David Tua
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| David Tua | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Mafaufau Tavita Lio Mafaufau Sanerivi Talimatasi |
| Nickname | The Terminator / Tuaman |
| Weight | Heavyweight |
| Nationality | Samoan/New Zealander |
| Birth date | November 21, 1972 |
| Birth place | Aopo, Western Samoa |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 51 |
| Wins | 47 |
| Wins by KO | 40 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 0 |
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's boxing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 1992 Barcelona | Heavyweight | |
David Tua, (born Mafaufau Tavita Lio Mafaufau Sanerivi Talimatasi on November 21, 1972 on the Island of Upolu, Samoa), is a former heavyweight boxing contender and title challenger.
His family moved to Mangere in Auckland, New Zealand when he was 10 years old. As an amateur Tua showed considerable promise, and eventually represented New Zealand when winning the bronze medal in the heavyweight contest at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
He turned professional later that year, and embarked on a career which some say was handicapped because of his lack of height. Nevertheless, Tua was internationally respected as having one of the most devastating left hooks in world boxing and the ability to take severe punishment. Indeed, Tua was named the 48th greatest puncher of all time by Ring Magazine. He fought only once for the world heavyweight championship in which he lost on points to defending champion Lennox Lewis.
Tua is known for his devastating knock-outs and his wars. His 1997 fight with infamous Ike Ibeabuchi was a barnburner on HBO, in which the fighters combined to set the record for most punches thrown on an HBO heavyweight telecast. 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 an astounding 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, 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 stuggles with his weight. He ballooned up to 253 when he defeated Obed Sullivan in 2000 by KO. Later that year, he weighed 245 in the loss to Lennox Lewis. Tua was badly battered 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 rematch with Rahman, and his career drifted into obscurity following the fight due to promotional disputes.
Although the iron-chinned 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.
He has won 27 of his fights without needing to go to the fourth round; two of his fights lasted less than 30 seconds (he KOed Michael Moorer in exactly 30 seconds, and floored John Ruiz in 19), a record tied by only one other boxer, Jeremy Williams. At least 2 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 than even that Tua also ranked in 2nd with the most opponents knocked down in the first round, while Mike Tyson still holds first place.
From 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 finanical 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 assests Tua thought he owned alone were anything but, including a piece of coastal land at Pakiri. Tuaman Inc. Ltd had business expenses flowing at 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 revonation costs for Martin Pugh's property. These findings were based on documents from Pugh's offices. Court action was evitable.
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 favor, concluding he clearly owned 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.
Tua is a unionized boxer, a member of the Joint Association of Boxers.
Tua defeated 40 year old 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.
In October and December of 2006, Tua was challenged by fellow boxer Shane Cameron to a former match. With Cameron's 17 straight victories in his matches 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 as of now would mostly benefit Cameron. Any match between Cameron and Tua is unlikely to occur anytime soon, as Cameron's camp agrees that their boxer should build on his profile more.
David Tua is famous for introducing the phrase "O for Awesome", during Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
He also has two sons, Klein and Kayan with his wife and current manager Robina Tua
[edit] External links
- Tua of Duty Article from Fight Times about David's fight with Talmadge Griffis.
- Boxrec profile
