was the ghost of Robert Valsberg.

Valsberg, aka Roger Vaisburg, was the French referee who disqualified Ingemar Johansson for not trying in his match with LA’s Ed Sanders in the finals of the heavyweight competition at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Valsberg tossed Johansson out of the ring after two rounds and Johansson was denied the silver medal. The Swede redeemed himself after turning pro, needless to say, when he demolished Floyd Patterson in the first of their three meetings.

Merhy was credited with throwing only 144 punches, landing 34, over the course of the 10 rounds. Those dismal figures yet struck many onlookers as too high. (This reporter has always insisted that the widely-quoted CompuBox numbers should be considered approximations.)

Whatever the true number, it was a disgraceful performance by Merhy who actually showed himself to have very fast hands on the few occasions when he did throw a punch. With apologies to Delfine Persoon, a spunky lightweight, U.S. boxing promoters should think twice before inviting another Belgian boxer to our shores.

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