Boxing: Tua's formula is simple: come out punching

By PETER JESSUP

David Tua has proved he can take a big punch. Tomorrow he has to deliver some.

That was the missing ingredient in his two big losses to Lennox Lewis and Chris Byrd.

The trouble for Tua is that like those two, his opponent tomorrow, Fres Oquendo, is a difficult proposition, a good boxer with an awkward style who keeps moving.

If Tua wants to look how far he can fall he has to glance no further than at the undercard and consider the situation of the monstrous Michael Grant, knocked out in the ring and of the heavyweight rankings by Lewis a year before the Lewis-Tua fight, and knocked out once since.

Grant meets the unrated Joe Lennart, who has the unfortunate record of 10 wins and 11 losses, for a whole lot less money than the US$400,000 on offer for the winner of the feature.

"Another loss will be very hard to come back from," trainer Kevin Barry said yesterday. "The one thing we want him to achieve is that he fights - no waiting, no being conservative, no following the other guy around the ring.

"We know he can take a good punch and we know he can throw one. Against Lewis, he trained hard, did the physical work and let himself down mentally.

"Against Byrd, we gave him a plan that should have worked, and would have worked for someone else, but didn't work for Dave.

"Maybe it's in the mental approach where we've let ourselves down and that's what we've been focusing on this time."

The Tua team moved from their base in Las Vegas to the venue at the Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort at Chester, West Virginia - about 45km from Pittsburgh - on Tuesday.

Weigh-in is today, with Tua expected to clock in at 109kg, about 4.5kg heavier than his opponent, who enjoys an advantage of 25cm in height and 70cm in reach.

Both fighters are signed to America Presents, and through that firm to event promoter Cedric Kushner, so the bout was easy to "make," with the backers wanting the North American Boxing Federation title, which Oquendo won from Obed Sullivan, on the line.

A win would take Tua into the top five in the rankings for all organisations; a loss would throw him well into double figures, with years of work required to get another shot.

"He's not showing the pressure," Barry said. "He's positive and focused."

Oquendo's trainer, Felix Trinidad sen, stood up at the pre-fight press conference yesterday to claim his fighter would be the first to knock Tua out.

The one thing Barry is sure of is that it isn't going to happen.

Meanwhile, Ronnie Shields, who was Tua's trainer before the Lewis fight, will visit Mike Tyson in Maui, Hawaii, today and if he likes the look of things, will take Tyson through to his match with Lewis in June.

"I'm not going to put up with any bull from any of the guys in his camp," Shields said.

Former welterweight contender Shields' most recent success was in lifting Vernon Forrest to beat title contender "Sugar" Shane Mosley in the division.

He has also trained Tyson hanger-on Zab Judah.

Tyson fired head trainer Tommy Brooks last November and has since been working under long-term assistant coach Stacey McKinley.