By Sam Ackerman
David Tua's next fight is in February, but he has already come face-to-face with his second opponent lined up for March.
Friday Ahunanya – the man who dished out Shane Cameron's first career defeat – is vowing to beat the Mountain Warrior's latest conqueror.
But the Tuamanator has got other priorities.
They are former sparring partners – but David Tua and Friday Ahunanya are poles apart inside the ring.
“I don't think we share any similarity, beside the fact we knocked Shane Cameron out. He has his style, I have mine; we're just going to see how it plays out in the ring,” said Ahunanya.
But Ahunanya is far from Tua's top priority.
His first focus is his February bout against former WBA champion Bruce Sheldon in Atlantic City.
“It's important to do my very, very best not to think about this fight, when it's not time for it. It's important to concentrate on my first fight first,” said Tua.
Promoter problems have seen Ahunanya fight just once since he ended Cameron's unbeaten streak.
While there will be no old man taunts this time – at 37 Tua is a year younger than his opponent – but the trash talk is still there.
“He fought Lennox Lewis, he lost. He fought Ike Ibeabuhci, he lost. He fought Chris Byrd, he lost. So for me, just like any other fighter, he's nothing special to me,” said Luis Tapia, Ahunanya’s manager.
But it takes more than that to rattle Tua – he still remembers Ahunanya's camp claiming he was too chicken to take the fight.
“Our boys made me feel better; they said ‘dad, right now you might be a chicken, but tomorrow you'll be a rooster’,” said Tua, laughing.
Tua vs. Ahunanya is set for March 25, but the venue is still not decided. The leading contenders include Auckland's Vector Arena and Wellington's TSB Arena.
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