Tua's February 6 fight- Cancelled.

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

Like most on here, it that is true then I am sorry to hear that. That aside, David needs to be fighting asap!! If it is in March then that's okay, as long as the guy gets a couple of fights under his belt and then takes on a legitimate contender! Time isn't going to wait for "the Terminator" and soon all he'll be is another "What if?"

 

This last week we had Friday sign the fight against David .. He understands how we feel about the fight and realised first hand that Friday is not coming to NZ to lay out but wants to stay on a winning roll. His understanding of what a fight against Friday and a spectacular victory could propel him or Friday to has made him realise that he would be foolish to chance it all against a completely shot Seldon... He has a Family problem with his mother i beleive and he wants to stay close by and concentrate on the Ahunanya fight solely.... Friday has beaten two unbeaten contenders in a row now and no one wanted to step into the ring with him until this fight presented itself.. Tua and Friday have been in talks for a long time since they sparred in 2002.. Luis and I have trained in his company since he was at greg Hanleys ranch in Nevada years ago and David is very happy with what is on the table and so too is Friday, This fight has some good money invested in it... The Ahunanya fight will not fall through, its a done deal and is being processed as we speak.. God Bless.. Friday is looking forward to making his mark and securing a chance at the biggest fight of his life, The Klitschko brothers have always been good to us and communicate continuously and it is to our understanding that either man looking impressive will be taken seriously by Wladimir as a possible challenge in late 2010.. Peace...

 

Friday in March is a better starting point than Seldon in February.

 

Thanks for the info. Smart move by Tua. Seldon in February does very little in terms of preparation for bigger fights (though it might raise the hype very marginally) and he's smart to skip it to concentrate his focus on Friday in March. I've always heard good things about Friday (even Tyson in one of his early 2000's post fight interview gave props to Friday as a tough guy he had sparred with) and he seems like a dangerous tough fighter for just about any HW. Seldon has proved that he doesn't fare well with any type of decent competition lately. It's good to see that Tua is stepping up to a good challenge even if not many casual fans know much about Friday.

 

Before i even got involved with Friday, i was talking to the late Johnny Tocco in his office in 1997.. Johnny had been working with Larry Holmes , Sonny Liston, Mike Weaver, Mike Dokes, Julian Jackson and hundreds of other top liners since he opened his las vegas gym in the 50's.. Johnny was just talking about his health and his gym in general , he was a bit subdued and in Ill health , he chewed on a large Cohiba cigar and said to me .. Only two men walk through my doors daily with the attitude and potential to be warriors , they are first to come into the gym in the morning and are always last to leave when we close at 3.30.. One is Hawk,, Julian Jackson, a killer .. The other is the young African you see in the bag room now, training his ass off, he isnt even a pro yet.. He has that look , you know, he has something driving him, If i ever saw a world heavyweight champion being created from scratch , its standing right there .. I think his name is Anuya or something.... He was referring to Friday ... I never ever told Friday that.. but i will someday... Johnny died soon after losing his lovely wife, and having his leg amputated.. The last man he worked with was Couraga Tshabalala.. Friday turned pro soon after... I watched the press conference in NZ this week, and they spoke to Friday like he was just an average joe.. referring to him as being a non puncher .. with no pop in his shots.. I wish they could have been there when he cracked Ibragimov, Tyson, Cameron, Chagaev (in the Gym,, knocked him flat out) he has beaten so many unbeaten top class heavys against he odds its untrue... Nate JOnes 1996 olympic medalist ... (unbeaten until Friday beat him) Josue Blocus (knocked almost everyone he met until Friday beat him in Atlantic city) took former champions (Ibragimov and Lyakovich to points when they were unbeaten) took unbeaten 2004 olympic champ Povetkin to points in Germany only because they did not want to box beyond 4.. we did sign for a 6 rounder.. Knocked out unbeaten Shane Cameron.. Knocked down and beat unbeaten Alonzo Butler in his last outing.. got a draw with the heir apparrent Dominick Guinn when Guinn was supposed to be hot property.. I just hope David does prepare well because it was Friday who begged us to get this fight he has wanted it for years..

God bless.. Steve J...

 

Thanks BigCat for the info and for taking the Tua fight. The issue of no "pop" in his punches has to do with his low KO count. This is not Friday's biggest fight in his career, but at this stage in his career, it might be. It's a make or break fight for both guys.

BTW, Tua's mother just came out of the hospital for breast cancer, and is in recovery. Tua wants to stay in NZ to be with his mum instead of heading overseas. The Seldon deal fell thru anyway, with Seldon wanting more money. CK was looking for a replacement when Tua pulled the plug due to his mum, hours after the Friday press conference.

 

Only assuming it will really happen. Judging by history of Tua's "comebacks", we will just hear another story in March instead of any fight.

