David Tua pushed himself back into heavyweight contention yesterday. Sure the fight with New Zealand rival Shane Cameron only lasted 13 seconds into the 2nd round, but the head movement and hand speed that got boxing fans excited back the late 1990′s that suddenly disappeared just as he reached the top appeared to be back as well as the always devastating punching power that led to three knockdowns inside a 50 second period. Even if Tua turns out to only have the gas tank to fight like this for a few rounds (it’s better then the few minutes he had been fighting like that the last time we saw him) if he can explode on heavyweights like he exploded on Cameron for the first few rounds that single handedly makes him the most exciting heavyweight in the game right now.
I’ve heard people calling for him to get a title shot right off the bat. That’s crazy talk and it should be met with a backhander as far as I’m concerned. Tua needs to get back in the ring in the next two months and fight again and he needs at least three or four more fights before he’s ready to go against one of the Klitschko’s. The Klitschko’s both have nearly a foot in height over Tua and have been fighting regularily so Tua’s going to have to work to get inside and if he doesn’t have more then three minutes of fight time in the bank he’s going to struggle against the Klitschko’s when they start spearing him with their jab and taking him to deep water like they do. Give Tua Rahman or give him McCline. Just give him guys who could take him rounds but guys who have looked right for the taking in recent times. If he can’t beat these guys he doesn’t deserve a title shot. I’d rather not see Tua get another title shot then see him get one when he’s under done. Still it’s good to see Tua back fighting as a headliner rather then on some shitty card in the States. All the years that John Ruiz has stunk the place out (actually I’d pay to see a rematch with him and Tua) the thought of Tua’s 17 second destruction has kept me hopeful that someone else will do the exact same thing to him. The Heavyweight division got a little better with last nights main event.
Not only was the return of Tua great, but the riddance of John Hopoate just made me smile. Finally a good domestic fighter did what should have always been done to Hopoate. I admit I was starting to buy into a little bt of the hype but deep down inside I knew this guy couldn’t be the best Heavyweight boxer in this country and when Wilson dropped him I jumped out of my seat the way I did when Kostya Tszyu decked Zab Judah to win the Undisputed Junior Welterweight title back in 2001. Hopoate just had no skill level, he was a strong fit guy who could throw a right hand but his jab is limp dick, his head movement is non existant and he couldn’t counter punch his way out of a wet paper bag. I always like Colin Wilson as he was your typical blue collar worker who just got in there and always had a good crack at it and this only made me a bigger fan. Hopefully Wilson can get a good payday out of this (and hopefully it’s not against Bob Mirovic).
The undercard also saw two excellent battles in the Cruiserweight and Junior Middleweight divisions. Daniel Ammann outpointed Lawrence Tuassa over six rounds in one of the earlier bouts of the evening. Tuassa had his moments early in the fight but Ammann’s workrate was just too much. I have no idea what Jeff Fenech and Bob Sheridan were watching because anything less then a 59-55 card in favour of Ammann (let alone a fucking draw) would have been criminal. Ammann appears to be a strong and tough customer as he manhandled Tuassa in the clinches and took some bombs without flinching. His skills aren’t top notch by any means but from what I’ve been told he had few amateur fights and has fought most of his career as a pro so they’re going to improve. It will be interesting to see how far he goes. The third fight between him and Dominic Vea has to happen. The other fight on the card worth noting was the opening fight of the evening between Steve Heremaia and Frank Laporto. Heremaia dropped Frank twice in the opening round and showed excellent head movement and punching power but La Porto fought back to take the middle rounds and looked to have Heremaia out on his feet in the fifth only for Steve to rally and win the final round and the decision. I’d love to see a rematch between these two over ten rounds.
