Craig Stanaway: David Tua fought Friday Ahunanya this week in New Zealand. Now, I've rung you for an impartial view because of all the hype about these kind of things. Cedric Kushner was talking about it being a world title eliminator. Everyone was talking about it as how David needed to make a statement, he needed to knock out a durable guy who had never been knocked out before for America to be interested in him again but I understand as well that this figtht wasn't even shown in the States - so from your perspective, where is David Tua in America's eyes at the moment?
Thomas Hauser: David Tua was once an elite heavyweight (but) there is no reason to believe he is anymore. It has been a long time since he fought a quality heavyweight.
What he's done in recent years is either be inactive, fight guys who are ageing like himself or fight guys that just don't have a chin and not very good to begin with.
And there's no reason to believe at the present time that he would be a credible challenger to either Klitchko. There's the hope among David's partisans, Vladimir has a suspect chin, David could wack him on the chin and knock him out but David has not shown great power in recent years, in this fight this past weekend and I just don't see it.Maybe he'll get it together, get his timing and co-ordination back, the last thing you lose is your punch. Could this be an eliminator for some phoney belt? Sure and I wish David every success but right now there's no reason to believe he's a credible challenger for the honour of being the best heavyweight in the world.
One of the problems boxing has today is that there are so few real champions. We have four sanctioning bodies, four heavyweight champions or maybe it's three heavyweight champions now depending on how you count them which is a little bit like having three kings of England or three gold medal winners in the hundred yard dash at the Olympics... it doesn't work but the general consensus is that Vladimir and Vitali Klitchko are the two best heavyweights in the world, and off his most recent performance David might get a title opportunity but he really hasn't done anything to suggest he could beat either one of them.
He certainly couldn't beat Vitali and whether he could wack Vladimir on the chin and knock him out? I don't know.
CS: So from your perspective, David really to be a credible heavyweight in America again, has to in the next six months do what?
TH: Well it's difficult because there are so few credible heavyweights out there but let's get out there but let's say David came over here and fought Chris Areola who is a solid heavyweight, not a great one by any stretch of the imagination but if David fought Chris Arreola, which would be a very good fight by the way, and beat him, then I would say then..... okay! he's got some credibility.
There was a time when David had the great equaliser and I'm not sure that he does anymore.
I did notice that he came into this fight at what for David has become a relatively low weight... that's a good sign that he's taking his training seriously but to say that he's an elite heavyweigh now... that's just not the way people feel over here.
CS: Can Cedric Kusher set him up with a Chris Areola?
I'm sure that he'll say that he does but whether he's willing to sign on the dotted line is another matter.
My sense is that if Chris Arreola beats Thomas Adamek, that would be a very entertaining fan friendly fight because both David and Chris are going to sit there and throw punches, there are going to be bombs.
Both guys have pretty good chins and that's a fight I'd like to see and the winner of that fight would then have some credibility
CS: He's only fought 14 rounds in the last 12 months. Has he got enough rounds under his belt yet to take on someone like that though?
TH: The issue is not just how many rounds a guy has fought in actual fights. The first question is one of lifestyle. How has David been feeding his body? Has he been in the gym regularly? Has he been working hard in the gym?You know you can have four fights in a year and knock your guy out in four rounds, four rounds, three rounds and everyone says you're great, you've only fought 14 rounds.... the bigger question is David sharp? Does he stay in shape? Does he let himself go in between fights? What's he done? What is he capable of doing now?
We don't know the answer to that. David was once a very very exciting fighter. He could get in there with the likes of Michael Moorer for example which is a name we haven't mentioned yet in this conversation and whack him out in one round.
I haven't seen that sort of energy from him recently. I don't think Shane Cameron belongs on that level.... David could still wack me out in the first round too, very easily the first 10 seconds but that wouldn't mean he's an elite heavyweight.
CS: Friday Ahunanya's been sold in New Zealand as a credible heavyweight... a durable heavyweight.... a person who had never been knocked out and that was the drawcard particuarly because Shane Cameron was a big name in New Zealand and Friday Ahunanya knocked out Shane Cameron. Is Friday all he's made out to be in America or is he just another B class fighter?
TH: Friday's not made out to be anything in America. Friday here is regarded as an opponent. Friday is not a great American fighter. Name one world class fighter that Friday's ever beaten
CS: He's done plenty of sparring rounds with them but he actually hasn't got into the ring
TH: Its one thing to be a sparring partner for an elite fighter and its another thing to get in and fight him. And to my knowledge and I don't have Friday's record in front of me and anyone who gets in the ring is deserving of respect and I'm sure that Friday is a competent club fighter but I've never heard anyone suggest seriously and credibly that he's a world class fighter and again, if he's a world class fighter name me a world class fighter who he's beaten?
CS: You mention the Klitchkows...David still has the problem of his size compared to people like that...Isn't that still going to be a mismatch? TH: That depends. Mike Tyson was David's size and when Mike Tyson was in his prime nobody would have said Mike Tyson against the Klitchkos was a rematch.
I asked David once, years ago, if size would be a problem for him if he fought one of the Klitchkows and he says no, it's not, it's like making love, you know, when you and a girl are in bed together, you are both really the same size.
One of the challenges David would face would be to get inside and once he got inside be able to launch that great left hook of his and land it on the jaw. I'm not sure he could do that.
Against Lennox Lewis when David was in his prime, David had trouble getting inside with a big tall fighter who could jab
CS: Thomas, just very quickly, sorry to keep this up, David currently has a WBO ranking of three, does that entitle him (to anything)?
TH: The rankings are silly and by that I don't just mean David's ranking is silly, most of the rankings are silly.
The WBO had a very notable incident a couple of years ago, they had a fighter named Darren Morris who was ranked number 7, I think it was in the super-middle weight divison and Darren Morris died. The next month he went from 7 to 6 and the month after that he went from 6 to 5 in the rankings and I suppose if nobody had noticed and pointed it out to the WBO he would eventually have became the mandatory challenger...the rankings are silly.
The rankings indicate influence in economics and occasionally what somebody accomplishes in the ring.You know I like David, I think David is fun to watch but to say that he's the fourth best heavyweight in the world which is what a number three ranking would mean, the champion being not ranked, isn't really credible at this point. Knowing the WBO I wouldn't be surprised that the one or two spot is vacant, I don't know that it is but it might be, the rankings are silly.
CS: So where would you rank David Tua at the moment in the heavyweight division?
TH: I have to see David Tua against a credible opponent and then I will tell you.
I haven't seen his most recent fights so it would be hard for me to tell you where I would put him exactly.
Lets face it... the heavyweights today are not very good but my sense is there are a lot of heavyweights today who could outbox David like Chris Byrd did years ago and at this point there might even be guys who can out punch him.
I would like to see David have a credible fight against a dangerous opponent and he hasn't had that in a long time so let David fight someone like Chris Arreola or Thomas Adamek or other guys out there who can bang a little.
That would be a very fan friendly entertaining fight.
Let's see what David does in those fights, now they're possibly matching him against Hasim Rahman again. Well Rahman just fought a guy who is 43 years old and has lost 16 fights every single one of them by knockout, to put two old guys who were once elite fighters against each other doesn't prove that one of them is still elite, they might have name recognition but lets put David in who's currently a world class heavyweight and then if he wins that fight then we can talk about someone who's deserving of another shot at the title.
CS: Thomas, thank you so much for talking to me, I really genuinely appreciate it. It's a privilege and a pleasure.
Source: tvnz.co.nz
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