Boxing: Tua benefits from delay of Rahman rematch

David Tua's crucial heavyweight boxing rematch with Hasim Rahman has been delayed until the end of next month.

The fight, which will determine the No 1 contender for the International Boxing Federation crown, was scheduled for March 8 but Tua's coach/manager, Kevin Barry, said it would now be held on March 29.

The change, for sponsorship reasons, suited Tua, Barry said.

"With the added time, one of the focuses for me is to introduce variety into training sessions, to keep challenging David both physically and mentally, while keeping him interested in his daily workouts and not letting the boredom of repetition set in.

"We have constructed a fight plan based on Rahman's strengths and weaknesses, as well as watching many viewings of his last four fights," said Barry.

"As far as David implementing and adapting the fight plan to his style of fighting, I believe that he is well ahead of schedule."

Tua controversially defeated the previously unbeaten Rahman in December 1998 on a 10th-round technical knockout when the American was hit after the bell while leading on points.

Rahman temporarily gained the world title in 2001 when he knocked out Lennox Lewis, only to lose it back to the Briton.

Tua's last fight was a clinical second-round win over American Russell Chasteen two months ago, his 37th win by knockout in a 42-fight career.

Meanwhile, Lewis will first fight Mike Tyson, followed by both Klitschko brothers and then retire, his trainer said yesterday.

Emanuel Steward said he had spoken with the WBC heavyweight champion, who has pulled out of a proposed bout with Vitali Klitschko and now plans a second fight against Tyson instead.

"Lennox promised me that he'll beat Tyson first, then Vitali and at the end Wladimir [Klitschko]," Steward told the German sports website Sport1.de.

"That's the way the plan looks. After these three fights, it's over,"

Steward scoffed at charges from the Klitschko camp that Lewis is afraid of their boxer, calling the British fighter the greatest heavyweight champion since Muhammed Ali.

Steward called the Klitschko brothers "the future of the heavyweight division" and added that Lewis was not always too happy to hear this from him.

"I'm a big fan of them," Steward said.

"For me they're already the No 2 and 3 behind Lennox."

Steward said he knew very early that the two brothers would be big and added that he did not see any Americans who could threaten them.

But he said Lewis would win both Klitschko fights because he was still stronger.



The towering Klitschko brothers are huge in Germany, the Ukraine and other parts of Europe.

They recently started fighting regularly in the United States in hopes of conquering the American market.

Wladimir, 26, and five years younger than his sibling, is regarded by both brothers as the more talented of the two, and by some as boxing's next great heavyweight.

Wladimir, the Olympic super heavyweight champion at the Atlanta Games, stopped both Ray Mercer and Jameel McCline in recent US fights, performing well enough to keep his reputation intact as the division's coming boxer.

Still, the Klitschkos' public relations campaign has not yet given them the name recognition of Mike Tyson. A bigger payday was the reason the Ukrainian camp believe Vitali was bumped for Lewis-Tyson II.

"That's what counts," Steward said of Tyson's name recognition.

- AGENCIES