Tua

David Tua vividly recalls the painful lessons he endured as a youth in New Zealand, learning to box under the tough discipline of his father, Tuavale, a former middleweight."

LAS VEGAS - Baltimore heavyweight Hasim Rahman and co-manager Steve Nelson said they expect to close a deal on a third meeting with David Tua by the middle of the week. The fight, for the World Boxing Association's interim heavyweight crown, would be held Dec. 13 in Atlantic City, N.J., on HBO pay-per-view. A source close to the negotiations and Tua's promoter, Cedric Kushner, said that Tua and Kushner "are satisfied," came to terms and signed a deal with Rahman's promoter, Don King, for a bout on the same card as a welterweight title fight between Ricardo Mayorga and Corey Spinks, and a middleweight championship between Bernard Hopkins and Silver Spring's William Joppy.

MIAMI -- Leading comfortably on all three judges' scorecards, Hasim Rahman needed only to survive the final three rounds of his heavyweight elimination bout with David Tua last night to become the No. 1 contender for Evander Holyfield's International Boxing Federation crown.But the fight at the Miccosukee Casino ended with the Baltimorean slumped over the ropes and referee Telis Assimenios signaling an end to the match after 35 seconds of the 10th round, setting off an angry protest by Rahman's co-managers, who demanded a rematch.

The purse bid for a World Boxing Association heavyweight title bout between Baltimore's Hasim Rahman and David Tua, the organization's Nos. 1 and 2 contenders, respectively, has been postponed from tomorrow until Sept. 15, Rahman said yesterday. WBA champion Roy Jones, who won the crown from John Ruiz in March, had until last Monday - the culmination of a mandated 180-day period - to defend it or risk being stripped in accordance with organization rules. Jones has indicated he will drop to light heavyweight to fight Antonio Tarver, who owns the two belts that Jones vacated to move up to heavyweight.

PHILADELPHIA -Samoan heavyweight David Tua skipped an opportunity yesterday to run up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art alongside hometown hero Bernard Hopkins, who duplicated the scene that immortalized a pug named Rocky in the 1976 movie classic starring Sylvester Stallone. Tua, instead, was driven to the top of the stairs. Perhaps he figured he didn't need the exercise. Yesterday, Tua weighed in at 245 pounds for his bout tonight with Baltimore's Hasim Rahman at the First Union Spectrum.

It took David Tua a little longer than his last fight -- a 19-second knockout -- but the unbeaten New Zealand heavyweight again displayed his devastating power at Teamsters Hall last night, disposing of Anthony Cooks at 2: 24 of the first round of their nationally televised bout.Tua, 236 and built along the lines of a miniature tank, raised his record to 24-0 with 20 KOs by dropping Cooks three times.A left hook decked Cooks (11-5), who took the fight on short notice, in the first 20 seconds.

NEW YORK -- Heavyweight contender Hasim Rahman of Baltimore will headline an ESPN2 show tonight when he squares off with Michael Rush of Tampa, Fla., at the fabled Roseland Ballroom. But Rahman vows it will be anything but a dance contest."This is all about business and making a statement," said Rahman (29-1), trying to atone for a controversial knockout loss to David Tua in Miami last December that is still under appeal."I've heard that Rush likes to hit and run, but he's not going to be able to hide too long in a 16-foot ring."

While awaiting the outcome of his appeal to International Boxing Federation president Bob Lee after his controversial knockout by David Tua in Miami on Dec. 19, heavyweight contender Hasim Rahman of Baltimore will swing back into action March 12, when he battles unranked Michael Rush of Tampa, Fla., at New York's famed Roseland Ballroom.The ESPN2 show promoted by Cedric Kushner will serve as an appetizer to the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis heavyweight unifying title bout at Madison Square Garden the next night.

World Boxing Association middleweight champion William Joppy of Washington, who suffered a neck injury in an auto accident in Capitol Heights on Monday afternoon, was told by doctors at Prince George's General Hospital yesterday that he will likely be able to resume his boxing career in "two to three months," according to the fighter's adviser, Ollie Dunlap.A magnetic resonance imaging test revealed that Joppy, 28, sustained a hairline fracture to his seventh vertebra (at the base of his neck)

MIAMI -- Baltimore heavyweight Hasim Rahman was knocked from the unbeaten ranks by David Tua on Saturday night and lost his bid to become the No. 1 contender for Evander Holyfield's International Boxing Federation title. But, in a strange way, he may have enhanced his boxing career."I don't think Rahman's stock went down in losing this fight," said Lou DiBella, programming executive for HBO, which televised the 12-round elimination bout at the Miccosukee Casino that ended in a hail of protests after referee Telis Assimenios stopped it 35 seconds into the 10th round.

