Cameron turned down fight on Tua undercard -- Stuff

By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE, Stuff.co.nz

Shane Cameron turned down a chance to fight on the undercard of David Tua's latest promotion.

Cameron was offered an opportunity to take on Tua's sparring partner Israel Garcia in one of the main leadup fights to Tua's heavyweight clash with Las Vegas-based Nigerian Friday Ahunanya in west Auckland on Wednesday night.

"I called him out but he didn't want to fight," Garcia said.

He added he remained keen to fight Cameron.

Cameron is trying to resurrect his career after last October's shattering loss to Tua.

He chose to take on second rate Australian John Hopoate last week in a Melbourne fight that turned into a farce with Hopoate disqualified in the second round for wrestling tactics.

The result put a tick in the win column on Cameron's record and some money in the bank but did nothing for Cameron's career in terms of confirming his comeback.

Cameron is now working towards a fight in Wellington.

Garcia, meanwhile, has picked up an Australian opponent in Brett Smith tomorrow night at Trusts Stadium.

Smith has fought 21 times for 13 wins, six losses and two draws with all his fights taking place in Australia.

While Garcia has made a decent living out of sparring he is a reasonable fighter in his own right, fashioning a 19 win (11 KOs) - 3 loss record in his professional career.

Garcia lost his last two fights against the rated Denis Boystov and Chris Arreola.

The New York based Puerto Rican, dubbed King Kong, weighed in at 118kg today, giving him a significant advantage over Smith who tipped the scales at 102.9kg.

Garcia said he was feeling in great condition after a busy training camp with Tua where he had benefitted from the heavy workload and the use of a conditioner.

"I've lost weight because I've worked hard. I've never had a conditioning coach before so he put me through a lot. I feel really good for this fight," Garcia said.

Source: stuff.co.nz