If you are lucky enough to be Facebook friends with heavyweight legend David Tua (yes, it’s an overused word, especially these days, but this guy is worthy of its distinction), you will have seen how the former contender, who ranks as one of the greatest big men never to have won a world title, has been busily whipping himself back into trim physical condition.
Over a period of time, the at one time “easy to see” (these Tua’s words when describing how he had piled on the pounds) Samoan has lost excess weight, he has regained his former muscle definition, and Tua has got himself looking, well, great. Great enough for a ring return, perhaps?
Tua may merely be training, living the life of rededication, for health reasons and nothing more – and if so, more power to him. But we live in an age where, if any big-name fighter, or former fighter, starts a fresh training regime, we instantly think there must be a comeback in the offing. And to be fair, Tua, his muscles again bulging, his sheer physical strength evident from the various postings he has uploaded, looks like he could return to the ring and kick some serious ass.
Tua has been jumping rope, he has been pumping some seriously heavy weights, he has been punching and kicking the bag, and Tua has been working with the medicine ball and he has been doing some stomach crunches. Indeed, Tua seems to have been pushing himself as hard, or even harder, than he did back when he was slugging it out with the guys he faced during the latter stages of his ring career.
If – and it could be a big if – “The Tuaman” did launch a comeback, we fans would for sure be more than enough interested to tune in to watch developments. Tua still holds a special place in the hearts and minds of fight fans, his epic fights with, or his KO’s over, the likes of John Ruiz, Ike Ibeabuchi, Michael Moorer, Hasim Rahman, Lennox Lewis and others leaving us with a sense of ‘what if?’
To be sure, Tua could have/should have/would have done more than he did in the ring had things turned out differently. And this is saying something when we consider the heights the New Zealander ascended to. Tua was a real force of nature, he was a hugely promising warrior who was blessed with raw power, immense physical strength, a rock for a chin and, at his best, seemingly limitless stamina.
Looking at Tua today, he may have reacquired a number of these qualities. To repeat, more power to Tua – whatever he plans to do with it in the near future.