Boxing: Tua stops Moorer short in 30 seconds

David Tua has never been known for his way with words. And the New Zealand heavyweight boxer certainly had no need to say much today when he let his fists do all the talking.

It took the usually tongue-tied Tua all of 30 seconds to end his argument with former world champion Michael Moorer in the United States.

Many patrons at the Mark G Estess Arena in Atlantic City hardly had time to settle into their seats before the once impressive Moorer was knocked cold by Tua.

It was the perfect one-finger retort to critics who have bemoaned the Aucklander's lack of aggression during the past couple of years.

A still-stunned Moorer later paid tribute to Tua's power.

"He tried to overpower and overwhelm me... and those zooping punches will catch you all the time," Moorer said.

Tua didn't allow American Moorer - a world heavyweight champion under three banners in the mid-1990s - any chance to warm up, charging in from the bell and getting under the taller man's defences.

Once backed up against the ropes, Moorer received several heavy blows to the body before his survival instincts saw him try to sneak away.

But Tua shadowed him and kept his fists busy before a stunning right lead landed flush on Moorer's jaw and sent him to the deck.

He lay motionless as he was counted out and the contest awarded to the New Zealander.

If television audiences back home felt short-changed after shelling out money to view a live broadcast of the bout, Tua's camp could not have been happier, picking up $US500,000 ($NZ1.08 million) for the 30 seconds work.

It was exactly the sort of performance Tua's management team demanded as they strive to regain credibility in the US.

Tua's reputation took a pounding after his limp world title fight loss to Lennox Lewis in late 2000 and a follow-up defeat at the hands of Chris Byrd last August served only to raise more searching questions about Tua's future.

In his first fight since a ninth-round knockout of Puerto Rico's Fres Oquendo in April, Tua, 29, answered his critics back in the best manner possible, lifting his career record to 41-3, 36 by knockout, in the process.

It isn't the first time Tua has ended a bout in the blink of an eye. He knocked out John Ruiz in 19 seconds in 1996.

It wasn't as if Moorer, 34, was a Noddy Nobody. He is a former World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation champion.

He is now 34 - relatively young by today's heavyweight standards - and had won four of five fights in a career comeback before hitting a brick wall in the form of Tua.

While hardly raising a sweat in the ring, Tua did show a nice sidestep post-fight when asked about his manager and trainer Kevin Barry's comments that the Aucklander was the biggest under-achiever in the heavyweight division.

"Nobody will understand why I do what I do but it's about the person next to you. I respect what Kevin feels and I believe it too.

"I just had to concentrate on this fight and do better (than in past)."

"I knew he was either going to come out fast or come out slow.

"I practised in the gym what I wanted to do tonight, and I did it. I came out fast, worked to the body then went to the top."

- NZPA