The "Fight of the Century" is ready to live up to its billing and set records

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Mark Hinton - www.stuff.co.nz

 

The "Fight of the Century" is ready to live up to its billing and set records as New Zealand's hottest and most expensive sporting ticket.

 

But the marks set by next month's David Tua v Shane Cameron "grudge" heavyweight boxing contest at Hamilton's Mystery Creek may not last long, with promoters admitting they're likely to be dwarfed by revenues that will be generated for the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

 

In the meantime, Tua-Cameron on October 3 looks set to take the title as not only the most hyped sporting contest of the Kiwi sporting year, but the most expensive ticket to a New Zealand event.

 

The highest priced "VIP Ringside" corporate tables at the fight have all been snapped up at $16,545 for a group of 10 and event promoter David Higgins said the evening was on track to set some pretty lofty records in terms of revenue generated.

 

Already 6000 of the capacity 8000 seats have been sold and Higgins was confident he would have around 150 corporate tables and a general admission crowd of around 6500 for the big fight.

 

That number is flexible with an inability to fit in as many corporate tables as there is appetite for.

 

In terms of the level of pricing for corporate tables, Higgins was confident the premium spots at Tue-Cameron, which are selling for prices between $10,545 and $16,545, are the most expensive for a New Zealand sporting event.

 

"The only event I can think of that I was involved in was the President Clinton visit in 2006, and a corporate table for that was around $14-15,000. But that's a very different type of event," said the Duco Events promoter from Brisbane, where he is drumming up interest in the night.

 

"To be ringside at a once-in-a-generation boxing fight is definitely one of those sought-after events. Each country has its own example. Mundine-Green was the pinnacle in Australia, and imagine being at Tyson-Holyfield in the mid-'90s, image being at the Rumble in the Jungle between Ali and Frazier . . .

 

"Those were big, big events. You could argue this is New Zealand's equivalent. It's a very historic event, there's fever-pitch interest in it. It's a very hot ticket for sure.

 

"The Rugby World Cup is coming up, and I'm sure that too will be a very hot ticket. I'd say they will surpass even this for some options."

 

With stand tickets for the RWC final tipped to run up to $1400, and corporate packages likely to be well over $2000 on a per-head basis, the 65,000-strong crowd at Eden Park are likely to generate a revenue record that will stand for a long, long time.

 

Higgins was not keen to talk about figures in terms of likely revenue generated, but simple maths tells you they should clear $3 million from the sale of general admission tickets ($99-$399) and corporate tables alone.

 

Not bad for an indoor event and certainly it compares favourably with around $1.5-$2 million that is generated from an All Blacks rugby test.

 

Then there's the revenue from the pay-per-view audience which Higgins is tipping will shatter the New Zealand record.

 

"I think we are where we want to be financially," he said. "The Pay-Per-View will be interesting to see how it pans out. I expect it to be the New Zealand record without doubt. The initial feedback from the broadcaster is very encouraging. At $39.95, it is a very good price."

 

Higgins shrugged off any likely criticism from fans disappointed they will either have to shell out for the fight, or find a friend that has.

 

"Of course people would love to see it free-to-air but they've got to understand for the best calibre fights, which this very much is, one of the major revenue streams for funding the purse is pay per-view.

 

"Frankly the big matchups won't happen any other way."

 

Not that Higgins is figuring on the price putting too many people off once the weekend of the October 3 fight rolls around.

 

"Come fight day, and the weigh-in before, there will be such a fever pitch people won't be worrying about the $39.95 - they'll be worrying about how the hell are we going to see it."

 

He is also confident that the fight is accessible to all types of fans.

 

"Yes, ringside is $15,000 a head, but you will still have a very, very good view - and we've got eight big screens in there - further back at $99. That represents very good value for fans.

Higgins is adamant that the grudge match between the two Kiwi heavyweights will live up to its hype.

 

"Cameron's style of fighting is to come forward and trade, and David Tua's style of fighting is to come forward. The antagonism between them is real.

 

"You combine that with the public interest and the fact that so much is at stake - Tua's legacy is involved, similarly Cameron, and for the winner there's potentially a top-five ranking and a shot at the title in the next year or two.

 

"Mix all those ingredients and this suggests it will be a very exciting fight. There's no other sport quite like it. When the main event happens and the guys walk into the arena, you can feel the atmosphere.

 

"When Tua and Cameron enter that ring for round one, the atmosphere in that venue will be . . . electric. It will be like no other event.

 

"This fight's built up for four  or five years, it's in the back of people's minds that they're witnessing something that's built up that long, and that it's a one-off event, and that sort of feeds off each other to create this amazing atmosphere."

 

Higgins confirmed that Independent Liquor had been signed as the events naming rights sponsor, and that they would be promoting it under their Woodstock brand.

 

In terms of the fight's place in history, he suggested you had to go back a long way - at least half a century - when this sort of interest has been generated by an all-Kiwi matchup.

 

And it's fair to say that no punch-up has ever seen this much cash flowing into the coffers.

 

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David Tua’s recent inactivity isn't seen as a hindrance in the eyes of the bookmakers

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Duncan Johnstone - Stuff.co.nz

 

David Tua’s recent inactivity isn't seen as a hindrance in the eyes of the bookmakers who have him a heavy favourite to beat Shane Cameron with a knockout the favoured option for their heavyweight clash in Hamilton next week.

