Tua, Frazier, Marciano, and Tyson...what were their styles; who wins; who was better?

[Benny Leonard]

Tua, Frazier, Marciano, and Tyson:
We know Tyson was more of a Mid range fighter....we know Frazier- Inside Fighter...what's your opinions of the other two with their style: Tua and Marciano with their styles and what they could do?

Who could fight from mid-range, who could fight from the inside and if both, which one were they more of...more favorable/effective at?


All were the under 6'0 HWs which is why the above are mentioned. Tua didn't win a title but he was in an era of bigger HWs that were good. Still think the Ike fight took a lot out of him. And if he was placed in a different era or even placed at the right time in his era, like when Ruiz had a title, he would have won...which is why I included him to add one more guy.



For the poll, which one was the best out of the four at their peak.
If you had to put them in a round-robin tournament against each other, who stands at the top at the end?
Also included; who is more likely to beat the Top Contenders and ATG HWs in history no matter the era...up to today.


Option 1 clarify: Best of the group; but wouldn’t be the choice to fight all fighters throughout history including today

[sonnyboyx2]

Frazier, Marciano & Tyson was all Class A fighters - Tua is a Class C fighter

[SplitSecond]

personally it's an easy choice, i pick tyson, because when he was comitted, and not looking for a knockout he boxed beautifully, moving his head very fast with an underated defence, bobbing and weaving, jabbing and packing a big punch and did'nt head hunt, he took the openings that were presented and set things up beautifully by starting at the body quickly moving to the head

but then again even in his peak, i question his heart to stay in there with a tough opponent that he is incapable of stopping or dominating

you pretty much handled mikes style, not sure about frazier being an inside fighter, everytime i saw him on the inside he would stop and wait for the ref, anyway to answer the other two's(tua & marciano) to the best of my abilities(from what i've seen from them, which is'nt much).

i think tua has a style similar to tysons with maybe a lower punch output, tyson liked to punch on his way to the inside where he then would ceize to punch, tua does like to throw a little left and step into the inside but like tyson he does'nt seem to throw alot in the inside(maybe a couple of lovetaps to look busy and also wont hold onto his opponent like tyson), his defence on the other hand is differrent from tysons, he's got some james toney type shell goin on, where his right arm comes accross his chest and when he see's an opponent throwing a left moving the right arm guard to his right cheek bone(im sure you know what im talkin about) with some good head movement.

and i think if you stay relatively close to tua(like holyfield was to tyson) you got a good chance of winning.
if you dont have decent reflexes or just dont keep your hands up, keeping tua at jabbing range can lead to getting caught with one of his leaping left hooks

i aint got much on marciano, except that he looked like a fighter that came in with his head alot, liked to stay close and hit you on the inside plus he did'nt jab much did he?
liked to push you to the ropes and pin you down, he liked to swing wildly with that right hand too, many good boxers(and my choice being tyson of the four) could easily take advantage

he(marciano) to me looked to be a one handed fighter that just kept looking and looking for that big right hand

EDIT: they all virtually have the same style tho, a pressure style, always coming foward, you dont see these little guys dancing around the bigger guys

[BEEHOP]

Why is Tua in this at all?

[SplitSecond]

Why is Tua in this at all?

because he's below 6'0 and a good heavyweight

[Kiid Dynamite]

Tua shouldnt be compared to these great fighters, tommy burns was below 6'0, wheres his name

he had a similair style to those but he was a C grade fighter, the others were A*

[ROSS CALIFORNIA]

I picked Tyson. The reason is he was a more complete fighter than the rest and was equally as good in both hands. He could box effectively when he needed. I'm not saying he could beat everyone, but he'd have more of a chance than these guys. I wouldn't question his heart, even when he got his ass whooped by Douglass he didn't just quite, he fought to the end. When Ruddock hurt him at the end of the 6th in their first fight, he continued to fight back and tko'd Ruddock in the next round. That Tyson wasn't as good as the pre Spinks Tyson but he was still decent. I don't count the post prison Tyson at all. He was a joke and a fraud after prison.

Frazier would have been a great fighter to go up against the rest of the heavyweights as well but I think Tyson would have done better. Marciano was a great "cruiser weight" but would get beat down easily by the larger heavyweights, IMO. Louis was beating him (IMO) before Marciano knocked him out. Louis would have easily beat him in his prime. I think Tua would have ko'd Marciano because of the huge size and power difference, even though they were about the same hight. I consider Rocky pound for pound better than Tua, though.

