KEY POINTS:
David Tua's camp says there is no chance of Shane Cameron having a crack at their man until he lifts his profile.
Cameron's manager Ken Reinfield renewed calls for Tua to start negotiating for a fight in Auckland early next year after Cameron scored his 17th straight victory on Friday night.
However, Tua's manager, wife Robina, said Cameron needed to up his profile in the United States to be able to attract promoters who could afford to lure Tua into the ring.
Tua has a fight lined up in New York on January 26 against Robert Hawkins.
Cameron stopped South African heavyweight champion Osborne Machimana in the ninth of 12 rounds in Christchurch on Friday to retain his World Boxing Association Pan African heavyweight title. He decked Machi-mana twice before the stoppage.
Tua's adviser Inga Tuigamala said Tua was focused on his own pathway to another shot at the world title. Cameron needed to establish a higher profile in the United States so the financial stakes could be raised before Tua would consider fighting him.
But Reinfield believes his charge has done the hard yards.
"His last two fights were 12-rounders and title fights, he's also ranked higher with a recognised world boxing association than David Tua so he's doneplenty of hard yards," Reinfield said yesterday.
Cameron is ranked 14th by the International Boxing Federation, while Tua does not appear in the top 15 of any of the major boxing bodies, including the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organisation.
Reinfield agreed that Cameron needed to fight more in the United States, however.
"We are definitely taking Shane to America, we need to get a high profile there."
Cameron was already contracted to fight in New Zealand in February and May (opponents not known yet) and after that they would head to the United States.
- NZPA
