Whether Mike Tyson is at the peak or the Tyson dynasty is in decline, many young boxers with potential have been given titles such as "Tyson II" and "Tyson's Successor". Because they themselves and their operations team know that as long as they become the second Tyson, it means having money, status and influence, even if they do not have the strength of Tyson, but as long as they are tied to Tyson, it is also an invisible advertising label. Today, there have been several "Tyson successors" in the boxing world, just like there are "Jordan successors" in basketball and "Pele successors" in football. However, looking back at the history of professional boxing over the years, there is only one player who has been widely recognized as "Tyson II", both his boxing skills and his life experiences are strikingly similar to Tyson's, his name is David Tua.
David Tua was born on November 21, 1972, on an island of less than 300 people in the western Pacific Islands of Samoa. With four brothers and four sisters, the family moved to Auckland, the capital of New Zealand, to gain a foothold in the big southern hemisphere, where David Tua's father worked late and his mother had to work three short jobs. When he was young, David Tua did not like boxing, and was even scared to tears by his sister with boxing gloves, but his father, who came from the fighting nation of Samoa, forced little Tua to start professional boxing training at the age of 8.
From the age of 8, David Tua set aside 3 days a week for 3 days of high-intensity training at a small gym at Mangal Bridge in Auckland. A few years later, David Tua, as a middleweight boxer, won the junior heavyweight boxing competition. At that time, he was invincible in the middleweight, and no one could match the neck. In order to be able to participate in heavyweight boxing matches, he had to spend four hours a day eating binge and gaining weight. During matches, David Tua can often knock his opponent to the ground in one turn. The following year, David Tua won the Youth Boxing Championship, becoming the youngest boxer to receive the honor. With his keen judgment, quick reflexes and swift speed, David Tua is also exceptional in other sports, especially rugby. David Tua has also been selected for the New Zealand high school rugby team. After the season, he also played in the National Football League and was a regular on the hockey and cricket courts.
In 1988, at just 15 years old, David Tua won the New Zealand National Championship heavyweight title. In 1990, David Tua was selected for the New Zealand national team and won the gold medal in the men's heavyweight category at the Oceania Boxing Championships. In 1991, David Tua won the bronze medal in the men's heavyweight category at the World Boxing Championships. In 1992, David Tua again won the gold medal in the men's heavyweight category at the Oceania Boxing Championships. In the same year, David Tua participated with the New Zealand team at the 25th Olympic Games in Barcelona and won a bronze medal in the boxing event - 91 kg.
In 1992, David Tua, who had returned to New Zealand, announced his transition to professional boxing. On December 1, 1992, in Virginia, David Tua knocked out his opponent Ron Helms in the first 37 seconds of his career start. Feeling too addicted, David Tua played his second professional game 13 days later, knocking out American Lorenzo Poole in the first round.
By the end of 1995, David Tua had played a 21-game winning streak, including 19 ko opponents. The strong body, forward-leaning offensive style, and tight combo of both fists are quite similar to Tyson. Coupled with the rise just in time for Tyson to go to jail, the boxing world desperately needs a boxer similar to Tyson to meet the needs of the audience, so David Tua was naturally crowned "Tyson II". David Tua's left hook fist threatens the boxing world, its strength even exceeds Tyson, and his combination punch also has Tyson's clouds and lightning thunder, if you have to explore where David Tua and Tyson are, then the innate boxing talent may be the most fundamental difference between the two, which is doomed to Tua will not fully copy the legend of Tyson. In addition, some shortcomings in David Tua's style of play also make him often appear inadequate in the game with those tall, well-controlled boxers.
On March 15, 1996, David Tua took just 19 seconds to knock out John Ruiz and win the WBC Intercontinental Championship
On April 5, 1997, David Tua defeated Oleg Maskaev in the tenth round, defending his WBC Intercontinental Champion
On June 7, 1997, at Arco Stadium in California, Tua (27-0-23ko) and "President" Ibibuch (16-0-12ko), two of the 24-year-old new boxers, staged the most ferocious back-to-back clash in heavyweight history, with the two sides hitting a record 1,730 punches in 12 rounds of endless confrontation. In contrast, another heavyweight famous battle against Bowe vs. Holyfield with 1286 punches and the junior parco o vs Marquez with 1186 punches. The fierce battle gave Guo'a a taste of defeat for the first time, and Ibibuch, who struggled to win the points, seemed to have been hurt even more, and he cultivated for a whole year, and his battered brain made him behave strangely and eventually went to prison years later.
On December 19, 1998, David Tua knocked out later boxer "Rock" Hashem-Raman in the tenth round
On November 11, 2000, David Tua challenged world champion Lewis and lost twelve rounds
On August 18, 2001, David Tua challenged the "weird boxer" Bird, losing twelve rounds
On April 13, 2002, David Tua knocked out Okundo in the ninth round
On August 17, 2002, David Tua knocked out "left-handed world boxing champion" Muller in 30 seconds
Just when people thought David Tua would once again challenge the world boxing champion, a dispute with the agent buried the career of "Little Tyson". Vampire-like agent Martin Purg went so far as David Tua, who had a 6 million honorarium per game, to be so poor that he had no place to live. The dispute went to court, followed by repeated hearings, quarrels, postponements, adjournments, and re-hearings. The youth that should have been spilled in the boxing ring was wasted in the courtroom, and the lawsuit was 6 years long.
David Tua has no remorse or complaint about this, and once said in an interview: "I will not be depressed and cry everywhere." Nor will I lose the momentum to move forward. I should look at this in this way, as a boxer I have lost 4 years of precious time, but as a normal person, I have also gained another 4 years of life experience. ”
Unfortunately, a business dispute with an agent ruined David Tua's dream, and david Tua did not play for 4 years from 2003 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2009. Age, weight gain, and poor training have all led David Tua to slowly fade from the boxing media.
In 2011-13, David Tua played sporadically, but the fierce little Tyson never came back.