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David "Tuamanator" Tua (born 21 November 1972) is a professional Samoan Heavyweight boxer, fighting out of South Auckland, New Zealand. He is a current WBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental Heavyweight champion. He made his comeback on October 3, 2009 by defeating Shane Cameron by a second round knock out in Hamilton, New Zealand. His next fight is against Friday Ahunanya planned for March 27 in New Zealand.
[edit] Titles and accomplishments
[edit] Biography and careerTua was born in Faleasi'u, on the island of Upolu on the northwestern coast of the island in Western Samoa. His boxing career began in New Zealand after his family immigrated there. [edit] Amateur careerTua became New Zealand national heavyweight champion in 1988 at age 15.[1] He was surprisingly knocked out in the first round by three time Olympic gold medalist Felix Savon at the 1991 World Amateur Boxing Championships. At age 19 he won a Bronze Medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He lost his semi-final to David Izonritei, whom he would later defeat as a professional.[1] Tua turned professional later the same year. [edit] Professional careerTua debuted in December 1992 and soon became internationally respected for having one of the most devastating left hooks in world boxing and for his ability to end fights early and to dish out severe punishment. In 2003 Tua was named the 48th greatest puncher of all time by Ring Magazine and of his first 27 fights, 23 were by knockout.[2] Tua fought for the WBC, IBF, and IBO world Heavyweight championship titles in November 2000 - and went the distance in a 12 round bout - but lost on points by a wide margin to defending champion Lennox Lewis. Tua is known for his devastating knockouts. In his 1997 fight with Ike Ibeabuchi, the two fighters combined to set the record for most punches thrown in a heavyweight fight on record. Ibeabuchi won the decision, handing Tua his first pro defeat. Prior to the loss, Tua had devastating KO wins against future titlist John Ruiz (via 1st round KO, in only 19 seconds) and Darroll Wilson. Tua also beat David Izon and future champion Oleg Maskaev to set up the fight with Ibeabuchi. After the loss to Ibeabuchi, Tua took on future champ Hasim Rahman and stunningly TKO'd Rahman in the 10th round, a fight which Rahman had dominated up to that point. Rahman was stunned late in the 9th round from a late punch, and never seemingly recovered. The victory over Rahman marked the beginning of Tua's struggles with his weight. He ballooned up to 253 pounds when he defeated Obed Sullivan in 2000 by KO. Later that year, he weighed 245 pounds in the loss to Lennox Lewis. Tua was disappointing in the fight, and lost a clear cut decision. Following the Lewis loss, Tua regained steam with a KO over Danell Nicholson, but lost a close decision in his next fight to future champion Chris Byrd. In 2002 he beat prospect Fres Oquendo and demolished Michael Moorer in his next fight, via a powerful shot 30 seconds into the first round, which put Moorer out cold. In 2003 he drew in a 12 round rematch with Rahman - and following the fight his career drifted into obscurity due to promotional disputes. [edit] ComebackTua was inactive for over two years before he stepped into the ring March 31, 2005 and bested Talmadge Griffis in a 10 round bout - ending the match and earning a TKO victory with 26 seconds remaining.[3] Tua's next contest in October, 2005 ended in a split decision over Cisse Salif with Tua dominating in the late rounds.[4] Tua defeated Edward Gutierrez by knockout in the fourth round of a scheduled 10-rounder on July 26, 2006. The fight was held at the Manhattan Center ballroom in New York City, and featured on ESPN2. Tua started slowly, scored a knockdown with his famous left hook in the second round, and put Gutierrez down for the count in the fourth round with a combination of two left hooks, one to the head and the decisive one to the body.[5] In November 2006 Tua defeated Maurice Wheeler in the seventh round of a scheduled 10-rounder by knockout. Tua ended the bout with a solid left uppercut to the body which immediately sent the howling Wheeler to the canvas.[6] Tua continued his comeback in February 2007 with a unanimous decision over Robert Hawkins in a 10 round bout. Tua ended the match being the aggressor and hurt Hawkins in both the ninth and tenth rounds with body punches but was unable to end the match with a knockout.[7] Tua, looking in good shape and weighing in at 237 1/2 lbs (his lightest fight weight since 2001), was featured as the main event of a Pay Per View show[8] August 18, 2007 in Sandy, UT and ended the bout quickly with a first round knockout of Mexican champion Saul Montana. Tua threw two powerful left hooks to the head that sent Montana sprawling to the canvas giving Tua his sixth win in a row.[9] Tua, again looking in good shape and weighing in at 234 lbs, fought the unheralded Cerrone Fox at the Soaring Eagle Casino, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on September 7, 2007. Tua made short work of his over matched opponent ending the bout at 1:41 of the second round. While Tua's promoter, Cedric Kushner, stated David was scheduled to fight an opponent on October 18, 2007[10], the fight never materialized. Tua was signed to fight fellow New Zealander Shane Cameron in 2009 at Mystery Creek, Hamilton, New Zealand for the WBO Asia Pacific and Oriental Heavyweight titles. Originally scheduled for 6 June, the fight was re-scheduled until 3rd October 2009, due to Cameron having surgery on his fractured hand.