TUA WINS ON FIRST ROUND KO
Wellington, Aug 19 NZPA - David Tua knocked out Mexican champion
Saul Montana in the first round of their scheduled 10-round
heavyweight fight at Salt Lake City in Utah today.
Aucklander Tua took just two minutes 15 seconds to deck Montana
with two left hooks to the jaw.
Montana, 36, was going down after the first shot to the jaw and
the second sent him sprawling on the canvas.
"This is not a comeback, this is the continuation of my Tua of
Duty," Samoan-born Tua said.
His American camp said he would fight again on September 7 and
should have another crack at the world title in six months time.
TUA LOOKS SET FOR ANOTHER KO WIN
Wellington, Aug 17 NZPA - Despite a slow comeback and six months
since his last fight, David Tua is expected to scorch his latest
opponent in Sunday's fight at Salt Lake City, Utah.
The 10-rounder against Mexican champion Saul Montana is one of
the two main drawcards, featuring some of the hardest punching
heavyweights in the game at present, in a CAM Boxing Inc promoted
programme.
"At this point in my career, every fight is a title fight," the
34-year-old Tua said in a tele-conference from his Utah training
camp.
"That's my whole approach -- mentally, spiritually and
physically.
"It'll be pleasing to get another title shot and winning it,
which would seal my career. And I still have three or four years to
do it."
It's a chance for Tua, 47-3-1 (win-draw-loss) with 40 KOs, to
show that he is serious about a comeback.
Tua's opponent at the South Towne Exposition Centre in Salt Lake
City -- Montana -- is 36 with a 48-14 (win-loss) record, 42 by
knockouts.
"Salk Lake City has a large Polynesian community. It would be
fantastic if a lot of them came to my fight because their support
means a lot to me," Tua said.
A beefed-up light heavyweight who's fought world champions James
Toney, Virgil Hill and Vassiliy Jirov, Montana is expected to come
out swinging, Tua said.
"He's got 42 knockouts. He will be well prepared just like
everyone who fights me. I'm training very hard for him.
"I'm not where I need to be yet, but I can feel it."
Tua went the distance with undisputed champion Lennox Lewis in
2000 and holds victories over former champions John Ruiz, Oleg
Maskaev and Michael Moorer -- the latter a particularly savage
30-second demolition in 2002 -- but has never held the title
himself.
He's still regarded as one of the most feared punchers.
"No fight is an easy fight. Because of past managerial problems
I haven't been as active as I'd have loved to. I'm hoping to stay
more active. I'm happy, not satisfied, right now."
Tua outpointed Robert Hawkins in New York in February this year
in his fifth comeback fight since a drawn-out court battle over
intellectual property rights with his former managers Kevin Barry
junior and Martin Pugh.
Montana's best days came at cruiserweight and light-heavyweight
way back in 1997-98.
The 1.83m fighter had turned pro in 1988 and disaster struck
almost immediately when then 18, he was stopped in round one.
Montana regrouped and soon moved up to light-heavyweight. After
totting up 21 wins (20 by KO) and losing another two bouts in
between, he was given a shot at long reigning WBA light-heavyweight
champion Hill. Montana was stopped in the 10th round.
Mixed results followed for him, but at least he will enter
Sunday's fight with a win in his previous fight -- a first round
knockout over Mario Maciel in the Mexican heavyweight title fight
last December.
He has a record of being knocked out by bigger opponents and
stepping into the ring against Tua is a huge step in class for him.
Cameron overcomes injury to KO Mirovic
SYDNEY, March 7 AAP - Unbeaten world ranked New Zealand heavyweight Shane Cameron underlined his vast potential by overcoming three injuries to knock out Australian veteran Bob Mirovic in the eighth round here tonight.
Cameron told his corner after the first round he had broken his right hand and was cut over his right eye in the fifth and over his left in the seventh.