 

The New Zealand TAB has Tua at $1.50 in head to head beating against Cameron at $2.45.

 

Australian agency CentreBet has also got the fight on their books and is slightly firmer in their belief that Tua will win, having him at $1.50 with Cameron at $2.50.

 

Tua hasn't fought for two years while Cameron has kept busy in that time.

 

But the TAB still believes Tua has the power in his trademark left hook, with a knockout decision the favoured in option betting at $1.60.

 

If the fight goes the 12 rounds the TAB see Cameron, with his fast hands, coming into the frame, having him at $3.25 to win by a decision. Tua is at $6.50 by a decision with a Cameron knockout at $8.50 and a draw the long odds at $30.

 

Tua's punching power is reflected in the TAB’s odds on decisions by rounds.

 

Tua, whose first round knockouts ratio is bettered only by Mike Tyson, is at $12 to win the fight in the opening round.

 

He's at $10 to win through rounds two to six.

 

Cameron's odds to win inside the distance vary from $40 to $60.

 

The fight comes with the WBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental heavyweight titles up for grabs but the biggest prize will be Kiwi bragging rights with this battle having been on the cards for many years without eventuating.

 

That was mainly because Tua, with rich earnings and a busy pro career from 1992 highlighted by a world title shot against Lennox Lewis, never really needed it.

 

Cameron was a no-win situation for him.

 

But now, with his wealth shrunk and needing to re-establish himself, Tua has been persuaded to enter the ring against Cameron for what will be a lucrative pay day.
 

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When Roger Bloodworth arrived at Auckland airport on Wednesday

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Steve Kilgallon - Sunday Star Times

 

When Roger Bloodworth arrived at Auckland airport on Wednesday, the famously-tardy David Tua was there to meet him, and on time too.

 

But the real surprise for Bloodworth, Tua's long-time trainer, was his fighter's waistline.

 

Bloodworth, whose 20-year professional career has included work with world champions Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Jeff Lacy and Robbie Peden, has eight weeks to ready Tua for his October 6 heavyweight fight in Hamilton with Shane Cameron.

 

And after judging Tua's present weight to be around a respectable 114kg, he says that's "plenty of time".

 

In his first interview since arriving in New Zealand, Bloodworth told the Sunday Star-Times: "I was really surprised, pleasantly surprised ... he looks in good shape. I think Lee Parore [Tua's fitness trainer] has done a heck of a job.

 

When David told me he was training with Lee, I wasn't too worried because he knows his business, he knows David and he knows how to condition a fighter."

 

Bloodworth and Tua will front media together on Tuesday notable because it's likely to be the first time Tua has allowed journalists to see him in boxing gear.

 

Bloodworth reckons Tua could fight at anywhere between 105 and 114kg, doesn't need a warm-up bout, and after their initial meeting, says: "I have a real good feeling about this fight ... from what I can feel, not so much from what he said, I think he is really up for this fight."

 

It's nearly two years since the pair last worked together, with delays to the fight leaving Bloodworth doubting it would ever happen. But Bloodworth, who has long championed Tua (saying back in 2005 he would be world champion within two years) has no such doubts about his man.

 

Asked about his approach, Bloodworth says: "I am a firm believer that if you do the basics extraordinarily, you will be an extraordinary fighter." For Tua, that translates into ensuring he doesn't rely on his famous left hook, but has a complete fight plan and can last the distance; Bloodworth dismisses suggestions Tua needs a short fight.

 

Bloodworth had coached amateurs for a decade when, in 1988, four of his charges reached the US Olympic trials and two more signed for the Main Events stable, who persuaded him to throw in a job working on F15 and F18 fighter jets for McDonnell Douglas.

 

"I thought `what have you got to lose? A good job, steady income? Yeah, what the hell.' So I took a shot. I feel I've been blessed by God. I know everyone says that, but I really believe it."
 

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The small girl looked up at the man walking in the grounds of the White House.

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Paul Lewis - Herald on Sunday

 

The small girl looked up at the man walking in the grounds of the White House. He was black, short hair, wearing a suit and shades.

 

"Are you the President?" Sugar Ray Leonard looked at her. He nodded, smiled. She skipped away, delighted.

 

"I couldn't resist," says Leonard. "She opened her mouth so wide. I just cracked up."

 

You can understand the wee girl's mistake. Even these days, at 53, Leonard exudes a kind of presidential aura.

 

In boxing circles, he is still regarded (Manny Pacquiao, please excuse us) as one of, if not the, greatest pound-for-pound boxers ever.

 

Note the use of the word boxer, not fighter.

 

For real boxing fans, Leonard was a genius. He could move, he could feint, he could dodge punches, dart, sting and hurt. His handspeed and combinations were phenomenal and he was innovative.

 

His fights against Roberto Duran (twice, including the famous "no mas" fight when he regained his world championship), Tommy "Hit Man" Hearns and Marvin Hagler are remembered as some of the best in the history of the sport.

 

But let's get back to the White House. Leonard was a fighter too, having to draw deeper than most of us ever do in stocks of courage and commitment around various eye injuries and in his most famous bouts. But he acknowledges that pales next to the fight against diabetes.