[Benny Leonard]

Tua shouldnt be compared to these great fighters, tommy burns was below 6'0, wheres his name

he had a similair style to those but he was a C grade fighter, the others were A*

Tua was a "C" grade fighter and Burns was an "A"?


I could put up some other names but wanted to make the list short...a list more people know about and can judge by footage. Burns was a while back and Old Timers can be hard to judge sometimes.

Look at what I wrote about Tua. I'm judging what Tua did at his best. After he fought Ike, I feel he went on a slide. He still did some things after but the Ike fight seemed to take something away from him. Ike was a very good fighter and it proved that Tua had a granite chin and could battle it out with a tough big guy for the distance. He lost, but there are many that feel he won the bout too.

Here are the names that I feel put Tua in the discussion:

John Ruiz....Future Title holder

Oleg Maskaev....Future Title holder

Hasim Rahman...Future Title Lineal Total holder


My point is that he could have been a Title holder, even a Lineal Title holder based on who he beat...except he just happened to meet them at the wrong time. Some people are just lucky with timing...like the fighters who fight in the right era. I think Tua may have beaten Trevor Berbick {Tyson}; Walcott {Marciano}; Buster Mathis {Frazier}. Now that's not all who those fighters fought and beat, but the point is Tua could have at least had "Champion" next to his name had he fought certain fighters at the right time. Other contenders fall into this category as well.

[sonnyboyx2]

Tua was a "C" grade fighter and Burns was an "A"?


I could put up some other names but wanted to make the list short...a list more people know about and can judge by footage. Burns was a while back and Old Timers can be hard to judge sometimes.

Look at what I wrote about Tua. I'm judging what Tua did at his best. After he fought Ike, I feel he went on a slide. He still did some things after but the Ike fight seemed to take something away from him. Ike was a very good fighter and it proved that Tua had a granite chin and could battle it out with a tough big guy for the distance. He lost, but there are many that feel he won the bout too.

Here are the names that I feel put Tua in the discussion:

John Ruiz....Future Title holder

Oleg Maskaev....Future Title holder

Hasim Rahman...Future Title Lineal Total holder


My point is that he could have been a Title holder, even a Lineal Title holder based on who he beat...except he just happened to meet them at the wrong time. Some people are just lucky with timing...like the fighters who fight in the right era. I think Tua may have beaten Trevor Berbick {Tyson}; Walcott {Marciano}; Buster Mathis {Frazier}. Now that's not all who those fighters fought and beat, but the point is Tua could have at least had "Champion" next to his name had he fought certain fighters at the right time. Other contenders fall into this category as well.

You gotta be joking man, if you think Tua would beat Berbick, Walcott & Mathis.... Berbick was a bull who pushed a peak Larry Holmes 15rds, he wrestled the title off a peak Pinklon Thomas he beat Big John Tate, Berbick was a rough tough fighter and IMO would have no problem taking care of David Tua... Jersey Joe Walcott was a great scientific fighter who knew every trick in the book, Walcott was avoided during him prime years yet was still good enough to beat Joe Louis when past it, he won every round against Marciano and would have `schooled` David Tua.... Buster Mathis was a very under-rated fighter with pretty good boxing skills and mobility and no way would David Tua have the skills or mobilty to handle Mathis, Buster would have a `field-day`taking apart Tua.

[StarshipTrooper]

You gotta be joking man, if you think Tua would beat Berbick, Walcott & Mathis.... Berbick was a bull who pushed a peak Larry Holmes 15rds, he wrestled the title off a peak Pinklon Thomas he beat Big John Tate, Berbick was a rough tough fighter and IMO would have no problem taking care of David Tua... Jersey Joe Walcott was a great scientific fighter who knew every trick in the book, Walcott was avoided during him prime years yet was still good enough to beat Joe Louis when past it, he won every round against Marciano and would have `schooled` David Tua.... Buster Mathis was a very under-rated fighter with pretty good boxing skills and mobility and no way would David Tua have the skills or mobilty to handle Mathis, Buster would have a `field-day`taking apart Tua.

I'm sorry but Trevor Berbick was possibly the worst fighter to ever hold a Heavyweight strap. Please. If you had any credibility at all after your constant hate campaign over Lennox that comment just destroyed what remained.

Poet