Columnist Dean Juipe: Tua hoping to capture elusive Byrd

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Aug. 16, 2001 | 9:37 a.m.

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

It's a fight with classic connotations.

Beyond the fact that the winner will be assured of a title fight with the International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion by next April 20, Saturday's fight between David Tua and Chris Byrd at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus matches a fabled puncher with an elusive scoring machine.

Although he's trying to diversify his style, Tua is the definitive one-punch knockout specialist.

Byrd, conversely, raps away at his opponent with jabs from his southpaw stance and stockpiles points while dodging the big hits directed his way.

Tua is 38-2 with 33 knockouts, and Byrd is 33-2 with 19 KOs.

The winner of their scheduled 12-round bout moves into position for a 2002 fight with the IBF champion, currently Hasim Rahman.

"My strategy is to not get frustrated or discouraged because of his awkward style," Tua said this week. "I've been sparring with guys that move and hold and we covered all aspects of Byrd's style. It would be crazy to be sparring with a guy who wants to bang with me."

Neither fighter figures to surprise the other.

"I am training for a guy who will come forward and try to knock me out," Byrd said. "I have to be cautious about what I'm doing and stick to the game plan.

"If it goes 12 rounds, he's not going to beat me."

But Byrd knows it may not go 12.

"I'm going to have to take Tua's punch if he connects," he said. "I can take a pretty good punch; he'll have to knock me out clean."

Byrd also acknowledges that he's the "David" in this confrontation with Goliath.

"I have a little man's mentality," he said, referring to his slight -- by heavyweight standards -- 217 pounds. "You rarely see little guys quit in the ring (but) you see a lot of big guys quit.

"He can hit me with three punches and I'm going to come back at him with three or four."

Byrd, who turned 31 Wednesday, has been successful with this method of counterattack. In a pro career that dates to 1993 and his days as a super middleweight, he has emerged as one of the least pursued fighters in the business.

In his case, it's actually true when it's said that no one wants to fight him.

"Byrd is one of the most feared men to get into the ring with," said promoter Dan Goossen, who's putting on Saturday's first-ever boxing card at the Cox. "He carries a lot of respect with people who know boxing.

"The only way to get the fans' confidence back (in Tua) is for him to fight the guys no one wants to fight."

Tua admits as much as well.

"Byrd's a fighter nobody wants to fight because he can make you look bad," he said. "But I've been working a lot on my footwork and I think I'll be all right."

Tua, of course, is looking to rebuild his career after losing the public's trust in a disastrous fight with then-champion Lennox Lewis last November in Las Vegas. The transplanted Samoan, who has been living here for more than a year, talked a good game in advance of the fight but then did nothing once the bell sounded and he realized Lewis was impenetrable.

He lost that fight by a landslide decision and has suffered the consequences -- including boos directed his way when his name is announced at local fights he attends.

"After November we knew we had to make some adjustments in the way David was performing and living as a professional athlete," said his manager, Kevin Barry. "We've left no stone unturned. We're excited about the way he looks and feels and I only wish this is the guy who would have fought Lewis."

Tua, 29, coyly says he still weighs 250 pounds yet admits to having undergone a serious change in dietary and training practices. He acquired a new trainer, Joe Goossen, prior to his most recent fight (March 23 with Danell Nicholson at the Texas Station) and maintains he has been driven to modify his eating and conditioning habits.

"Training is very intense and Joe kicks my butt every day," he said. "Everything's been hard in this camp (but) I'm very prepared, I've done my homework and it's all come together."

Tua's meal schedule includes a 7 a.m. breakfast and 10 p.m. dinner, with each low in carbohydrates and high in protein.

"This is a Tuaman we haven't seen before," Barry said, referring to his protege by his nickname. "People are going to be surprised."

Since his loss to Lewis, Tua defeated Nicholson by sixth-round TKO in a fight in which he still looked reliant on a single, big punch.

"Bottom line, he's still a home run hitter," said Dan Goossen.

"You pick yourself up and move on," Tua said of righting his career. "I'm a big believer in saying everything happens for a reason and I don't think it was too early for me to challenge for a title (when he lost to Lewis). It wasn't my time."

If it is Tua's time and not Byrd's, the latter says he may vacate the heavyweight division.

"If I lose convincingly, a trip to cruiserweight could be in my future," Byrd said. "If Tua beats me, there may come a point where I have to move down in weight."

Byrd, obviously, knows what he's up against.

"This is one of my toughest challenges," he said. "He won't be easy to box and I think he will be more determined (than he was against Lewis), but I'm equally strong and determined.

"I'm not worried about his pressing style, because everyone presses me because I'm a small guy."

Since moving to heavyweight shortly after turning pro, Byrd has worn down a number of decent fighters and can claim impressive victories over the likes of Arthur Williams, Phil Jackson and -- somewhat shockingly -- Vitali Klitschko. His losses were at the hands of Ike Ibeabuchi in 1999 and Wladimir Klitschko last year.

Byrd has since won two fights, including one over Maurice Harris in May that led him into this IBF-mandated showdown with Tua.

"I'm very competitive and more than willing to take on any challenge," Byrd said, the biggest challenge -- both literally and figuratively -- of his career upon him.

"Augie is looking so good right now, he's nasty," said his agent, Cameron Dunkin. "He seems to get better with every fight."

Sanchez, 23, is 28-2 with 25 KOs and has stopped Luisito Espinoza and Daniel Jimenez in his two fights since a tough knockout loss to Naseem Hamed.

Peden, 27, is 19-1 with 10 KOs. While he has fought for his native country in two Olympics, Peden lost to John Brown in the most significant fight of his pro career to this date.

The winner of their fight will become the IBF's mandatory challenger to current champion Frankie Toledo.

Also scheduled: Lawrence Clay-Bey, 13-1, vs. Augustin Corpus, 9-11-3, eight rounds, heavyweights; Cal Brock, 5-0, vs. Rocky Gannon, 30-10, six rounds, heavyweights; Jose Cruz, 1-0, vs. Jose Lopez, 2-5, four rounds, lightweights; and a women's lightweight bout scheduled for six rounds between Jessica Rakoczy, 6-0, and Mikee Stanford, 2-3.

IBF welterweight champ Vernon Forrest has rejected a $1.5 million offer to fight WBC champ Shane Mosley Dec. 15 on HBO. ... Former junior lightweight contender Justin Juuko of Las Vegas took a recent fight in his native Uganda and defeated Charles Owiso by eight-round decision. ... Local heavyweight Cliff Couser was bumped from an Aug. 24 date in Reno and is now hoping to see a Nov. 2 bout with Joe Mesi on ESPN2 fall into place. "I hate these long breaks and I'll fight anybody," Couser said. The fight with Mesi is being discussed and could be attractive in that Mesi is 20-0 with 18 knockouts and is coming off a seventh-round knockout of Bert Cooper two weeks ago in Buffalo. ... Still fighting bums: Butterbean Esch, 64-1-3 with 49 knockouts, will take on someone named Billy Zumbrun as part of Sunday's card in West Wendover. Zumbrun is a mere 5-3-1.