Tua's claim 'tied to quitting ring'

David Tua and his wife, Robina, have plenty of support from family and friends in the High Court. Picture / Kenny Rodger

David Tua's former manager Martin Pugh told the High Court at Auckland yesterday the heavyweight boxer was claiming a disputed $7.5 million Pakiri property as his own only because he had decided not to fight again.

"David Tua has decided not to fight again and there is more money in him owning the whole of Pakiri property than 50 per cent of the company [Tuaman Inc]. This is because he has spent all the money that he earned from his fighting career."

Mr Pugh and Tua's other former manager, Kevin Barry, claim they own half of the beach-front property because it was bought through Tuaman Inc in which they each have a 25 per cent share.

Tua - who has a fight planned for next month - told the court at the start of the civil case he believed he alone owned the property. He dreamed of retiring there with his family, and it was bought through Tuaman Inc only for tax purposes.

In his evidence, Mr Pugh told Justice Hugh Williams that all three men had understood the land was for the company, not Tua alone.

"It needs to be recorded that right from the start ... it was the agreed plan of the company that we would all invest together in property."

However, under cross-examination, Mr Pugh acknowledged there was no written proof of this plan, despite his having advised Tua of the importance of friends putting business agreements in writing.

Mr Pugh said he had been interested in buying land at Pakiri for many years. He had discussed with Mr Barry the company buying land but didn't mention it to Tua at the time because it wasn't on the market.

When Pakiri came up for sale he took Tua to see it and it was bought in the name of Tuaman Inc.

"When David says [in his evidence] that I never said I was buying the Pakiri property with him and there was never 'me and you' or 'we will buy it' he is absolutely wrong. There was always 'us' and that was the way we discussed it."

The partnership between Tua and his former managers soured in 2003 after the boxer learned from his accountant, Jennie Grant, that Mr Pugh was claiming to own part of Pakiri and that there were serious problems with the way his money was being handled.

Mr Pugh said Ms Grant made those claims only after learning she was about to be fired. He also said Tua "literally self destructed" following the split from his managers.

"Instead of boxing, David has chosen a career of pursuing Kevin and I in a desperate attempt to break the EMA [exclusive management agreement] ... His express trust claim to ownership of the Pakiri property is simply a last-minute creation.

"Under Kevin and my management David had a well-planned and well-paid career including the world championship fight with Lennox Lewis."

The case

* David Tua and his former managers, Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh, are arguing over the ownership of a $7.5 million block of coastal land at Pakiri.

* The boxer says the land was bought for him alone and the first he knew of his managers claiming to own a portion of it was in July 2003, just before he sacked them.

* Mr Pugh and Mr Barry say they own half the land because they each have a 25 per cent share in the company that owns it. Mr Pugh says Tua claimed the land only when he realised he needed the money.