Boxing: Foes trade verbal punches

David Tua and Shane Cameron fire the first shots yesterday in what promises to be a highly entertaining phoney war. Photo / Greg Bowker

If the main event matches the side show, the David Tua v Shane Cameron fight will be a classic.

Yesterday at a pub on Auckland's waterfront, the first shots of what promises to be a highly entertaining 74-day phoney war began.

Flanked by their trainers and promoters, the fighters exchanged their first jabs, albeit in the form of mandatory verbal barbs.

When the final bell sounded, it was the veteran Tua who walked away with a clear points victory over the upstart Cameron.

Tua may have arrived 25 minutes late, but his tardiness didn't stop the one-time contender producing a stunning slap-down during an extended, sometimes heated, exchange.

"Remember when I hurt you," the suited and booted Tua quipped.

Cameron, at home in jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, clearly did remember tasting Tua's famed left hook after being flown to America as a young buck to serve as a sparring partner for the established pro.

Mid-way into an attack on the less-than-impressive twilight years of Tua's fading career, Cameron was caught off balance by Tua's riposte and was left, somewhat lamely, to claim a low blow.

"What, when I'd had one pro fight and you'd had how many - 40?" he replied.

The reality was that, having unwisely strayed into territory he should have been at pains to avoid, the Mountain Warrior walked into a shot he should have seen coming.

"I've seen that Lennox Lewis fight man, you took a hiding," Cameron said in an ill-judged assault on Tua's pedigree.

Most New Zealand boxing fans would also have seen Tua defeat Hasim Rahman, Oleg Maskaev, John Ruiz and Michael Moorer - all fighters to have donned world title belts.

Tua's 43-3-1 record is hardly his weak point. Cameron may be 23-1, but names such as Bob Mirovic and Jonathan Haggler hardly compare to those on Tua's CV.

Not that Cameron didn't get in a few decent licks.

"You call yourself a professional? How long have you been out of the ring for?" scored for highlighting Tua's inactivity since knocking over bum Cerrone Fox at a Michigan casino in September 2007.

And when Tua ranted about running up hills in Gisborne looking for warriors but finding only goats, Cameron found some fertile ground.

"I was up on that hill and I saw you trying to get up to that goat. You were huffing and puffing. I thought you were going to have a heart attack."

Much more like it. Tua's pedigree is beyond question. His age, fitness, weight and desire certainly aren't.

When his trainer, Lee Parore, spoke of seeing "a new, different, real David Tua", a Tua who had been "training the house down", he sounded suspiciously like a man who doth protest too much.

Cameron downplayed his own frailties.

His latest broken hand was healing well and would be fine by fight night, while surgery to smooth the surface of his skull had helped reduce the cutting problem that led to his 2007 defeat by Friday "The 13th" Ahunanya.

Given they are pushing a fight with no real bad guy to pit against Cameron's obvious good guy, promoters Duco Events will be thrilled with the level of needle.

Tua's annoyance at Cameron continually calling him out without having the runs on the board was the subtext for the angst.

Having adopted the stance that Cameron isn't worthy, Tua has plenty to lose.

Cameron, on the other hand, has everything to prove.

He may respect Tua's power, but Cameron doesn't rate his opponent's skills.

"He's not going to out-box me, the only way he is going to beat me is by knocking me out," was Cameron's parting shot.

Not surprisingly, it was Tua who got in the last lick. His timing was faultless.

"You'd be surprised."