Tua turned professional later the same year.īronze at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona, Spain ( Heavyweight (– 91 kg)) He lost his semi-final to David Izonritei, whom he would later knock out as a professional.

Īt the age of 19 Tua won a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Tua became New Zealand national heavyweight champion in 1988 at age 15. In his early career, Tua trained three days a week at a small gym in Mangere Bridge, under boxing trainer Gerry Preston. Tua said that his father forced him to start boxing when he was seven years old, and Tua said that he is grateful to his father for introducing him to boxing. Tua said that he lived with four brothers, four sisters and ten other relatives while growing up, and that his mother worked three jobs, and that his father worked long hours. In his five professional losses, Tua was never subject to a stoppage, and possessed one of the most durable chins of his time. Tua fought many of the best boxers of his era and challenged once for the unified world heavyweight title against Lennox Lewis in 2000. Nicknamed the ' Tuamanator', his fast-paced bob and weave pressure fighting style has often drawn comparisons to Mike Tyson. In a 2003 article by The Ring magazine, Tua was ranked 48th on a list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. Tua ended his career with a knockout-to-win ratio of 82.6%.

He was ranked by BoxRec in the world's top 10 heavyweights from 1996 to 2003, reaching his highest ranking of No.3 in 1998. He scored sixteen wins by knockout in the first round, which included knockouts of world heavyweight champions John Ruiz and Michael Moorer within thirty seconds of the first round, as well as late stoppages of world champions Oleg Maskaev and Hasim Rahman. A highly ranked heavyweight contender for most of his career, Tua was known for his formidable punching power, especially in his devastating left hook. Faumuina To'aletai Mafaufau David Tua ONZM (born 21 November 1972), best known as David Tua, is a Samoan-New Zealand former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013.

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