 

Leonard knows the disease well - his father had it and the family's inability to cope with the medical bills was the prime motivation for Leonard turning professional after he won the light welterweight Olympic gold medal in 1976 and had already made the first of what was to be many retirements.

 

He was at the White House last month to testify to a US senate committee on the need to increase government funding for diabetes research. Leonard has been chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk For The Cure events and supports those fighting the disease through his Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation.

 

Diabetes costs the US about US$174 billion annually but it is the human cost that concerns Leonard, particularly for kids under threat or who have already developed the disease.

 

"It is a horrible, horrible thing [diabetes] particularly if you don't have the health care or the money to try and cope with it and I have always felt for the thousands or even millions of people who are affected," Leonard says.

 

He used his skills as a motivational speaker - he speaks all round the world, including to Fortune 500 companies and is coming to Auckland to speak at a September 1 dinner in support of the Phobic Trust and the Tua-Cameron fight on October 3 - at the senate hearing to try to prod the lawmakers into devoting more money to diabetes research.

 

"My fighting years, my bouts, my titles, they are a kind of legacy but, man, helping to find a cure for diabetes by persuading that more money be devoted to it - that's a real legacy, wouldn't you say?" Sometimes, on a telephone call, you can tell when someone is grinning. This is one of those times.

 

LEONARD WASN'T grinning, however, when he was 16 years old, a beaten boxer at the 1972 US Olympic trials - and sobbing at his defeat. His trainer came into the room and said: "Sugar man, what you doing? Keep working hard, keep at it and you'll be back here more experienced."

 

That was how the "Sugar" Ray handle was born - a direct reference to Sugar Ray Robinson, another fighter with blistering handspeed, power and skill.

 

"He was right and I have to say that I really responded to the discipline of running, training, working hard every day; I was so disciplined. My brother Roger [who got his little brother into the gym after "beating up on me all the time; just for being there"] used to say to me 'I could have been a champion too if I'd had your discipline'. He was right, too, he could have been."

 

Leonard was an unusual candidate for boxing fame before he embraced the discipline of the sport.

 

 

"I was introverted, quiet, shy, scared of my own shadow, a bit of a mama's boy. I would keep my own company and play with imaginary toys, didn't go out much. I wasn't athletic like my brothers, I wasn't into girls - I was a bit of a wallflower with two left feet."

 

His metamorphosis was stunning. Anyone who saw his footwork, blinding speed and punching skill - not to mention the innovative, showman "bolo" punch - will understand why the phenomenally tough Duran sat on his stool, declining to answer the bell when Leonard regained his crown from the Panamanian.

 

His best fight, he says, was his reach-into-the-depths win over Hearns to reunify the various titles; his worst when he should never have returned to the ring and lost in embarrassing fashion to Terry Norris and Hector Comacho.

 

Asked why he chose to return, a failing often common to great fighters, he says: "It was defiance. All my life, I felt I had the ability to overcome logic and ego plays a part. I shouldn't have come back."

 

Leonard takes his time answering a question on the state of boxing these days.

 

"I'd like to say it is thriving but it isn't - it's surviving, but it's a resilient sport. There isn't an abundance of talent any more and I think the big change is that there are few household names; few stars that really shine. Fans keep up with the sport but we have lost the ability to put the sport in front of ordinary people who might be fans if they could only see the fights."

 

The reason for that, he says, is the migration of boxing from free-to-air TV to pay-per-view - ironic, perhaps, as that is how Tua-Cameron is being televised.

 

Leonard remembers Tua well and his crushing demolition of former world champion Michael Moorer in particular. He is not sure about Shane Cameron.

 

Asked whether he feels Tua might have hung on too long, as Leonard himself did, he slips that punch easily.

 

"I always act as an ambassador for the sport. If David and Shane can fight together and bring some spark to the sport and to that event, then I say good for them."

 

* An Evening with Sugar Ray Leonard and Friends, September 1, Ellerslie Convention Centre.

 

* Tua v Cameron, October 3, Mystery Creek, tickets still available at $199.

 

Sugar's sweets

* 1976: Gold medal, Montreal Olympics, light welterweight. Retires.
* 1976: Turns professional to pay medical bills for father. Wins first 25 fights.
* 1979: WBC world welterweight champion, TKO over Wilfred Benitez.
* 1980: Loses title to Roberto Duran, unanimous decision.
* 1980: Regains title from Duran in "no mas" rematch ended when Duran didn't answer the bell.
* 1981: Beats Ayub Kaluele to win WBA world junior middleweight title. * 1981: Beats Tommy Hearns in welterweight unification bout; undisputed world champion.
* 1982: Retires after eye injury.
* 1983: Announces comeback; fights Kevin Howard, retires again.
* 1986: Announces comeback.
* 1987: Beats Marvin Hagler, split decision, to win WBC world middleweight crown.
* 1988: Beats Donny Lalonde by KO to win WBC super middleweight and WBC light-heavyweight titles.
* 1989: Fights Hearns in controversial draw; wins unanimous decision in third fight against Duran.
* 1990: Knocked down twice in clear loss to Terry Norris. Retires.
* 1997: Now aged 40, takes fight against Hector Comacho and is knocked out. Retires.

