Boxing: Tua's next fight in March

By PETER JESSUP

David Tua's first opponent as he tries to re-establish his credibility in the heavyweight division is American Larry Donald, ranked from seventh to 15th with boxing's various governing bodies.

The Tua-Donald bout was ordered by the International Boxing Federation yesterday, as part of a four-way fight-off for the No 1 contender position Tua held before he was beaten by Lennox Lewis.

First up is a square-off between Hasim Rahman and Dannell Nicholson, scheduled for late February in Las Vegas. Tua and the Don King-managed Donald will fight in late March, also in Las Vegas.

Donald, who is 33, has won 38 and drawn one of his 41 bouts, which include 23 knockouts. He is 1.88m tall.

The IBF has ordered the managers of the four fighters to reach agreement by December 18, and the two winners to meet around September to fight for the No 1 spot.

Tua's camp was delighted: "This gives David an immediate chance to redeem himself and get back any ground lost in the Lewis fight," manager Kevin Barry said yesterday.

Barry, Tua and promoter Dan Goosen have held many meetings about what went wrong in the 12-round loss. "There were far too many outside interferences, things that took too much of his time and mental preparation," Barry said.

"If the fight had been two nights earlier it would have been different - he went into a relaxed, shutdown mode

"The rib [injured in sparring weeks out from the fight and re-injured by Lewis] was part of it."

Tua would be lighter next time, Barry said.