blogging it real

Maybe the Herald's sports reporter Peter Jessup and I were watching different fights last night.

I saw David Tua work Griffis around for most of the match trapping him in the corner, fending off Griffis' jabs and basically wearing him down until he could go for the knockout punch.

It wasn't always pretty, the Tua Man never has been, but he never looked like losing.

This is how Jessup described the fight:

David Tua’s expected victory over journeyman Talmadge Griffis at Waitakere’s Trust Stadium last night came with just 25 seconds left in a contest that was decidedly like his world heavyweight title fight against Lennox Lewis.

WTF?

Last night Tua outboxed Griffis, threw about 30 Tuaman potential knockout punches into his head, constantly worked his way through his opponents jab and saved himself until round 10 where he unleashed his Samoan fury and ended it in a TKO.

That's pretty bloody far from Tua's fight with Lewis in which he never looked like getting past the stinging jab, was outboxed, outskilled and made to look pretty average.

This is how the Boxing Times described the Tua Lewis brawl:

Lennox Lewis ate David Tua's heart. His utensils were straight right crosses and ramrod left jabs. Despite all of Tua's pre-fight bluster, when it was over it was the Missonary who consumed the Cannibal....
The Samoan via New Zealand never mounted a sustained attack and over the last eight rounds simply followed Lewis around the 20-foot ring while taking punishment. At the conclusion of 12 rounds, Tua's left eye was bruised and battered while Lewis wasn't even breathing hard. In retrospect, it appeared that Tua used his hands more in the refrigerator than in the ring.

The only similarities between the two fights is that both Lewis and Griffis had a reach advantage on Tua - like everyother boxer he's ever faced.

I hope you're fooling someone Jessup.