Boxing: 'Friday' looms as next date for Tua

David Tua. Photo / Greg Bowker

Pencil in a Friday for David Tua's next fight - and we're not talking about the date.

Friday "the 13th" Ahunanya, the fighter who handed Shane Cameron his first loss in a bloody 12th round stoppage in 2007, has agreed to fight Tua, with the bout pencilled in for mid-December at West Auckland's Trusts Stadium.

Promoter Duco Events signed up the Las Vegas-based Nigerian several weeks ago but the contest is not yet a done deal as Tua is yet to agree terms.

The Tua camp's apparent vacillation has frustrated Ahunanya's manager Louis Tapia who has accused Tua of running scared.

"We have signed the contract but David Tua doesn't want to fight Friday now," Tapia said.

"He has chickened out. He knows that Friday is going to go there and knock him out, so I don't blame him."

Tapia's calling out of Tua is likely just the first thump on a pre-fight publicity drum that will take a decent hammering until December.

Having beaten two undefeated prospects - Cameron and Alonzo Buttler - in his last two outings, Ahunanya is a respectable-enough opponent. But there is little in the 37-year-old journeyman's 24-5-3 record to suggest he would be a major threat to Tua, and it has been 14 months since he last fought.

Cameron out-pointed Ahunanya comfortably for 10 rounds before being undone late in the fight by cuts and, with just 13 KOs in his 32 fights, he isn't the knock-out threat Tapia is keen to suggest.

Ahunanya was originally lined up to fight on the Tua-Cameron undercard and his familiarity to New Zealand fight fans would seem to make him a highly marketable opponent for Tua.

The major sticking point could be money. Tua is bound by a $50,000 per fight three-fight broadcasting deal with Maori TV that would significantly limit his purse.

With his worldwide promotor Cedric Kushner planning three safe fights to see out the Maori TV contract before attempting to procure a second world title tilt for Tua, the other question is whether Ahunanya is a safe enough opponent.

Kushner didn't return calls but, with a world title fight potentially worth millions, it is likely he is weighing up matching his man with Ahunanya for comparatively small beer is worth the risk.

Having used Ahunanya as a sparring partner in 2001, the man who can answer that question is undoubtedly Tua. But it is that familiarity Tapia insists has Tua running scared.

Another fighter angling for a date with Tua is New Zealand Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Chauncy Welliver.

Welliver fights Toa Nakatoatama in a six-round contest tonight at the Auckland Boxing Association Stadium.