Tua’s Klitschko Goal for Ustinov Fight

A shot at one of the world heavyweight champion Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladmir, is the tantalising goal for David Tua, as he prepares for Saturday’s fight against giant Ukrainian, Alexander Ustinov. The Klitschko’s K2 promotions chief executive Alexander Krasyuk has confirmed that if Tua fights well and knocks out his 6’7’’ 300 pound-plus opponent, then he earns the right to fight one of his champions.

“If he wins and he is impressive, then will David Tua get a title shot?” Krasyuk rhetorically asked promoters of the Tua-Ustinov bout. “Yes. Definitely.”

Tua is aged 40, hasn’t fought in two years and hasn’t knocked anyone out in 46 rounds since Shane Cameron in 2009.

But he has shed 50kg to drop to his prime fighting weight of 110.2 pounds, close to the weight he achieved for the Cameron fight and his early burst of great promise in the mid-to-late 1990s, when he beat boxers like John Ruiz, Oleg Maskaev and Hasim Rahman.

Specialist boxing media, Ringside Report, remain sceptical of Tua’s latest comeback. Writer Geno McGahee points to the many disappointments in Tua’s career, including his well-documented battle with the bulge.

Ustinov may be ranked eighth in the IBF and 15th in the WBO but he is not a highly regarded fighter. Yet even McGahee can’t help but hold out hope.

“This Saturday, we may see the final chapter play out in the long career of David Tua, or we may see a new beginning,” he writes. “[If he wins] he will find himself back in contention for a title shot. With the punch of Tua and the vulnerability of the majority of the current top heavyweights, he could possibly give some of them a few scares or even pull some upsets.

“This Saturday should tell us a lot.”