Who is the best heavyweight in Australasia? A tournament to find out?

By Boxing News - 07/06/2012 - Comments

By Eugene Carnachan: At the present time in New Zealand and Australia there are a number of heavyweight aspirants at varying stages of their careers.

Namely Lucas Browne, Solomon Haumono, David Tua, Kali Meehan, Shane Cameron, Alex Leapai and Mark De Mori.

Tua and Meehan are what can be best described as on the home straight to their up and down careers.

Meehan (38-5-0) born in New Zealand but now fighting under the Australian flag is coming off a KO loss to Travis ‘Freight Train’Walker but still harbours title ambitions. A big man with good skills he came within a whisker in his 2004 bout with Lamon Brewster of winning Brewsters WBO heavyweight title.

Auckland raised David “The Tuaminator” Tua (52-4-2) by way of Samoa is just shy of forty years of age. Tua back in 2000 was bested by the best heavyweight of the time when Lennox Lewis easily outpointed him in defending his WBC, IBF and IBO titles. Tua is on the comeback trail after having just seen fellow New Zealand heavyweight Shane Cameron knock out his nemesis Monte Barrett. Tua after rumours of retirement is now on record as having thrown his hat back in the heavyweight ring in declaring he has another 3 or 4 years left in him. Tua has plenty to prove and plenty of doubters to prove it to and hasn’t being impressive since his 2009 destruction of Shane Cameron.

Unbeaten Thirty three year old Perth fighter Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne (13-0-0) is a late starter to boxing via MMA. A 261 pound behemoth that is looking to make a run at a heavyweight title he is a work in progress. Possessing good base skills and power plus mass and he’s increasingly working out how to combine the three and should he do that the walking wall could indeed trouble most heavyweights.

Thirty six year old Sydney based Tongan Solomon Haumono (18-1-2) is coming off a draw against New Zealand journeyman Joey Wilson. Haumono is physically capable, can punch like a falling rock and can get himself into superb physical condition but hasn’t being active enough and was average at best in his last outing. Most notably Haumono is without any name fighters on his resume and he needs to get more proactive and kick of the trainer wheels as time to refine and use his physical attributes is running out.

Thirty two year Alex “The Lion Heart’ Leapai (25-4-3) hails from Logan City Queensland via Samoa. His last outing was a knock out loss to Kevin Kingpin Johnson in a bout where Leapai fired plenty of shots before fading, the much more experienced Johnson knocking Leapai out in the 9thround. Leapai is a strong man but uncouth in his bludgeon them the hell out there approach, however be it a brick wall or a straw his aggressive style doesn’t change, win, lose or draw and it makes him a very entertaining fighter to watch.

Thirty four year old New Zealander Shane Cameron (29-2-0) is coming off a fourth round KO over American veteran Monte Barrett. Looking sharper than he has in some time a return to the heavyweight division from Cruiserweight has brought about a revival for Cameron’s career and just reward for one of the hardest training boxers in the game and nearing his mid-30s the best of his career could be pending.

Once defeated thirty year old Perth native Mark De Mori (19-1-2) is the young bull looking to carve his track. A well-conditioned fighter De Mori is working toward contender credentials. With his bullish style backed by good base skills he is crowd pleasing and after a couple of years of inactivity he trying to put runs on the board and has fought three times in the last 7 months. Impressing many with his work ethic many think De Mori is on the rise. .

What have all of these fighters got? They have great domestic fan bases in their own right. What am I proposing? A Trans-Tasman heavyweight tournament of Old Bulls V Young Bulls in sorting out who is king of the Australasian heavyweight castle.

Fans would love it!

Do the old bulls have the wiles and discipline to bite down, get themselves in condition and prove to the upstarts there is still some miles left on their boxing odometers?

Once upon a time David Tua ate this ensemble up in his sleep, can he still? Meehan once a heavyweight contender on the world stage was undisputed king of the Australian heavyweight crop. Is he still that man? Is Lucas Browne with his size the real deal? Or is the hand he is playing a bluff? Is Mark De Mori a pretender or genuine contender? Is Shane Cameron after his devastating KO of Barrett the man to beat? Or can Leapai clean up the local heavyweight house like he’s often proclaimed? Or is Haumonos brawn, brute force capable of being converted from potential to world class ability?

The most intriguing thing about these heavyweights? They all love to fight off the front foot! Big men coming forward, big man throwing, something has to give! And what do the fans get if it were to happen? A sustained period of heavyweight boxing entertainment that can pack houses both sides of the Tasman.



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