By Steve Trellert

16.10 - Within each human being exists a kind of natural affinity for nostalgia, a yearning for a time and place in the past that can somehow be brought forward to the present. Boxing is no exception to this and in fact carries a disproportionately large contingent of those holding a candle for the hope beyond hope resurrection of a fighter back to his peak. Whether it is the 'Tysonistas' who cannot let go of Iron Mike's reign of terror through the Heavyweight division in the late 1980's, or those who await Ike Ibeabuchi's slip from the sanitarium, the objective is the same: 'Please bring us back what we once had!' While Ike and Iron's return to form move from slim to none, a fading force seems to be returning to the imposing form he once possessed before five years of underwhelming mediocrity. David Tua's recent defeats of seasoned veteran Michael Moorer and rising star Fres Oquendo seems to have put the Tuaman back on track on the Heavyweight map.

The years of 1996 and 1997 were kind for David Tua. His nineteen-second destruction of John Ruiz was followed by devastating victories over Darrol Wilson, highly regarded David Izon, and future top five heavyweight Oleg Maskaev. These victories placed David in the forefront of the new young Heavyweights that were to succeed the aging generation of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis. Alas Tua fell victim to his own brushfire, one derived more from within than without. Tua's legendary fight with Ibeabuchi in June of 1997 would be a turning point in his career that would only be truly recognized years later. In fighting Ike, Tua was his usual self in throwing numerous punches both to the head and body using both hands to effectiveness. Despite the all out effort this time Tua would fall short on the judge's cards and attain his first defeat. Almost unanimously those who witnessed the fight felt the result was excruciatingly close and I personally had Tua winning it by seven rounds to five after Ike took a large initial lead. Clearly it could have gone either way and nobody would have complained if Tua had gotten the nod. Nevertheless he did not and this started a steady five-year decline.

This first became noticeable in Tua's fight with Jeff Wooden where he seemed to struggle against a slightly better than journeyman fighter. Nine months later against Hasim Rahman he had been systematically outboxed and kept at bay with 'the Rock's' effective jab. Only a controversial after the bell left hook and a referee error saved him from what likely would have been a decision defeat. This victory provided the benefit of giving David a mandatory shot at the Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis, but it also provided a curse as its preservation meant a logical assembly line of tomato can opponents with the minimization of risk made priority. By the time Lewis stood before him Tua had become ossified, overreliant on his left hook, and insolvent to trainers. The innocuous performance was complimented by a similar one against Chris Byrd and again in the first half of his fight with Fres Oquendo. The bottom came during the Oquendo fight in between rounds with his trainer repeatedly exclaiming "throw more punches" and David looking through him with a look of utter despair on his face along with 'this is the end' in his eyes. It was the end, the end of the bottom. Tuaman would save himself not by yet another desperately telegraphed left hook lunge, but an overhand right. A big win at a bleak point can do wonders for a fighter's confidence and it seemed to bear fruit against Michael Moorer as Tua came out and took him out in a surprising thirty seconds. Is the Tuaman of old a man reborn?

By all appearances Tua is most certainly back on the right track. Instead of throwing sparingly his output has increased. His desperate and reflectively insecure attempts to end the fight on a left hook lunge has been replaced by a seemingly structured gameplan of controlled attack as seen against Moorer. Body shots and the overhand rights have re-entered the equation on a more consistent basis and Tua has a look of self-believe and confidence in the ring that has largely been devoid in recent years. He even shaved his head again which tends to make his appearance more imposing and perhaps functions as his psychological lucky charm. The indications are there without doubt, but alas the sample size is minimal as it was only evident in the first and final round against Moorer, and the ninth and last round against Oquendo. Two rounds, though devastatingly effective, does not provide enough evidence to conclude a career resurrection. Confirmed career resurrection demands rounds and the best man to provide that as his next opponent is no less his nemesis Hasim 'the Rock' Rahman. These two giants in the heavyweight division may very well collide in the near future with the victor given a shot against the winner of the yet unconfirmed Chris Byrd versus Evander Holyfield Heavyweight title battle. Of course David Tua against Hasim Rahman the sequel has been suggested before and declined by both fighters at various times in the past and justifiably so. This time they should both concur as the timing is virtually perfect. Why you ask? Tune in to my column in two weeks to find out.

If you have any comments regarding this or any of my other articles either post them here at Eastside or email me at Vancanste@aol.com