[11] On the 3rd of October 2009 at 10.46pm, David Tua knocked out Shane Cameron in the 2nd round of their fight at Mystery Creek, Hamilton, New Zealand. If the ref had not mistakenly thought he heard the bell as Cameron fell for the second time in round one, it is likely the fight would have ended then. Seven seconds into the 2nd round Tua yet again displayed the power of his left hook and left an almost unconscious Cameron on the canvas. Tua is looking at giving it another shot at the world heavyweight championship. Tua is currently ranked 24th[12] in the Heavyweight Division. Tua's was scheduled to fight against Bruce Seldon on 7 February 2010 (EST) in Atlantic City but withdrew on December 17 (NZDT) citing "family reasons".[13] Instead his first fight of 2010 will be against Friday Ahunanya on March 27. A fight on May 1 is also scheduled against a high ranking unknown opponent in order to position him for a world title bout.[14] [edit] Outside the ringFrom 1992 to 2003, Tua was managed by former boxer Kevin Barry, who also trained him from 2001. But in 2003, Tua ended his business relationship with Barry and financial manager Martin Pugh. Though Barry accepted his dismissal as trainer, he resisted Tua's decision to end their contract, which still had two years to go. In 2004, Tua's accountant learned that the boxer's finances with his boxing company, Tuaman Inc. Ltd., were tangled with company expenses; Tua no longer had most of his $NZ 20 million in purses from his professional matches, and important assets Tua thought he owned alone were anything but, including a piece of coastal land at Pakiri. Tuaman Inc. Ltd had business expenses flowing in various directions, involving companies and clients Tua had no knowledge of. Tua's own home was purchased with borrowed money, and the boxer's purses were linked to renovation costs for Martin Pugh's property. These findings were based on documents from Pugh's offices. Court action was inevitable. In 2005 Tua took Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh to court over their business arrangements. Barry and Pugh have accused Tua of manipulating them to collect revenue, yet Tua maintained that he knew little of the men's affairs and did what they told him to do out of trust. The dispute has so far given both sides legal victories: over the issue of the coastal land property, the court ruled in favor of Barry and Pugh, since Tua failed to properly clarify his ownership over the land; on the issue of the terminated 2003 contract, the court ruled in Tua's favour, concluding he clearly owed no expenses to his former management from that contract. The courts are currently preparing to handle the other issues of the boxer's company's finances. In October and December 2006, Tua was challenged by fellow boxer and countryman Shane Cameron. With Cameron's 17 straight victories and a ranking from the International Boxing Federation, there has been media attention given to Cameron. However, Tua's camp has resisted the challenge, asking Cameron to first build up his profile in the United States to attract promoters before fighting Tua. Tua himself has stated that such a match would mostly benefit Cameron. In March 2007 Cameron, now with 19 wins, again challenged Tua.[15] In May 2007, Cedric Kushner, president of Gotham Boxing Inc. and Tua's promoter, filed a $5 million lawsuit against IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and promoter Shelly Finkel among others - and while the lawsuit is unrelated to Tua, Kushner has stated he will drop the lawsuit if Tua is given a title bout against Klitschko in 2008, which ultimately failed to materialize.[16] In September 2009 Tua lost an aunt in the Samoa tsunami. In early October he travelled to Samoa with cousin Va'aiga Tuigamala to see how they could help.[17] [edit] Trivia
Although Tua was never knocked down in any of his fights, he was dropped in the final seconds of his bout with Rahman, an unofficial knock-down. Many fans dispute this and say it was a balance shot with Tua swinging wildly after hearing the bell signalling ten seconds to go. The knock down took place seconds after the bell to end the fight. Tua has won 29 of his fights without going to the fourth round; two of his fights lasted less than 30 seconds (he KO'd Michael Moorer in 30 seconds, and floored John Ruiz in 19), a record tied by only one other boxer, Jeremy Williams. At least two more of Tua's bouts have lasted under a minute, although full records of his early fights are incomplete, so he may have more short bouts. Tua ranks 2nd in most opponents knocked down in the first round, while Mike Tyson ranks first. On October 10, 1992 Tua appeared on the New Zealand version of the gameshow Wheel of Fortune. He asked for an "O for Olsen" but this was heard by some as "O for awesome".[18] He requested "P" when buying a vowel on the same episode.[19]. He was also heard to ask if he could buy a "constonant" during the same show. In 2003, Tua was ranked 48th on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. While Tua only received one shot at a heavyweight title belt, he owns victories over fighters John Ruiz (two-time heavyweight champion), Hasim Rahman (two-time heavyweight champion), Fres Oquendo (two-time heavyweight title challenger), Oleg Maskaev (former WBC heavyweight champion), and Michael Moorer (three-time heavyweight champion). [19] Tua is a member of the legendary Anoa'i wrestling family.[20]
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