 

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A war of words has erupted between David Tua and Shane Cameron

FULL STORY >>

TV3

 

A war of words has erupted between David Tua and Shane Cameron ahead of their clash labelled 'The Fight of the Century' on October 3.

 

http://www.3news.co.nz/News/SportsNews/Tua-and-Cameron-press-conference-descends-into-trash-talk/tabid/415/articleID/113564/cat/70/Default.aspx

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If the main event matches the side show, the David Tua v Shane Cameron fight will be a classic.

FULL STORY >>

Steve Deane - New Zealand Herald

 

If the main event matches the side show, the David Tua v Shane Cameron fight will be a classic.

 

Yesterday at a pub on Auckland's waterfront, the first shots of what promises to be a highly entertaining 74-day phoney war began.

 

Flanked by their trainers and promoters, the fighters exchanged their first jabs, albeit in the form of mandatory verbal barbs.

 

When the final bell sounded, it was the veteran Tua who walked away with a clear points victory over the upstart Cameron.

 

Tua may have arrived 25 minutes late, but his tardiness didn't stop the one-time contender producing a stunning slap-down during an extended, sometimes heated, exchange.

 

"Remember when I hurt you," the suited and booted Tua quipped.

 

Cameron, at home in jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, clearly did remember tasting Tua's famed left hook after being flown to America as a young buck to serve as a sparring partner for the established pro.

 

Mid-way into an attack on the less-than-impressive twilight years of Tua's fading career, Cameron was caught off balance by Tua's riposte and was left, somewhat lamely, to claim a low blow.

 

"What, when I'd had one pro fight and you'd had how many - 40?" he replied.

 

The reality was that, having unwisely strayed into territory he should have been at pains to avoid, the Mountain Warrior walked into a shot he should have seen coming.

 

"I've seen that Lennox Lewis fight man, you took a hiding," Cameron said in an ill-judged assault on Tua's pedigree.

 

Most New Zealand boxing fans would also have seen Tua defeat Hasim Rahman, Oleg Maskaev, John Ruiz and Michael Moorer - all fighters to have donned world title belts.

 

Tua's 43-3-1 record is hardly his weak point. Cameron may be 23-1, but names such as Bob Mirovic and Jonathan Haggler hardly compare to those on Tua's CV.

 

Not that Cameron didn't get in a few decent licks.

 

"You call yourself a professional? How long have you been out of the ring for?" scored for highlighting Tua's inactivity since knocking over bum Cerrone Fox at a Michigan casino in September 2007.

 

And when Tua ranted about running up hills in Gisborne looking for warriors but finding only goats, Cameron found some fertile ground.

 

"I was up on that hill and I saw you trying to get up to that goat. You were huffing and puffing. I thought you were going to have a heart attack."

 

Much more like it. Tua's pedigree is beyond question. His age, fitness, weight and desire certainly aren't.

 

When his trainer, Lee Parore, spoke of seeing "a new, different, real David Tua", a Tua who had been "training the house down", he sounded suspiciously like a man who doth protest too much.

 

Cameron downplayed his own frailties.

 

His latest broken hand was healing well and would be fine by fight night, while surgery to smooth the surface of his skull had helped reduce the cutting problem that led to his 2007 defeat by Friday "The 13th" Ahunanya.

 

Given they are pushing a fight with no real bad guy to pit against Cameron's obvious good guy, promoters Duco Events will be thrilled with the level of needle.

 

Tua's annoyance at Cameron continually calling him out without having the runs on the board was the subtext for the angst.

 

Having adopted the stance that Cameron isn't worthy, Tua has plenty to lose.

 

Cameron, on the other hand, has everything to prove.

 

He may respect Tua's power, but Cameron doesn't rate his opponent's skills.

 

"He's not going to out-box me, the only way he is going to beat me is by knocking me out," was Cameron's parting shot.

 

Not surprisingly, it was Tua who got in the last lick. His timing was faultless.

 

"You'd be surprised."

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Shane ‘The Mountain Warrior’ Cameron has come through a training session today

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Shane ‘The Mountain Warrior’ Cameron has come through a training session today, saying his hand is “better than new”.

 

Cameron has been given the go ahead to start punching in training ahead of New Zealand’s ‘Fight of the Century’ against David Tua at Mystery Creek on October 3.

 

Cameron’s manager Ken Reinsfield says surgeon Tim Tasman-Jones is extremely pleased with Shane’s rapid progress following surgery and saw no future problems with the boxer’s right hand.

 

“Shane has now been able to put the injury out of his mind, and will be punching at full power once the bell rings on October 3,“ said Reinsfield.

 

Cameron says his hand is “better than new” and will be a key part of his armoury against Tua.

 

“I’ll be ready for David Tua, but will he be ready for Shane Cameron”.
 

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Shane "The Mountain Warrior" Cameron is back.

FULL STORY >>

Nicola Brennan - Waikato Times

 

Shane "The Mountain Warrior" Cameron is back.
 

And in true boxing bout spirit he has sounded a warning to David Tua ahead of their meeting in the Fight of the Century at Mystery Creek on October 3.

"I definitely think I've got the goods. I won't be losing," he told the Waikato Times.

He took to the ring in Auckland yesterday, throwing his first punches since fracturing his right hand while beating American Robert Davis in Gisborne in March.

