Boxing: 10, 11, 12 ... and Barry's out!

By PETER JESSUP

Twelve minutes is a long time in boxing, so it is no surprise that after 12 years of living in each other's pockets, heavyweight contender David Tua and trainer/manager Kevin Barry are parting company.

The boxing world is awash with rumours of what brought matters to a head as Tua seemed about to realise the dream of a second title chance with a fight against Hasim Rahman in December.

Also flying are the rumours of disagreements over finances between Tua, Barry and finance manager Martin Pugh.

And, of course, the shadow of Don King, promoter of that fight at the Atlantic City Boardwalk in December, looms large.

King has been desperate to sign Tua. He has a stable of heavyweight champions, former champions and contenders, including Chris Byrd, Evander Holyfield, John Ruiz, Lamon Brewster and Fres Oquendo.

He has links to Mike Tyson, despite the pair being enmeshed in court proceedings against each other, and he has Rahman.

King has the ability and the money to pull together a title fight for Tua, and a change to the camp of Don King Promotions would be good for his prospects.

Cedric Kushner, the promoter with whom Barry and Pugh had aligned Tua, is struggling financially.

It would be no surprise to learn that King has got in Tua's ear, undermined Barry and Pugh, and promised the South Aucklander big fights and big paydays.

Barry maintains Tua is still legally contracted to him. But King moves with a posse of lawyers and will be confident his bankroll can win any contractual fight, either by paying off Team Tua or tying them up in protracted court proceedings, during which he would continue to apply pressure to buy them out of any claim.

King's reputation as a shark is a double-edged sword.

While it's true he takes more fees from fighters than other promoters, he also gets them more work for more money, so their bottom line is often better than it might have been elsewhere.

His eye for the main chance was never better illustrated than in 1973, when he stepped over his knocked-out fighter Joe Frazier to link up with new champion George Foreman, famously stating that "I came with the champion and I left with the champion."

A pointer to the likelihood of King's involvement is that Tua maintains he will still fight on the HBO card at Atlantic City.

The break cannot have come easily. Barry and Tua were mates. The big fighter lived with Barry and his wife and two sons in their Green Bay home when he was working with weight and dietary problems.

Barry's wife Tanya used to make individually packaged and time-labelled meals to see him through the day.

Tua would wrestle and kick footballs with the boys.

There has been talk for some months that all was not right in the fighter's United States camp.

Three other Kiwi prospects, heavyweights Paula Mataele and Shane Cameron, and welterweight Daniel Codling, who have trained in Las Vegas and had fights under the Team Tua banner, have all apparently returned to New Zealand, though none could be found yesterday.

Over the years, the humble Tua has been unhappy at some of the trash-talk issued from the camp towards opponents.

He was also apparently unhappy at the low calibre of some of the fighters set against him.

Tua has earned about US$10 million ($16.75 million), but the only obvious investment he has made in New Zealand has been in undeveloped land near Pakiri beach.

His advisers might have been better to steer him towards commercial property in central Auckland.

And Tua, a committed Christian, would not have been overjoyed when Martin Pugh took up management of the over-exposed Robin Reynolds, the woman who sold her story about being bedded by pop star Robbie Williams.

Reynolds showed up in Las Vegas in low-cut tops and stretch lycra just before Tua's world title fight against Lennox Lewis.

At one point during the fight build-up Tua called his support team together to berate them for lack of professionalism after a bout of nightclubbing.

He has never been comfortable with girlfriends of the entourage hanging around the camp.

But one incident must have been the catalyst to the split.

And about the only thing sure in the messy, murky world of heavyweight title fights is that everything will come out in the wash ... eventually.