I do not understand it anyway. Family problems - sad, but it happens, and Tua have a deal with local TV so I understand he did not need to leave his mother anyway. Neither had he to train too hard again Seldon.

Coming back with another excuse every two months and cancelling fights won't get you another titleshot. Although... this strategy somehow worked for Haye, so who knows

 

I understand fully the shock to any sons system when he is close to his mother , my mother too was dyagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and it almost broke me down as a person that we are only human after all, it dawned on me that i could actually lose her and we all only have one mother , the female from which we entered this world... If David had to pull out for that reason i wish him all my love to him and his lovely family and if he approached us in march with a problem regarding the fight, i would by all means wish him to take the time out to get right properly before the bout takes place, Life and death is very real.. Boxing is a sport and a profession.. If David asks me personally to allow any re schedule i would 100% understand and hope that his mother and her health are taken into priority before any match.. I will make damn sure our relationship as far as business goes is put in its proper priority when something like this presents itself.. I do hope he would do the same for us if the shoe was on the other foot... God Bless.... Steve J..

 

Bigcat/Steve. That's very kind of you. I think the major issue was his leaving NZ to go train with Bloodworth Jan 2nd until the fight on Feb 6th, leaving his mum. From the looks of it, he's looking to fight Friday in March, TBA in Hawaii, and possibly someone in NZ in July.

I know the media has said that Friday had a lousy promoter, but 1 fight in 2 years? I'm a huge Friday fan, and was disappointed that he didn't capitalise on the Butler fight with a contender.

 

Seems like Tua has good reasons this time around.

Ahyunana is a good fight for Tua. I'd be interested to watch this one for sure.

 

Any insight into strategy for the fight?? Keep the right hand close to his (Fridays) face and throw a strong, consistent jab maybe? A well placed jab with good movement always throws Tua for fits...

 

Thanks sir, Friday beat Cameron and needed a fight badly, he split from long time manager trainer Luis Tapia who worked for many good years introducing many good opportunities for Friday.. and started training under former supermiddweight Merqui Sosas guidance as trainer , and Banner promotions (Art Pellullo) as his promoter.. Artie decided it would be a chance to test the mettle of his best heavyweight contender Alonzo BIG ZO Butler in Vegas.. It backfired when as a massive underdog we turned the previously unbeaten Butler over on ESPN.. over a year ago.. Banner were actually unhappy at Friday bumping off thier hottest heavyweight that they sidelined us and we never got a fight in over a year.. Friday eventually had to go back and ask Luis Tapia if there was any chance they could once again become a team (not that Merqui was a bad trainer) But Luis had better connections and in order to work with Luis he had to train under Tapias tuleage once again.. Luis has since set up American Promotions , with some solid backers.. and came up with the goods of the Tua match......... No one wanted to box Friday after the Cameron or the Butler fight.. (I was always involved regardless of manager or full time trainer because i have been around Ahunanya the longest overall, i was with him when he was trained by Tyrone Boone, Promoted by Don King.. Promoted by BAM, trained by Leroy Cauldwell, Managed by Ricky Burton.. Promoted by James Pollins, Promoted by Warriors (Jessie Robinson) Trained and managed by Luis Tapia, I have been with Friday since he arrived in Vegas in 1995.. Even when he split with Luis in 2004 over a fight he thought was not in Ahunanyas interests (against Povetkin in Germany .. ) I honored Fridays wishes to take the bout , signed for a six rounder and we travelled with Ivaylo Gotzev (manager of Jirov, Lyakovich, Samuel Peter, Shannon Briggs) and practcally landed with me as cornerman, Vince Acosta (cutsman) and Friday ... Povetkin did a dirty trick on day of the bout, he demaded at the last minute that he wanted a 4 rounder rather than a 6 rounder.. remember he was an Olympian fresh off the amateur circuit and Friday had been Nabf champ and a solid seasoned 12 round fighter.. we lost on points and returned more wiser for the experience.. Luis and Friday reunited once again shortly after..

Put it on the record.. Rahman, Tua and McCall didn't want any part of Friday in the early 2000's and we had to go in weird directions to get fights.. sparring with both Klitschkos, Tyson, Lewis all for seperate fight in between.. Friday still today works as a cab driver for whittlesea cabs as a part time day job because he has bills to pay... This fight is great and he is very intent on winning this bout to finally propel himself into a major championship opportunity.. Thankyou for your support my friend, God bless, Steve J..

 

Of course no top fighters want to fight him. Big risk, little gain. Here's an article from a New Zealand paper about the Friday/Tua match-up:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/sport/3179136/Friday-must-first-get-past-Tua

 

BigCat, any chance this could go PPV in the US? Not HBO or Showtime, but maybe a smaller one?