DAVID Tua’s shot at redemption via the Hydr8 ZERO David vs Goliath blockbuster bout against Belarusian heavyweight Alexander Ustinov has been postponed until Saturday November 16.
It was thought that the fight – originally slated for Claudelands Arena on August 31 – would be put back to late September after the Tuamanator picked up a minor grade 1 calf muscle injury last week.
New Zealand based heavyweight David Tua (52-4-2) will make a call on his injured calf. That call is expected today and will be aided by an expert medical assessment that will determine whether his August 31st bout with Alexander Ustinov (28-1-0) goes ahead.
Ustinov when informed of the news was nonchalant, taking the news well in accepting injuries and boxing go hand in hand and there is little he can do about an injury to an opponent.
David Higgins of Duco the events promoters was equally as pragmatic in stating ‘if David Tua needs time to heal, then we will postpone the fight for, at the most, four weeks from the original fight date”
Tua, who is slated to fight the giant Russian in their Hyrd8ZERO David vs Goliath blockbuster at Claudelands’ Arena on August 31, suffered a minor calf strain while training.
The initial professional advice from Team Tua’s doctor is that it is a Grade One tear – the least serious of muscle strains.
Mr Higgins – whose company Duco Events is promoting the Hyrd8ZERO David vs Goliath show – said Tua will continue to be accessed over the next few days.
As fans will possibly be aware, heavyweight powerhouse David Tua, arguably one of the best fighters never to have captured a major title, will be back in action later this month, when the 40-year-old will tangle with Russian giant Alexander Ustinov.
The fight, a big deal in New Zealand like all of Tua’s fights, will mark “The Tuaman’s” first ring appearance for two years (his rematch loss to Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett) and the Samoan slugger’s fans are hoping their hero can launch one last assault on the heavyweight championship of the world.
I’ve always been a fan of Tua, since he burst onto the scene with his chilling destruction of John Ruiz. And I do think that a prime Tua – say the wrecking machine that ruined Ruiz and went to war with the could-have-been-great Ike Ibeabuchi – would have given Wladimir Klitschko a fierce argument.
David Tua (52-4-2) is in training to fight the gigantic Russian Alexander Ustinov (28-1). The IBF has Ustinov ranked at seven the WBA ten. Tua’s career is on last chance lane a decade removed from fighting a world class opponent in Hasim Rahman. Tua’s much storied litigation against former manager Kevin Barry put his career on hold and he has only managed to pull the pig skins on twelve times in the last decade and that intermittency – it goes without saying – has not served his career well.
With Tua’s mental space preoccupied with both his legal mire and the following financial hole he has found himself in his focus has been askew.
Over the years Tua has offered philosophical assurances that he is back and ready to fight, but that sentiment was only evident in totality in 2009 when he blew Shane Cameron out of the water in two destructive rounds.