Boxing: Tua to work with Tyson and Holyfield

The beaten world heavyweight title challenger is already planning his future in the sport, as PETER JESSUP reports.

Doubt about the weight David Tua carries in the boxing world after his defeat by Lennox Lewis should be cleared by news he is to do promotions work with Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield later this month.

The trio are all signed to television broadcaster Showtime, which is filming in Las Vegas to promote the three heavyweights it will be supporting next year.

While Tua's boxing future looks clear, with negotiations already proceeding with a top-10 ranked fighter for a bout in March, the reasons for his unspectacular crash against Lewis remain clouded.

Promoters America Presents are still gathering the medical reports on the rib injury Tua suffered in camp and again in the ring. His manager Kevin Barry said yesterday that everyone remained confused as to why a new Tua appeared in the ring, who did not throw punches.

He, trainer Ronnie Shields and America Presents bosses had been over the details of preparation numerous times and there were no obvious answers. Tua had been mentally and physically brought to a peak. His fitness was fine. He was relaxed with the most media work he had ever had to do.

They did not believe Tua choked on the occasion - "not the way he entered the ring and let out that roar. And you don't choke in round five," Barry said.

Tua started slowly, but all three judges had him winning round three, and he was only a point adrift of Lewis in round four. It was all downhill after that, Lewis standing away and moving away from any punches Tua offered and the South Aucklander averaging only 41 attempts, with only nine landing, and thus soaking up a tremendous amount of punishment up to round 12.

"The thing that hurts is not that we got beat but that we got beat in a fight that was very winnable," Barry said.

The message from the corner was straightforward, he thought - throw more punches, go harder - "but as hard as we tried we couldn't get him to fire up."

Tua's ability to take pain and battle on had been questioned. Barry said that medical reports the fight had cleared Tua 100 per cent of the rib cartilage damage suffered two months before.

But afterwards, one of the fight doctors had suggested that if Tua had been smacked bang on the same spot again, it would have been inability to breathe properly and therefore lack of energy that may have caused the problem.

Tua had shown he was one of the best young heavyweights in the world, Barry said. He had lasted longer than Shannon Briggs (5 rounds), Michael Grant (2) and Frans Botha (3) had, and would be back, Barry said. He expected Tua would drop four or five places down the world rankings.

It came down to proving his ability all over again with a devastating attack - something he had been known before his world title tilt but did not produce against Lewis - in his next match-up, in March.

"It will be a creditable opponent. There is someone in the frame now. David gets another opportunity to show he is a major player in the heavyweight division."

The push from fans is for Lewis-Tyson, and Lewis wants that. But he is signed with Showtime's opposition, Home Box Office, and both broadcasters have declared they want control and will not share.

"If that [Tyson-Lewis] doesn't happen, there's a chance we'll go after Tyson but a lot will depend on David's showing in March," Barry said.

More than the fight was lost at the Mandalay Bay last weekend. Also gone were deals that would have delivered millions in US dollars had Tua won. No one, though, was more disappointed than Tua himself.

"He will be back. He's 27, the others are mid to late 30s. David not only has a lot to prove to his fans, he has a lot to prove to himself. He knows he's so much better than that."

Tua was relaxing with family yesterday. He will go back to the United States at the end of the month for the Showtime production, watch the Felix Trinidad Fernando Vargas fight in early December, then go back into training.

Barry said he was sure the continuing post-mortem would make the team stronger, that they would all learn from the experience.

"I'm more confident than ever that he will wear the belts. As David says, 'keep the faith."'