David Tua's clawback to the heavyweight headline acts took a slight step forward yesterday with a time-consuming knockout of American journeyman Garing Lane in California.
Tua, in his first fight under new conditioning trainer Keith Kleven, showed improved stamina but could not deliver the desired early finish, despite dropping the lowlyrated Lane twice in the opening round.
Expecting an early end to the scheduled 10-round bout, Tua's corner had to wait until seven seconds were remaining in the eighth before the durable Lane's resistance ended with a combination of blows.
Trainer and manager Kevin Barry, who predicted an quick completion, put a positive spin on Tua's effort.
"It looked like it was going to be all over in the first round, but the guy survived. Dave hit him with bricks and kept breaking the guy down.
"Dave boxed really well, his jab was good and his workrate was better than it has been."
"The guy [Lane] took an enormous amount of punishment and spent a lot of time on the ropes."
