According to the latest boxing news from New Zealand’s Sunday News, former heavyweight challenger David Tua (48-3-1, 40 KOs) could possibly land a title shot against IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs) as early as the beginning of 2008. The arrangement involves some legal issues apparently between Tua’s promoter Cedric Kushner and Wladimir Klitschko’s promoter Shelly Finkel. By Wladimir choosing to fight Tua (currently ranked # 12 in the WBC), Kushner would drop the lawsuit, the New Zealand Sunday News reports.
As things stand, Tua has done little in recent years to warrant a shot at the heavyweight title. Since returning to boxing following a two year absence in 2005, Tua has fought and beaten six journeyman-type fighters, none of which are ranked in the top 10. In all but one of them, his most recent bout against Saul Montana in August 2007, Tua has showed few signs of his former knockout form from 1992-2001.
If the arrangement works out, it would be the 2nd heavyweight title shot for Tua, now 34, who previously lost a lopsided 12-round decision to then heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis on November 11, 2000. In that fight, Tua came into it weighing a whopping 245 lbs, which was 10 pounds heavier than his prime weight of 235 for most of his earlier fights. But it wasn’t just the weight, however, because Tua did almost nothing for the entire bout except stand in front of Lewis and take jabs.
Mostly, Tua resembled a deer caught in the headlines, frozen by the flash of lights and the huge worldwide audiences that were watching him perform. Following that loss, Tua appeared to drift along in his career with little direction. First there was a bout with Dannell Nicholson in March 2001, who Tua easily blasted out in six rounds. Yet after that, Tua made the disastrous decision in fighting defensive artist Chris Byrd in August 2001, losing by 12-round decision. In that bout, Tua had reportedly lost a large amount of weight in a short period leading up to the fight and had very little energy once the fight was underway.