David Tua

Tua said that he lived with four brothers, four sisters and ten other relatives while growing up. Tua said that his mother worked three jobs, and Tua said that his father worked long hours.[5] 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.[6]

In his early career, Tua trained three days a week at a small gym in Mangere Bridge, under boxing trainer Gerry Preston.[7] Tua became New Zealand national heavyweight champion in 1988 at age 15.[8]

At the age of 19 Tua won a Bronze Medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He lost his semi-final to David Izonritei, whom he would later knock out as a professional.[8] Tua turned professional later the same year.

Tua debuted in December 1992. Of his first 27 fights, 23 were won by knockout.[10]

In Tua's 1997 fight against Ike Ibeabuchi, the two fighters combined to set the record for most punches thrown in a heavyweight fight on record. Ibeabuchi won the decision, handing Tua his first professional loss. Prior to this, Tua had scored devastating knockouts against future titlist John Ruiz (via 1st-round KO, in only 19 seconds) and Darroll Wilson. Tua also beat David Izon and future champion Oleg Maskaev to set up the fight with Ibeabuchi. After the loss to Ibeabuchi, Tua took on future champ Hasim Rahman and TKO'd Rahman in the 10th round. The victory over Rahman marked the beginning of Tua's struggles with his weight. He ballooned up to 253 pounds when he defeated Obed Sullivan in 2000 by KO. Later that year, he weighed 245 pounds in the loss to Lennox Lewis. Tua was disappointing in the fight, with both fighters avoiding each other and Tua not throwing combinations. Tua lost a clear-cut decision.

Tua fought for the WBC, IBF, & IBO heavyweight titles in November 2000 – and went the distance in a 12-round bout – but lost on points by a wide margin to defending champion Lennox Lewis.

Following the Lewis loss, Tua regained steam with a KO over Danell Nicholson but lost by a close decision in his next fight to future champion Chris Byrd. In 2002 he beat prospect Fres Oquendo and demolished Michael Moorer in his next fight with a powerful shot 30 seconds into the first round, which put Moorer out cold. In 2003 he drew in a 12-round rematch with Rahman.

Tua (right) with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a political rally, 2017

On 10 October 1992 Tua appeared on the New Zealand version of the gameshow Wheel of Fortune. He had asked for an "O for Olsen" (possibly a reference to Olsen Filipaina) but this was heard by some (and widely reported) as "O for awesome".[25] He requested "P" when buying a vowel on the same episode.[26] He was also heard to ask if he could buy a "constonant" during the same show.

From 1992 to 2003, Tua was managed by former boxer Kevin Barry, who also trained him from 2001. But in 2003, Tua ended his business relationship with Barry and financial manager Martin Pugh. Though Barry accepted his dismissal as trainer, he resisted Tua's decision to end their contract, which still had two years to go. In 2004, Tua's accountant learned that the boxer's finances with his boxing company, Tuaman Inc. Ltd., were tangled with company expenses; Tua no longer had most of his $NZ 20 million in purses from his professional matches, and important assets Tua thought he owned alone were anything but, including a piece of coastal land at Pakiri. Tuaman Inc. Ltd had business expenses flowing in various directions, involving companies and clients Tua had no knowledge of. Tua's own home was purchased with borrowed money, and the boxer's purses were linked to renovation costs for Martin Pugh's property. These findings were based on documents from Pugh's offices.

In 2005 Tua took Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh to court over their business arrangements. Barry and Pugh accused Tua of manipulating them to collect revenue, yet Tua maintained that he knew little of the men's affairs and did what they told him to do out of trust. The dispute gave both sides legal victories: over the issue of the coastal land property, the court ruled in favor of Barry and Pugh, since Tua failed to properly clarify his ownership over the land; on the issue of the terminated 2003 contract, the court ruled in Tua's favour, concluding he clearly owed no expenses to his former management from that contract. In October 2009, it was reported in The New Zealand Herald that the parties had settled all previously unresolved matters arising from the protracted litigation.[27]

In May 2007, Cedric Kushner, president of Gotham Boxing Inc. and Tua's promoter, filed a $5 million lawsuit against IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and promoter Shelly Finkel among others – and while the lawsuit is unrelated to Tua, Kushner has stated he will drop the lawsuit if Tua is given a title bout against Klitschko in 2008, which ultimately failed to materialize.[28]

In September 2009, Tua's aunt was killed in the Samoa tsunami. In early October he travelled to Samoa with cousin Va'aiga Tuigamala to see how they could help.[29]

In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Tua was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to youth, boxing and the community,[30] having previously been appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to boxing, in the 2001 New Year Honours.[31]

• Tua is mentioned in an episode of the animated series Family Guy, when character Stewie draws Tua's likeness on a wall.[32]
• In 2020, he is seen to be in a gathering opposing the legalisation of recreational use of cannabis.[33]

• 2019 Gladrap Boxing Hall of fame[34]

• Official website
• Boxing record for David Tua from BoxRec