A third fight between Baltimore heavyweight Hasim Rahman and David Tua, this one for the World Boxing Association crown held at the moment by Roy Jones, could take place as early as Dec. 13 at a site to be determined, Rahman's co-manager, Steve Nelson, said yesterday. With Jones planning to move down to light heavyweight for a Nov. 8 bout against Antonio Tarver, the WBA has ordered a purse bid for a Rahman-Tua bout to be held on Sept. 5 in Miami. Don King and Cedric Kushner, promoters of Rahman and Tua, respectively, can pre-empt the purse bid by striking a deal before next Friday.

Baltimore heavyweight Hasim Rahman apparently will get a third shot at David Tua, this time for the World Boxing Association title held by Roy Jones, in accordance with a mandate by that organization. The WBA has ordered a purse bid for a title bout between Rahman and Tua, the organization's next-highest contenders for Jones' title. Jones, who rose from the light heavyweight division to dethrone then-WBA champ John Ruiz, said he is dropping back down to light heavyweight for a bout against highly rated Antonio Tarver on Nov. 8. "We received a letter from the WBA advising us that the title is becoming vacant and that they were mandating Rock to fight David Tua for the title," said Steve Nelson, Rahman's co-manager, along with Stan Hoffman.

PHILADELPHIA - It took some time, but Baltimore heavyweight Hasim Rahman turned disappointment into triumph. Initially, Rahman was rankled when Saturday's HBO-televised rematch with Samoan heavyweight David Tua was judged a draw, even though Rahman's jab, hard right hand and Tua's battered face seemed to support his contention that he had done enough to win. But Rahman was all smiles nearly an hour after the decision was announced. Counting Tua's controversial 10th-round knockout victory in their first meeting in 1998, Rahman had lost four of his previous 10 bouts - three via knockout.

PHILADELPHIA - When Hasim Rahman fought David Tua in Miami in 1998, he was far ahead on points when a late punch after the ninth round hurt him, and Tua finished him off in the 10th. But having failed to have been given the recovery time many felt he deserved, Rahman felt cheated. Last night, at the First Union Spectrum, Rahman got his chance at - and many in the crowd felt he succeeded at - revenge. Rahman jabbed Tua's eyes puffy, bounced right hands off him that bloodied his nose and even had a feel-good moment by flooring Tua with a late jab after the bell ending the final round.

PHILADELPHIA -Samoan heavyweight David Tua skipped an opportunity yesterday to run up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art alongside hometown hero Bernard Hopkins, who duplicated the scene that immortalized a pug named Rocky in the 1976 movie classic starring Sylvester Stallone. Tua, instead, was driven to the top of the stairs. Perhaps he figured he didn't need the exercise. Yesterday, Tua weighed in at 245 pounds for his bout tonight with Baltimore's Hasim Rahman at the First Union Spectrum.

Hasim Rahman was unbeaten in 29 bouts. He was 26 and only a fifth-year professional. Yet the Baltimore heavyweight had dubbed himself "the heir apparent" to the crown. All that stood between Rahman and a shot at champion Lennox Lewis was a Miami bout against once-beaten David Tua. Rahman boxed beautifully during the December 1998 fight, blending powerful combinations with effective counter-punching. He clinched when the hard-hitting Samoan got too close and had a huge lead entering the later rounds.

Local fight promoter Stuart Satosky will put on an ESPN boxing show at Teamsters Hall on July 21, featuring unbeaten heavyweight David Tua of New Zealand and No. 1 lightweight contender Ivan Robinson of Philadelphia in a pair of 10-round bouts.Tua, an Olympic bronze medalist in 1992, has won 19 of his 23 professional fights by knockouts. Most recently, the 220-pound native of Samoa stopped John Ruiz in the first round March 15.Trained by Lou Duva, Tua owns the WBC Intercontinental title. He is expected to fight Jimmy Haynes (11-2-1)

Controversial fight promoter Don King, who was acquitted in July of insurance fraud, has been sued for $12 million by rival promoter Cedric Kushner for trying to "steal" heavyweight contender Hasim Rahman of Baltimore and interfering with other fighters under Kushner's control.Rahman, 28-0 and ranked No. 3 in the world by the International Boxing Federation, had been scheduled to fight David Tua last Saturday as HBO's co-feature on the Lennox Lewis-Zeljko Mavrovic championship card in Uncasville, Conn.

A juggernaut, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, can be any large, overpowering, destructive force. There is also a mystically empowered comic book super villain by the same name whose forward motion can't be stopped. David Tua, 30, can fit both descriptions in the boxing ring. That's where the stocky Samoan heavyweight has scored knockouts in all but five of his 42 victories, even as he has never been knocked down or out as an amateur or professional. "I just keep coming," said Tua, 5 feet 9, 240-something pounds, who rarely takes a backward step.

For Baltimore heavyweight Hasim "The Rock" Rahman, the past 14 months have been rocky. Rahman was flattened in the fourth round of his November 2001 world title rematch with reigning World Boxing Council champion Lennox Lewis, considered the division's undisputed titlist. And he took his lumps in a June 2002 loss to Evander Holyfield, succumbing to the four-time world champion in the eighth round when the fight was stopped after an accidental clash of heads caused a grotesque, baseball-sized swelling on Rahman's forehead.