Tua’s plan: Look good and win

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 1, 2000 | 9:56 a.m.

If everything goes according to plan, David Tua will not only win Saturday's fight at the MGM Grand Garden with Obed Sullivan but will do it impressively and convert a few fans.

That's the idea: win, look good doing it and raise the public's consciousness toward a fighter who is positioned for a big-money bout in the fall with World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation champion Lennox Lewis.

Tua vs. Sullivan? It may be more of a marketing ploy than a competitive boxing match, given the fact Sullivan has never won a fight he was expected to lose.

"I'm going to give it my best," Tua said. "It's very important for me to look good."

It's important not so much in getting him the fight with Lewis, which is a given unless Lewis elects to relinquish the IBF portion of his titles, but in raising the financial stakes. Tua, as the IBF's mandatory challenger, can safely expect to face Lewis later this year, yet the prize money he'll take home that night depends in part on how good he looks against Sullivan.

"I can't walk in the ring to face Sullivan and be thinking about Lewis," Tua said, as if issuing a warning to himself. "Sullivan is a little too good to overlook. He's a soldier and a warrior like myself."

But, contrary to the print ads that misrepresent Sullivan as a former IBF champion, Tua's opponent figures to be there for the taking. Sullivan, 32, is 35-6-1 with 25 knockouts but really does not have a meaningful victory on his resume.

Yet at 6-foot-3 and 246 pounds he merits respect on size alone.

"I've been around and seen both sides of the coin," Sullivan said. "Regardless of what people think, boxing is fought in the ring. I've watched David a couple of times and he's a strong, willful guy. It's a question of who will impose his will on the other."

Aside from a decision loss to Ike Ibeabuchi in 1997, Tua has been imposing his will on his challengers since turning pro in 1992. He's 35-1 with 30 KOs and counts wins over John Ruiz, David Izon, Oleg Maskaev and Hasim Rahman among his best.

"David and Mike Tyson are the real heavy hitters in boxing," said promoter Dan Goossen, who handles both men yet can make that claim with a straight face. "Tua is also a lot more exciting than people think."

Tua, 27, is a compact 5-foot-10 and a solid 238 pounds. He's a big hitter who has been guided nicely in his career by Kevin Barry.

"We've always tried to go about our business with David's best interest in mind," Barry said. "I first saw him when he was 16, so I've seen him develop and I know what he can do."

Barry said he and Tua initially signed with Main Events "even though Don King offered us six times as much money." When that contract expired, Barry brought Tua to Goossen's America Presents.

"By November, Lennox Lewis has to defend his titles against David," Goossen said. "For sure, David will be fighting Lewis; the only way that wouldn't happen is if Lewis decides he's in over his head."

As for the specifics on where and when that fight will be held, negotiations have already veered from a compatible course and Goossen predicts "it will go to purse bid" due to "some obstacles that are in the way."

Sullivan does not figure to be one of those obstacles and Goossen has already set aside July 29 for another Tua fight against a similar opponent.

"Obed has been around and fought some tough fighters," Tua said. "I'm putting everything on the line and this is the fight I'm concentrating on. I can't look ahead."

Neither can Sullivan, who as recently as last December -- and following a knockout loss to Vitaly Klitschko -- was indicating he may retire.

"After a fight your emotions are high," Sullivan said, explaining his feelings at the time. "I thought about (retiring) for a minute. But I'm going to keep fighting.

"There aren't any killers out there."