Cameron underwent surgery recently to remove two titanium rods from the injured hand and has just been given the all-clear by his surgeon to start using the hand.

Cameron said it was "nice to be punching again".

"It's been three months, so I was a little bit hesitant," he said.

"But I got through it. It went well."

He said his right hand felt "good" after the training session like it would have felt before the injury.

Cameron has had both acupuncture and physiotherapy on the injured hand.

"The bone has healed well, it's just the muscles that give me a bit of pain."

He did not think the hand would hinder his performance.

"I hope not, but there's no guarantees on anything. I hope everything will be fine by the fight.

"I've got a good four months of healing from the operation before then."

Cameron's focus has been on getting as fit as possible.

"I've been swimming a lot and going on longer runs," he said.

"I'm looking to build up my aerobic pace."

Cameron is looking forward to being in Hamilton.

"They are putting on an event that won't happen for another 100 years, so don't miss it."

Manager Ken Reinsfield said that Cameron's surgeon, Tim Tasman-Jones, was extremely pleased with the rapid progress following surgery and saw no future problems with the boxer's right hand.

The roughly 4800 general admission tickets to the fight are sold out. About 800 premium reserve seats remain but at an eye-watering $399 each. They can be purchased at Ticketek.
 

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Most of us, after suffering a heart attack, would probably have cried off attending the infamous Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson heavyweight boxing re-match the next day - let alone call the fight over a microphone to an audience of millions.

FULL STORY >>

Paul Lewis - Herald on Sunday

 

Most of us, after suffering a heart attack, would probably have cried off attending the infamous Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson heavyweight boxing re-match the next day - let alone call the fight over a microphone to an audience of millions.

 

Even fewer would have the force of personality to sign out of hospital the next day, somehow talk a cardiologist into riding shotgun - with a defibrillator for emergency's sake - and then get drawn into the high stress and controversy of a global sports event (this was the bout where Tyson bit off part of Holyfield's ear in the third round in 1997, sparking something of a riot).

 

But 'Colonel' Bob Sheridan, the renowned boxing commentator who will be in New Zealand in October to call the David Tua vs Shane Cameron fight, has - you might say - the gift of the gab; enough to persuade a gobsmacked cardiologist to sit through his first boxing match and then rush Sheridan back to hospital for an angioplasty that same night.

 

Sheridan could, in fact, talk the hind leg off a donkey and this larger-than-life individual (no sense in letting a mere heart attack slow you down) will lend the Tua-Cameron fight some credibility by being here to call it.

Billed extravagantly as "The Fight Of The Century", the fight has suffered a little from being delayed because of Cameron's injured hand and a change in venue to Hamilton's Mystery Creek.

 

The undercard was also hit - the mainstays have yet to be named - and more than a few critics are wondering if the fight is being over-hyped in boxing's inflated way.

 

Tua hasn't fought for nearly two years and Cameron, although ranked high in at least two of boxing's many and ridiculously confusing rankings, has yet to beat anyone of true international note. Tua, even though he has the higher pedigree, isn't ranked at all after his long absences.

 

Sheridan, perhaps risking another heart attack, is vigorously convinced that Tua, in particular, could still rank highly in the world's rather depleted heavyweight ranks.

 

But first, let's deal with Sheridan giving his heart attack the big right hook and the fact that, years later, he is still with us and hasn't joined the ranks of past commentators.

"People find it a little strange, what I did, I know," he says.

 

"But at the time, that fight was of a magnitude and importance that I just did not want to miss it. I mean, we're talking Thriller In Manila or Zaire [two of Muhammad Ali's greatest fights].

 

"I'd had heart attacks before and you come to understand them and what's happening to you. I knew this attack would require angioplasty - which is where they basically shove aside all the gunk which is blocking your arteries."

 

Once that was done, Sheridan immediately started to feel better and fancied going to the fight. Against medical advice, he signed himself out of the hospital, but not before talking Dr Ram Singh, his cardiologist, into coming to the fight with a defibrillator.

 

"I knew what was going on and knew that, if there were going to be any problems with an angioplasty, they often showed themselves in the first 24 hours," says Sheridan.

 

It is not known what Ram Singh thought of his very first boxing match - which contained an audience of thousands and a decibel level that would injure hearing even before Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfield's ear and spat it on the ground, creating an enormous hullabaloo.

 

But his evening must have been interesting and it is hard to avoid a mental image of a leading physician cuddling his defibrillator and watching open-mouthed, as two gnarled warriors set about physically damaging each other.

 

After the fight, Sheridan didn't feel very well, went back to hospital where Singh gave him another angioplasty - after which he has felt as sound as a David Tua left hook.

 

"I wanted to call this fight in New Zealand because, out of all the places I have been to throughout the world, I love New Zealand and the friends I have made there.

 

"This is not a fight which will stir a lot of interest in the US or even Europe and it may not stir that much interest internationally - but, boy, I know what it means in New Zealand."

 

Sheridan also doesn't subscribe to the theory that Tua, whom he calls a friend, is over the hill.

 

"Look, the last thing to go on a fighter is his punch. David Tua is only 36 - and that's not old for a heavyweight these days - and, let's face it, he has made a career out of that left hook.