The 29-year-old New Zealander overcame the setbacks to retain his WBA Pan African title and improve his professional record to 18-0 (16 KOs) in the main support bout on the Anthony Mundine-Sam Soliman undercard at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
The 2002 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist put Mirovic down for the full ten count and he was on the canvas for some time after taking a left to the temple 20 seconds from the end of the eighth round of a thrilling and bloody contest.
"When you hit someone good you can normally feel it," Cameron said.
"I just seen him hit the canvas and the eyes roll back in his head and he was out.
"You always feel for someone that gets knocked out. It always looks worse than what it is."
Cameron landed some big power shots in the last 30 seconds of the opening round before telling his corner about his hand injury.
"I think one of the first overhands I caught Bob, it pushed the knuckle back into my hand but it was alright, I managed to keep going," Cameron said.
"It just restricted me a bit."
He threw his right sparingly for the rest of the fight, but bombarded Mirovic with plenty of punishing left-hand bombs.
Mirovic absorbed the punishment and connected with some punches as he grew in confidence.
However, the 41-year-old didn't possess the power to hurt Cameron, whose face turned into a bloody mask.
Mirovic, whose record dropped to 28-18-2, had blood spurt from his nose from the fifth and was buckled by some big body shots in the sixth before Cameron landed the decisive blow in the seventh.
New Zealand News
With Johnny Lloyd
Brazilian heavyweight boxer Jucimar Francisco Hipolito climbed into the ring at the Waitakere Trusts Stadium on Thursday, June 28th with all the zest of a condemned man mounting the gallows, reports Jim Mahoney from ringside.
From that point it was obvious local fighter Shane Cameron was in for an early night. And Cameron, New Zealand’s top resident heavyweight, duly made suitably short work of it. A right hand over a left leed and Hipolito was down for the first of three knockdowns, the last one which featured a short right and a bit of a push and it was all over 1m 29s of the first round.
“Every fighter has to have his Cecil Coffee,” Cameron’s manager Ken Reinsfield told me after the fight, refering to David Tua’s effortless first round kayo over an outlcassed Coffee in December 1994. “This was Shane’s. We’re not making excuses – this guy was the best we could get at the last minute.” Reinsfield said.
The previous Sunday, Shane’s scheduled opponent American, Kelvin Davis, had jumped off Auckland’s Greenhithe Bridge in bizarre circumstances, apparently confused by New Zeland’s right-hand drive rule. He injured himself so severely that a last minute replacement had to be called for.
In the earlier bouts, there had been a couple of good matchings but the punters – most of whom were not boxing fans – took little notice of them. In the main support, Chauncy Welliver and Samoan Seiaute Mailata threw plenty of punches in the first round but unfortunately the big American southpaw broke his left hand midway through the second round and had to settle for a six-round draw with Mailata.
NZ light-middleweight champion Lee Oti fought brilliantly against local supermiddleweight champion Sosaia Vaka. Finding himself outmuscled by the bigger fighter. Oti moved better than I’ve seen him, winning a six round points decision.
The promotion, benefitting the Child Cancer Foundation, started well with Indian light-middleweight Harry Venka winning a unanimous decision over Dion McNebney in a spirited four rounder. In a heavyweight four, Joey Wilson kep his jab in veteran Sam Leuii’s face to take the decision.
Cameron’s International Boxing Federation Pan Pacific, World Boxing Association Pan African and World Boxing Organisation Asia Pacific belts were at stake.
Luckily for Auckland boxing fans in June a Samoan amateur team kept them happy, providing top notch internationl boxing in a two-part series against local sides.
The Samoan team took on an Auckland selection on June 21 and a New Zealand selection of June 30. Both tournaments were held at the Auckland Boxing Association’s Eden Terrace stadium (dubbed by some boxing experts as NZ’s Leichardt Stadium).
Unlike many amateur boxers who concentrate on scoring points the Samoans specialised in power punching.
The audiences for both nights of boxing included many members of Auckland’s big Samoan community including David Tua and former great Ali Afakasi.
The Samoans defeated Auckalnd 6 bouts to 2, and NZ by 5 bouts to 3.
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