Gotham Boxing: Trainer Bloodworth Tips Tua To Win World Title

Veteran boxing trainer Roger Bloodworth, who has known Samoan strongman David “Tuamanator” Tua for nearly 20 years, training him exclusively for the last five years, believes Tua will soon shed the label as the best contemporary heavyweight never to be world champion.

Tua and Bloodworth have been at training camp in Jersey City, New Jersey, preparing for David’s 12-round main event fight July 17 headlining “T-N-T at the Tropicana” presented by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, against former world title challenger Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett,at Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

“David is a more confident fighter today,” Bloodworth said. “He’s a very experienced fighter who is now moving a lot defensively and is no longer a one-handed fighter. He still has that one big hand, but he’s punching well with both hands and, surprisingly, even throwing a good jab.

“The heavyweight division is wide open but, at the same time, closed. There are top contenders like David but these champions seem to pick-and-choose their opponents. We’d love to fight (David) Haye or the Klitschkos. The Klitschkos brothers (Wladimir and Viltali) are both big and have talent, but they also have Achilles heals, and David can take advantage of that.

“They (Hayemaker Promotions and K2 Promotions) all have Cedric’s (Tua’s promoter Cedric Kushner, Gotham Boxing) phone number but nobody’s called. The only way to get a world title shot, it seems, is to become the mandatory challenger.”

Tua (51-3-1, 43 KOs), rated No. 2 by the World Boxing Organization, hasn’t fought in Atlantic City in eight years, however, he’s undefeated fighting there in 13 fights with 12 knockouts. Wladimir Klitschko is the WBO champion, Alexander Povetkin its No. 1 contender.

Tua, the reigning WBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental heavyweight champion, has defeated former world champions John Ruiz (KO1), Michael Moorer (KO1) and Oleg Maskaev (KO11) in Atlantic City, in addition to Hasim Rahman (KO10), during his explosive career.

“David is a young 37-year-old heavyweight because he hasn’t been in any wars or been knocked out,” Bloodworth added. “It is what it is and I think David has a very good chance of becoming world champion.”

Tua, of course, isn’t looking past Barrett (34-9, 20 KOs), now fighting out of New Jersey, who is also unbeaten in Atlantic City, sporting a perfect 7-0 (5 KOs) record there.

New Zealand’s national indigenous broadcaster, Maori Television, will present exclusive, live and free-to-air coverage of Tua’s July 17th fight.

T-N-T at the Tropicana is being promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and will be shown live at 8 PM/ET – 5 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, Avail-TVN and DISH Network in the United States and Puerto Rico for a suggested retail price of only $24.95.

You can also catch the PPV telecast in France, New Zealand, Australia, and via tape delayed in numerous other countries throughout the World. The exciting undercard will go live on PPV at 8 PM/ET – 5 PM/PT with the Tua vs. Barrett main event scheduled to go on air at approximately 10 PM/ET – 7 PM/PT.

Tickets may be purchased by calling the Star Boxing office at (718) 823-2000 or visiting www.starboxing.com.

Tickets are priced at $100 (ringside), $50 and $30. Star Boxing is currently holding exclusive $200 VIP Packages, call for more information. Tickets may also be purchased at any Ticketmaster outlet, or by going online to Ticketmaster.com

Tickets may also be purchased at the Tropicana North Tower Box Office. The Tropicana Casino and Resort is located at 2831 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ and can be contacted by calling (609) 340-4000.