 

"I look at the rankings these days and I see quite a few highly ranked fighters that David could knock over if he's fit and focused and he has that left hook even 75 or 80 per cent of what it was in his prime.

 

"People love heavyweights who have a knockout punch and that's what many people think the division still lacks."

 

Sheridan says he thinks Tua could beat Cuba's Juan Carlos Gomez (9th in the WBC rankings), Uzbeki fighter Timor Ibramigov and feels he could take Kazakhstan's well-performed Oleg Maskaev and even WBA 'champion in recess' Ruslan Chagaev.

 

Nikolai Valuev, the 7-foot (2.13m) WBA champion who was due to fight Chagaev until the latter was ruled out, might prove too big and too tall for Tua who has had problems with big boxers in the past and the US's Samuel Peter would be a fascinating contest - "It'd be a slugfest; a real war" - according to Sheridan.

 

"So that's what this fight is about for David," he says. "It's a big deal locally but it's also about seeing whether he can begin to get back somewhere near where he was in the world rankings."

 

But, no matter what Tua or Cameron achieve, it's unlikely they can say they KO'd a heart attack.

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The David Tua-Shane Cameron fight has its first official combatants other than the headline fighters.

FULL STORY >>

Steve Kilgallon - Sunday Star Times

 

The David Tua-Shane Cameron fight has its first official combatants other than the headline fighters, but no big names have yet been announced for the undercard at Hamilton's Mystery Creek on October 3.

 

Promoter David Higgins told the Star-Times he had finally signed contracts with former Olympian Soulan Pownceby (9-0) and converted kickboxer Shane 'Choppa' Chapman (6-1) for them to meet somewhere in the middle of the seven-fight card in what should be an evenly matched six-round light-heavyweight contest.

 

Pownceby's manager, Mark Keddell, said: "We're excited and confident, it's going to be great exposure internationally and it's going to be great exposure for all the top Kiwi boxers."

 

The bottom undercard slot has been filled by India-born light-middleweight Harry Venka (7-3) fighting North Shore novice Robert Berridge (1-0).

 

Higgins' original undercard fell apart when Tua-Cameron was delayed and the quality of his new line-up will be tested when he names the two lead undercard bouts, one due to be an all-local title fight, the other to involve overseas fighters.

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David Tua is undergoing a re-branding exercise.

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Steve Kilgallon - Sunday Star Times

 

David Tua is undergoing a re-branding exercise - and has consulted lawyers to officially change his boxing tagline.

No longer does Tua want to be called the "Tuaman" - the ring name he used through most of his professional career, but which became forever linked to his bitter and ongoing legal dispute with former managers Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh.

 

Tua now plans to appear at his October 3 fight in Hamilton against Shane Cameron as the "Tuaminator" and will trademark the name.

Much of the long-running court case centred around Tuaman Inc, which managed Tua's affairs.

Tua owned half, while Pugh and Barry owned half, and a proportion of his fight fees were paid into it.

Bizarrely, Tuaman remains on the Companies Register, with Pugh transferring his shareholding to Barry in January.

Pugh also owned tuaman.com, a website that has long since disappeared into the ether. He emailed the Sunday Star-Times last week to say he and Barry wanted Tua to keep the Tuaman name.

Tua himself was coy: "I'm going back to the one name.

"Tua, Tuaman, Tuaminator . . . people have their preferences, so it doesn't matter. It doesn't change the fighter."

Tua says he's training alone for the fight next month, without conditioner Lee Parore or any sparring partners.

But declared: "All is well. I'll get there before fight day."

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Boxing fans have only days to wait to secure their tickets

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Click here to see what they had to say

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Businessman and boxing aficionado Bob Jones dons the gloves in defense of what he considers a noble art.

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Richard Boock condemned the continuing existence of boxing in a Final Whistle column last month, citing its physically harmful objectives and consequential permanent injuries and fatalities. He joins a long line of such critics.

Perhaps it was an oversight but his contradictory statement, “The medical profession, without whose support the sport would never be allowed to operate, have nevertheless been staunch opponents,” says it all.

Given his forthright style I suspect Boock has periodically attacked sports administrations for being out of line with their members’ views. So too with medical associations for it is a curious fact that boxing has always attracted doctors as boxers, trainers, writers . . . notwithstanding their respective associations’ distaste.

Boxing is the oldest of all sports, traceable back three millennia to the late Bronze Age. Because of its appeal to literary types its history has been well-recorded, and I don’t just refer to macho-type writers such as Jack London, Ernest Hemingway and Norman Mailer, but also to those of a more effete disposition such as Lord Byron and George Bernard Shaw, both of whom boxed and were avid followers. Shaw even wrote a boxing novel, Cashel Byron’s Profession.

Aristotle evoked boxing in explaining the difference between pain and pleasure in courage, and astutely noted that “pugnaciousness should never be equated with courage”. Nearly 3000 years after he wrote that, the self-explanatory term, The Noble Art (of self defence) came into common usage.

Boxing aficionados understand the bewilderment of the sport’s critics. On face value it’s reasonable, but only on face value.

Why then boxing’s ongoing appeal? Why are more books published about boxing (about four a week on my estimation) than any other sport? Why also, are about a fifth of them written by academics (mostly historians and English literature academics) and a growing number by women? None of this equates with Boock’s sneering innuendo about boxers and by inference, the sport’s followers, as stupid.

