Boxing: Tua - all the way

David Tua (left) landed blows on Friday Ahunanya, but the Nigerian managed to stay out of serious trouble. Photo / Dean Purcell

David Tua cruised to a comfortable points victory over Friday Ahunanya in Auckland last night but the dreary performance would have done little to promote his world title prospects.

Nigerian Ahunanya carries the moniker "The 13th"'. As in Black Friday. But Good Friday - a day when everything is shut and not much happens - would be more appropriate.

Ahunanya hardly fired a shot. His strategy seemed to consist of backing on to the ropes, taking a few body shots and then slipping away to make the stalking Tua track him down all over again. Occasionally he offered a stiffish jab, but little more.

Tua went about his work efficiently enough to take a unanimous points victory, but his foe was slippery enough to avoid serious punishment.

Ahunanya had been inactive for more than two years before this fight. Some would say that stretch remains unbroken.

But after the fight, he presented a different view.

"I did what I had to do, I thought I won the fight," he said.

His trainer Luis Tapia agreed.

"This is bad for the sport," Tapia said. "We won every round, Friday won every round."

That opinion was at odds with the score cards. One judge gave Tua every round (120-108) and the other two did not score it as even close.

More than 18 years have passed since Tua marked his professional debut with a 37-second demolition of American Ron Humes in Virginia.

Today, he is is a vastly different physical and mental specimen from the 19-year-old who stepped on to the pro stage in such devastating fashion.

But some things haven't changed. He hasn't lost his power, nor seemingly much of his speed. But neither has he grown the extra 30cm that would enable him to fight on more even terms with the likes of Ahunanya.

Last night's fight asked an important question of Tua. Was his effort against Shane Cameron a one-off, a case of an ageing lion roused into one final roar by a yapping hyena?

Or is his continuation, as he likes to call it, the real deal?

It's probably for real, but last night's snore fest will have added a dose of reality to the world-beater tag he took by dealing to Cameron.

The next question for Tua is whether he can sustain the sort of momentum needed to push him into the frame for a title shot at WBO champ Vladimir Klitchko.

He went into last night's fight ranked third by the WBO. But the near seven months that have passed since his demolition of Cameron did little to keep his name in the title shot frame.

Last night's victim, Ahunanya, was unranked. The victory was little more than was expected of Tua, and will have simply kept him treading water.

Tua needs to get busy against some higher-calibre opponents.

On the politics side, not much has changed. Tua is committed to two more fights for Maori TV. The lack of pay-per-view revenue means those contests will probably be small-beer affairs.

Another option for Tua is to hit the road and fight overseas, but he has shown a reluctance to do that, pulling out of a planned February fight with former champion Bruce Seldon.

So once again it is a case of watch and wait. The clock is still ticking for the 37-year-old Tua.

But last night's effort at least suggested his time isn't about to run out any time soon.