Why didnt Tua-Tyson happen?

[STILL_DETOX]

someone school me on this? anything specific?

[Sugarj]

someone school me on this? anything specific?

When he returned in 1995 it was with the sole view to reclaiming the title as soon as possible.

He obviously won the WBC and WBA titles in quick time from Bruno and Seldon but was then beaten by Holyfield twice, the second loss giving him a years ban for biting.

He returned in 1999 and met a few fringe top ten contenders (Botha, Savarese and Gotota amongst others) enroute to his 2002 challenge to Lennox Lewis. This would have been the ideal time to meet Tua, but it was never on the cards and there wasn't much of a public demand for the fight.

There were many half decent guys who Tyson didn't meet in the late 90s (Morrison/Foreman/Moorer/Mercer/Bowe). So I wouldn't have said there was an issue with either party avoiding the other.

I'd probably favour the late 90s version of Tua over Tyson. Tyson's technique, speed and range of punches were still superior to that of Tua's, but the Tyson of this time didn't have 12 round stamina and workrate......Tua did!

Different story prime for prime though.

[dc3383]

Wouldn't have made Tyson the money he needed at the time

[Scott9945]

Tyson was promoted by Don King. You didn't fight King's top fighter without giving away future options. Very likely that Tua's promoters weren't happy to accommodate. King had enough heavyweights that he didn't have to go outside his realm. You see similar circumstances today with Mayweather and Pacquaio.

[Emon723]

The only time they could probably fought was in '03-'04 when Tyson was 37 and Tua would be a betting favorite, can Tua really KO Tyson in the 90s? most have fascinated this to be a heavyweight version of McClellan-Jackson, but I think it might be the other way around Tyson being the man to knock Tua out.

[The Surgeon]

The only time i heard anything about it was before the Lewis vs Tua fight were Mike was worried Tua would get to Lennox before he could, he said Tua had that look in his eye, the hunger to become champion. There was talk of how exciting a fire fight Tua vs Tyson would be should Tua pull off the victory against LL. Lewis obviously schooled the Samoan and then i never heard anything else about it, no real public demand which is a shame because it would have been EXPLOSIVE! Dunno who would have won....possibly Tua he could go 12 and took a great shot, he'd also be the stronger guy. More importantly most of Tyson's real skills had deteriorated by then. Prime for Prime i got Mike

[Scott9945]

The only time i heard anything about it was before the Lewis vs Tua fight were Mike was worried Tua would get to Lennox before he could, he said Tua had that look in his eye, the hunger to become champion. There was talk of how exciting a fire fight Tua vs Tyson would be should Tua pull off the victory against LL. Lewis obviously schooled the Samoan and then i never heard anything else about it, no real public demand which is a shame because it would have been EXPLOSIVE! Dunno who would have won....possibly Tua he could go 12 and took a great shot, he'd also be the stronger guy. More importantly most of Tyson's real skills had deteriorated by then. Prime for Prime i got Mike

When the bloated Tua got in the ring with Lewis, it was obvious that he had already satisfied his hunger with food.

[The Surgeon]

When the bloated Tua got in the ring with Lewis, it was obvious that he had already satisfied his hunger with food.

Haha! Very true Scott very true! He was a fat mess and fought accordingly, no drive, quit on himself tbh. Mike was full of crap lol! In fairness though at the time i thought Tua had a great shot at stopping Lewis too....

[Anthony342]

Tyson was promoted by Don King. You didn't fight King's top fighter without giving away future options. Very likely that Tua's promoters weren't happy to accommodate. King had enough heavyweights that he didn't have to go outside his realm. You see similar circumstances today with Mayweather and Pacquaio.

What does that mean, future options?

[Scott9945]

What does that mean, future options?

In this case that would mean King would be part of the promotion for (at least) several of Tua's future fights. So if Tua had future commitments to his promoter, he would be having another big cut of his pay taken, kinda like an ex-wife. For example, when Ruiz (a Don King fighter) defended his title against Valuev, he became Valuev's promoter for the rest of his career when he won.