David Tua will be looking for a quick, clean end to his first comeback fight in his bid for another world heavyweight title shot.
Tua meets unknown American Garing Lane this afternoon (New Zealand time) at the Feather Falls Casino in Oroville, about an hour's drive from Sacramento.
The venue and occasion
are a far cry from the glitzy, high-profile Las Vegas rings, which Tua last enjoyed only four months ago.
Manager Kevin Barry, who took over Tua's training again after he lost to American Chris Byrd in August, said a string of quickfire victories would help take his fighter back into world title contention.
Tua was well beaten by world champion Lennox Lewis late last year, and a third loss in his 38-fight career to Byrd dropped his ranking significantly.
His latest opponent does not appear in the top 20 of any major boxing organisations.
"He's not known too well but he has taken some worthy fighters the full distance," Barry said.
"But it's the only way back for Tua. We have to put together some good, quick knockout wins."
Tua is also scheduled to fight on January 12 in Los Angeles. His opponent then is ageing journeyman Phil Jackson of Miami, a 37-year-old with a career record of 43 fights with 38 knockouts.
He has had no significant victories and is not highly ranked by any of the major organisations.
Barry said a busy schedule for Tua and good results should bring some name opponents his way.
"He's been working hard. We've been in camp for six weeks, and there's been little apart from training and preparing.
"He's put on a couple of kilos since the last fight. I think he just lost too much [weight] the last time. But he's fit and we've worked on his footwork a lot.
"One of the biggest concerns for Tua was his footspeed - he was slow to the target to get his power punch in. He couldn't get the timing when he was lining up his heavy shots.
"Now he's able to step up quicker and maintain the power in his big punches. We've done a lot of work on that and a lot of drills. He's more explosive now.
"His training has been more specific, too. It's up at 5 am and he's running by 5.30 and he's been doing a bit more distance."
- NZPA