Why have more movies been made about boxing than all other sports combined? Mind you, I know of no aficionado who will watch such films as they do the sport a disservice in always representing it as a slugfest. Nevertheless, all of this reflects boxing’s immense popularity as does its enormous financial rewards.

But think about that. Why, if as critics seem to believe, boxing’s appeal lies in witnessing brutality and a bloodbath, are champion boxers paid $20m and upwards for a single bout. The answer is that top boxers are the most skilled and the hardest to hit and enthusiasts react to that. The result of the recent Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao fight, which drew Boock’s wrath, attracted astonishment in boxing circles, primarily because it was unexpectedly over so quickly.

Boock might appreciate my point about what the fans really want if he was to watch a video of Bernard Hopkins, one of the world’s highest-paid boxers, still going today at 45. The main point of interest in a Hopkins bout is whether his opponent can ever hit him. Few have managed this feat.

Professional boxing was banned in Britain and America for most of the 19th century but much like prohibition, laws were ignored and eventually repealed. But even while still banned, Thomas Edison, when announcing his telephone invention, wrote by way of explaining its potential value, that “no longer will we have to wait for the result of boxing contests across the continent”.

More pertinently, professional boxing was banned in the oppressive “we-know- best” communist nations, but - Cuba and North Korea excepted (and not surprisingly, Sweden) - it no longer is. And that gets to the nub of the issue, namely the all- important issue of individual liberty.

Boxers box because they love it (getting them to quit is often a problem); spectators watch for the same reason. As in mountaineering, easily the most dangerous sport fatality-wise, boxers know the risks and accept the trade-off. That is a decision for them and them alone, just as with participants in other dangerous activities.

Boxing is perverse only to puritans who wish to inflict their values on others. But to logicians who understand the trade-off in risky pursuits, and who respect free will, there is no issue.

Aficionados, both participants and spectators, love boxing because, with the possible exception of test cricket, there’s nothing quite like it in complexity and excitement. But the magic of both test cricket and boxing are lost on the casual observer as they are a personal culture thing, only truly comprehensible to those learning their respective nuances and subtleties from childhood.

Not long before his death a few years ago, the doyen of British sports journalism, Peter Wilson, was the subject of an hour-long BBC television documentary on his life. He discussed great Wimbledon and FA Cup finals, test cricket series, Olympic feats and so on.

At the programme’s finish the interviewer put to Wilson that he must by now be blase about such events to which he agreed, but, added, “With one exception; I still can’t sleep the night before a major boxing match”.

That says it all.

Sir Bob Jones
 

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The Fight of the Century is heading indoors

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The Fight of the Century is heading indoors: the highly anticipated fight between the country's two top heavyweight boxers David Tua and Shane Cameron will now be held at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton, on October 3, nearly four months later than the original scheduled date of June 6.

Promoter David Higgins, from Duco Events, said the change of venue was because of the amount of time it would take to set up and dismantle the event right in the middle of the rugby season.

The later date would also allow Cameron's broken hand more time to recover. He broke it in his last fight in March, which led to the initial postponement.

While Mystery Creek would hold fewer fans than Waikato Stadium, Mr Higgins said there would still be 320 ringside tables, seating 10 people each, and 4800 general admission seats in a grandstand at the venue.

Tickets would still start at $60 but the average ticket price would be higher due to the reduced capacity. Auckland's Vector Arena, which was also in the running to host the fight, could hold only 180 corporate tables, he said.

The ring would be set up in the Mystery Creek pavilion with big screens on all sides and Mr Higgins also confirmed the fight would be broadcast only on pay per view television. Sky TV had signed up as the fight broadcaster and it would cost $39.95 to watch the broadcast.

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Cameron’s manager Ken Reinsfield said his charge visited top hand surgeon

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Cameron’s manager Ken Reinsfield said his charge visited top hand surgeon Tim Tasman-Jones today (Friday May 22) and an x-ray showed his hand is healing well.

 

“It all looks good and positive. I’m really happy with the way he is healing,” said Reinsfield.

 

Fight of the Century promoter David Higgins of Duco Events said it was good news for the big bout which is already attracting enormous support.

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Take your place at the centre of the event all New Zealand wants to see. TV One News called David Tua vs Shane Cameron “the top New Zealand sporting event of 2009.”

At stake will be the WBO Asia Pacific Championship Belt and the right to claim the title of “people’s champion.” The fight will make one boxers career and break the other.

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Take your place at the centre of the event all New Zealand wants to see. TV One News called David Tua vs Shane Cameron “the top New Zealand sporting event of 2009.”

At stake will be the WBO Asia Pacific Championship Belt and the right to claim the title of “people’s champion.” The fight will make one boxers career and break the other.

Noted Australian boxing promoter Khoder Nasser said: “The excitement around Tua-Cameron will be incredible. It matches the two best heavyweights in New Zealand and brings together a heavyweight clash of the likes that we haven’t seen in this part of the world for about 20 years.”

In the red corner is David Tua who fought for the world title, jointly holds the world record for the most punches thrown in a heavyweight bout and was named by Ring Magazine as the 48th best puncher in the history of the sport.

In the blue corner is Shane Cameron, an outstanding talent, renowned for his courage and ranked sixth in the world by the WBO, with a record of 22 wins from 23 bouts.

