Surprise, surprise, surprise: David Tua ripped through New Zealand rival Shane Cameron, scoring a second round knockout to notch the 50th win and 43rd by way of stoppage in his career.
Tua (50-3-1, 43 KO) was expected by most, I think, who were outside of New Zealand to do essentially what he did. Like I said the other day, Tua is a world-traveled former top contender, and Cameron (23-2, 20 KO) had no wins of any real repute. The 31-year old Cameron has fought his entire career in New Zealand against scrubs and also-rans for a very good reason.
But that's not to discredit Tua's power, which was still monstrous in 2007 and likely remains so today. He came in at a fit 237 pounds on the scales, and the 36-year old veteran rocked Cameron in the first round, with likely only the bell saving Cameron from going down any quicker than he did. The next round, Cameron was still on bad legs, and Tua finished him off.
So went "The Fight of the Century" for New Zealand. This bout was a $40 pay-per-view down there.
Tua says he wants a world title shot in 2010, but whatever. Yeah, he's still dangerous with those big left hooks, but he also hasn't beaten anyone of note since 2002, a year in which he knocked out Fres Oquendo in nine and also a washed-up Michael Moorer in 30 seconds. He could rattle Wladimir Klitschko's chin for sure, but he'd have to reach him first, and it's probably not happening. If David Haye beats Nikolai Valuev and then John Ruiz, I'd be up for Haye-Tua given Haye's vulnerability, and a fight between Tua and Chris Arreola sounds like fun, too. Tua still has plenty to offer the heavyweight division, it's just not as a Klitschko challenger.