By Jason Kim: 38-year-old heavyweight David Tua (51-3-2, 43 KO’s) will be returning to action on March 19th against Demetrius King (15-19, 13 KO’s) in yet another tune-up fight. Tua last fought in July, and was held to a 12 round draw against journeyman Monte Barrett. Shockingly, Tua was dropped in the 12th round and was badly hurt by Barrett. After the fight, it was learned that Tua’s left shoulder had badly injured prior to the Barrett fight and Tua had taken the fight fight anyway.

The injury involving his rotator cuff, has apparently healed without surgery. This is good news for Tua, because those kinds of injuries often require surgery and the results are often less than desirable in terms of the fighter regaining the power they once had. Tua has reportedly had 12 weeks of rehab for his injured shoulder and should be ready to go against King.

Tua plans on fighting in June. It’s unknown who will get the call for that date but it could be Barrett, who is eager to get Tua back in the ring so that he can try and build on what he did with Tua last time they fought. Barrett had no problems handling Tua’s power shots in that fight. Part of the problem for Tua is that he no longer throws combinations like he once did and has become a one punch at a time fighter for the most part.

If Tua is to get a title shot, he needs to stay healthy, fight more often and take on at least one quality top tier heavyweight if he wants to get the attention of boxing fans. He’s currently ranked #2 by the WBO, but it still will likely take a long while before he gets a shot against champion Wladimir Klitschko.