David Tua used to have the most feared left hook in boxing; now he helps fighters instead of knocking them out.
Tua's currently training New Zealand cruiser-weight champion Monty Filimaea for next month's Super Eight tournament. Filimaea credits Tua with turning his life around.
Two years ago softly spoken Filimaea had an anger problem. Nicknamed Mad Dog, he couldn't resist a fight in the street.
"In the past I had a bad temper," says Filimaea. "I was always that person. I don't know why. So I turned around knowing that I'm going to get a hiding. I went over and said, 'What did you say?' First thing is they all jumped over me. Sometimes I'd look in the mirror and say, 'Is there something wrong with you?'"
One day Tua stopped Filimaea, who was running past his Onehunga gym. Tua had seen him box, was an old-school friend of his brother's, and invited him to come train. Soon the anger subsided.
"Being around David, he's just so calm. I'm here every day and I see it. I feel it."
Tua passes the credit back to Filimaea.
"What I've been able to share with him enabled the natural blessings that's always been in him to come out," says Tua. "I'm just happy it's working out so far."
It has led to a major turnaround in the ring for the 27-year-old. In 2010 he went pro with no amateur background and lost his first six bouts, his second to up-and-coming Robert Berridge.
"People were laughing at me; my friends were laughing at me," says Filimaea. "This guy just gets in the ring and loses, loses, loses."
When he ran into Tua he'd just been knocked out by David Aloua, currently New Zealand's highest-ranked Kiwi boxer, at number 15.
In the two years since, 1.81 metre Filimaea has won six straight fights and both national cruiserweight belts, thanks to a technical overhaul.
"His footwork, him taking advantage of his reach, his height, sharing with him that you don't have to fight the whole three minutes – you got to box," says Tua.
Successful in the ring and turning his back on street fights, Filimaea believes his chance meeting with Tua was fate.
"Boxing has saved my life," he says.
3 News
source: newshub archive
