Shane Cameron vs Monte Barrett: Fight Signed For May 30 in New Zealand

After a brief stint as a cruiserweight, New Zealand's Shane Cameron will return to the heavyweight division for a fight with American veteran Monte Barrett on May 30, the Sunday Star Times reports.

After months of negotiation and a late attempt to stage a third fight between Tua and Barrett, the Sunday Star-Times can reveal that a deal has been brokered by David Higgins, the promoter who staged the Tua-Cameron "Fight of the Century" in 2009.

Higgins says Cameron-Barrett will headline the first in an annual series called Heavyweight Explosion and he is chasing leading Australian and Kiwi heavyweights to figure on the undercard.

Barrett (35-9-2, 20 KO) is coming off of a controversial win over David Tua in Manukau City on August 13 of last year. The fight itself was dramatic and entertaining, but Barrett reportedly failed a drug test after, although nothing ever happened to change the result of the fight.

Tua-Barrett III was being discussed, as the paper says, but Cameron's promoter has just come in with a better deal. Cameron (28-2, 21 KO) may himself be best-known for a fight with Tua, when the powerful Samoan stopped him early in the second round in October 2009.

Barrett, 40, was quick to point out that fight when asked about facing Cameron:

"Shane Cameron's like a ghost to me. I don't really know too much about him," Barrett said. "Ghosts can be good and bad but of course I'm going to get some tape of him to study during training. I checked him out online and there's not a lot there about him except, of course, when he fought David Tua and you can't tell much from watching a person get the crap beaten out of him in one round."

I guess this means that, shockingly, Monte Barrett's dream of being in WWE isn't going to happen. Amazing that a 40-year-old guy with no training, no real fame, and his voice isn't headed to big-time pro wrestling.