Boxing: Tua says he is ready to rumble

By PETER JESSUP

LAS VEGAS - David Tua completed pre-fight sparring at his Prince Ranch camp outside Las Vegas yesterday, with 107 rounds in the bank as he goes into his world title fight against Lennox Lewis.

Everyone was happy with his last effort, from heavyweight Greg Pickrom, who got hit, through to trainer Ronnie Shields, manager Kevin Barry and promoter Dan Goosen, of America Presents.

Pickrom, who has sparred with Lewis and Evander Holyfield ahead of world title fights, described the four-round session in one word - "fast."

"Tua is way faster than Lewis," he said. "He's hard to hit."

Pickrom, of Houston, has worked with Shields, also from Texas, since Shields was fighting nearly 10 years ago.

He sparred with Lewis two years ago, before the British champion's first 12-rounder with Holyfield.

"Lewis tries to use his weight and height, but he's way too slow [for Tua]," Pickrom said.

Asked to compare the power of each, he added: "I don't know. Lewis couldn't hit me, I was too fast for him. David is very strong. When he hits you in the body, man, it hurts. When he hits you in the head it's like you're shocked, dazed, stunned. He can hit with either hand."

What does a Tua left hook feel like when it lands? Pickrom's eyes roll.

"I think that's where Lewis will make his mistake. He'll be watching for that left and I think it will be the right that gets him.

"It will be David's right that does the damage, then he'll go in and finish him off with the left."

Pickrom, aged 31, has won 10 of his 15 bouts as a heavyweight. His last fight, in August, was stopped in the fifth round.

He flattened Talmadge Griffiths, from Colorado, three times inside that time, but ran out of steam, as he had done before, and came out on the wrong side of the ref's call.

After that fight doctors found a previously undiagnosed circulatory problem that robs him of stamina. Pickrom rates himself a top-10 heavyweight once doctors have resolved his ailment.

But there is no problem with his ability, power, speed, strength or anything else up to four rounds, as completed yesterday.

"Once I'm okay there are a lot of guys in trouble," he said.

Shields, 42, put Tua against Pickrom in the last hard workout in the ring because of Pickrom's speed, as well as his Lewis-like body. He is 6ft 3in, almost Lewis' height, and has a similar reach advantage.

Is Tua ready?

"He's ready. He's done everything I've asked him to," Shields said. "He knows exactly what he has to do. He boxed so good on Saturday I wanted to stop after that, but there were too many days still to go, so we had to work again today. But there's nothing left to do now."

Before the pair started pounding each other yesterday, Shields asked Pickrom to mix up his attack, to vary his combinations, to force Tua to adapt.

"David's going to get hit," Shields said. "He's got to keep moving, move his head. We don't want him to stand there and let Lewis hit him, but he's gonna get hit when he goes inside. Greg is fast and David was slipping him well today. He's ready."

The Mandalay Bay casino, the venue for Sunday's bout, has backed the combatants by picturing both on their playing cards.

Every dealer in the vast complex now flips out Tua and Lewis cards.

A measure of how well the Americans have taken to Tua is the fact that the biggest daily newspaper here, the Las Vegas Review Journal, has started a daily column telling their readers what the Samoan-Kiwi is up to.

The paper's boxing writer, Kevin Iole, talks to Tua each evening to ghost-write the David Tua Diary.

Yesterday, Tua told them he appreciated the support from the locals.

"I get mobbed when I go to the shopping mall," he said "It's a nice feeling. By fight night, you'll know everything I'm thinking. But the most important thing is, you'll be backing the winner."

Herald Online feature: Tua v Lewis

The Herald Online is ringside for the countdown to David Tua's tilt at the world heavyweight boxing title. Reporter Peter Jessup and photographer Kenny Rodger bring you all the news, inside information and pictures, leading up to this Sunday afternoon's showdown in Las Vegas.

* Be sure to get your full-colour poster of the two fighters in the print edition of the Herald on Friday November 10.