Boxing: Tua hits paydirt in fight contract

By PETER JESSUP

South Auckland boxer David Tua yesterday secured the biggest payday in New Zealand sport when his managers signed a deal for a guaranteed $US4 million for his heavyweight title fight against Lennox Lewis.

Lewis' backers, including the HBO cable network, relented to demands made by Tua's camp in order to hold control of the fight and avoid the purse bid scheduled to be conducted by the sanctioning body, the International Boxing Federation, in New York yesterday.

Their last, late offer was a $US3.75 million purse with pay-per-view, internet connection and sponsorship rounding that up.

So the Lewis team will get to set the venue. His promoters told Tua's that they wanted to sign a fight agreement then take that around various bidders to secure the best possible deal for both fighters. The bout will be on November 12 (November 13 NZ time).

Las Vegas looks increasingly likely as the venue. A group from Toronto continue to try to attract Lewis but the timing does not suit American television, nor backers who want plenty of pre-fight hype and media to build interest and sales.

And Tua's contract includes a rider that he be paid another $US250,000 to go to Canada. The deal signed yesterday included a clause for the venue to be resolved within 10 days.

Tua was still in Samoa yesterday, but will return to Auckland late this week to resume conditioning work.

The Tua team return to his Prince Ranch base outside Las Vegas six weeks before the fight.

He was happy yesterday that the deal had been struck, but not excitable. "Is it a good deal?" he asked manager Kevin Barry.

"It's a great deal," Barry replied, then telling his charge that the managerial work was all but done and it was up to the boxer now.