This will be an epic bout and a magic moment in New Zealand sport. But it will also be nothing less than a Las Vegas-style show business extravaganza – showbiz on a grand scale with the big fight as its focal point.

At Tua-Cameron you will experience 5 hours of unforgettable entertainment, star quality live music – and a stunning boxing card featuring 5 undercard bouts and, of course, the Fight of the Century. All set in a deluxe, themed indoor environment for your comfort and enjoyment.

Book now - secure your seat in history!

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Most boxing pundits pick David Tua to walk up to Shane Cameron and destroy him if they ever face each other in the ring.

Their reasoning is the former number-one ranked heavyweight contender has a world-class chin and one of the most devastating left hooks in the history of boxing.

Both boxers are front-foot fighters and know only one way - forward.

FULL STORY >>

Most boxing pundits pick David Tua to walk up to Shane Cameron and destroy him if they ever face each other in the ring.

Their reasoning is the former number-one ranked heavyweight contender has a world-class chin and one of the most devastating left hooks in the history of boxing.

Both boxers are front-foot fighters and know only one way - forward.

FULL STORY >>

So Tua should have no trouble finding Cameron, providing would-be promoter David Higgins can get the latter fighter's signature on a contract, complete the deal and get them in the ring. But is the Tua punters imagine will climb between the ropes the same fighter who knocked out three future champions - Hasim Rahman, Oleg Maskaev and John Ruiz?

I suspect we are making a mistake of putting our faith in Tua late in his career - the same mistake that fight fans world-wide made with Mike Tyson. Despite being shown up by both Buster Douglas in 1990 and Evander Holyfield in 1995, and being destroyed by Lennox Lewis in 2002, Tyson still drew huge audiences.

They were remembering the ferocious bobbing, weaving fighter of the late 1980s, who could slip outside his opponents' straight lefts or right hands, then spring from a crouch and destroy them with massive hooks. Even after Tyson had been knocked out in four rounds by Danny Williams in 2004, at best an above-average journeyman, fans still hankered for the sight of Tyson blazing away with both hands. Instead they saw him destroyed again by a mere "opponent", Irishman Kevin McBride the following year.

Let's look at the course of Tua's career. Poor management had some say in Tua's lackluster showing in his one big opportunity - his world title shot against Lennox Lewis in 2001. With the exception of a thunderous, partially blocked left hook in the third round that drove Lewis to the ropes and changed the nature of the fight, Tua made little impact. Once Lewis decided to stay outside and work behind his brilliant left jab, Tua had little opportunity. The Kiwi heavyweight had packed on the pounds after manager Kevin Barry had taken him from Lou Duva's Main Events and signed him up with short-lived promoters America Presents.

But even at his best you have to wonder whether Tua could have solved the problems Lewis' height, reach, speed and power posed.

What was exposed during that fight was his tendency to stay a little too far on his back foot and therefore a bit too far on the outside for a fighter of his short stature. Pressure is the name of the game for short, powerful left-hookers, as Jack Dempsey, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson proved. And that was another problem for Tua at 240lb plus - an obvious lack of urgency.

By the time he faced Hasim Rahman in their second bout in 2003 he fired a furious volley of shots in the seventh round at an equally overweight opponent, failed to connect with a telling shot and appeared to run out of steam. Not only was he lucky to earn a draw from the judges, he was also knocked down in a corner straight after the final bell and appeared to be completely stunned. The blow, denied vociferously by Barry, who claimed it was a slip, looked like a relatively innocuous left hook, not Rahman's big right. Incidentally, those who claim Tua has never been knocked out should also be aware that he was flattened early in the first round as an amateur by the great Cuban, Felix Savon.

Both these incidents show that while Tua has a great chin, he's not indestructible.

Fast forward to Tua's return fight after a two-year layoff following a bitter split with Barry. Against blown-up cruiserweight and journeyman Talmadge Griffis at Trusts Stadium, Waitakere in 2005, he was tentative, almost gun-shy. He won by stoppage in the closing seconds of the 10-rounder but had the fight continued he may well have lost on points. His following fight against a man-mountain with a good chin, Cisse Salif, was equally disturbing. Salif is better know as a sparring partner than a ring performer but Tua was lucky to scrape through with a split decision after a sluggish, lacklustre 10 rounds.

His opponents since then have been a motley lowly ranked collection, with the exception of Robert Hawkins, a mere opponent who Tua was unable to put away. These fights have been presented by some as triumphs but to me, they call into question Tua's ability to perform at anywhere near the top level of even today's poor heavyweight crop. It is now nearly a decade since his peak, and worse, he has had another lengthy layoff. Tua's last fight was over a year ago and if he meets Cameron early in the New Year, without a tune-up bout, he will have been out of the ring for nearly 18 months.

Despite Cameron showing in his last bout against American Terry Smith that he can be vulnerable to an overhand right (and Tua has a big one to go with his left hook) he has a great opportunity. If he can avoid being hit with a clean shot, pressure Tua and land a series of clean, heavy combinations, we may see a huge upset. But if Tua can shed weight, get as fit as he was just over a year ago against Saul Montana, when he threw a devastating double left hook to end the fight in the first round, Cameron will be in very deep water.

 

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