By Nikolai Smith
The fight lasted the full 12 rounds and David Tua won by unanimous decision.
David 'The Tuaminatory Tua' vs 'Friday 13th' Ahunanaya- scheduled for 12 rounds
Round 1 Tua sizes up Ahunanya before going in for a couple of body shots. Both fighters feel themselves into the round. Tua was the most aggressive of the two but didn't land any really big blows.
Round 2 Tua wins the second round. He lands more shots than Ahunanya. Both fighters are still tentantive, feeling their way into the fight.
Round 3 Tua's round - just. He landed a nice left hand shot into Ahuananya's face. The round was close though.
Round 4 Tua comes out early and lets rip hitting Ahunanya well with one of the shots. Tua wins that round.
Round 5 Some more intense action from Tua as he grows with confidence this round and is landed some good body shots.
Round 6 Ahunanya is looking tired and is dropping his left hand as a result of the body shots Tua has been regularly landing. Tua's round.
Round 7 Tua continues to dominate proceedings, although Ahunanaya landed his best shot of the fight so far that round.
Round 8 Ahunanya isn't landing the scoring shots. Tua stays in control.
Round 9 A solid round from Tua, he got some heavy body shots on Ahunanya.
Round 10 Tua gets Ahunanya on the ropes in that round, landing a series of solid blows. Tua in the lead but is running out of rounds to knock Ahunanya out.
Round 11 Tua crunches Ahunanya with a left hook right on the bell. Tua in control going into the final round.
Round 12 Tua puts on a final flurry of punches and slips right on the bell. The fight lasted the distance.
David Tua wins by unanimous decision.
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11:00pm The boxers make their way into the ring and they are introduced to the crowd.
10:55pm Prime Minister John Key comes into the ring to speak. He wishes David Tua well and says that Tua "will bring home the goods."
10:49pm Lapi Marriner sings the United States national anthem. He follows it up with the Samoan national anthem. The crowd applauds heartily after the Samoan anthem. The crowd joins in and sings along as Marriner sings God Defend New Zealand.
10:48pm The National anthems are about to be performed. First up is the Nigerian national anthem being sung by Bessy Iwuze.
10:34pm Peter Urlich comes onto the ring to entertain the crowd and sings Drink yourself more bliss by the Dudes.
Undercard fight No. 5 Cruiserweight: James Bostic (USA) vs Oscar Siale (NZ)
Round 1 A close round first up. Bostic probably had the advantage with an uppercut and a righthand combination that he landed.
Round 2 Bostic lands a brutal combination of head shots near the end of the round.The bell rang just in time for Siale!
Round 3 Siale probably took that round. He's back in the fight. Bostic failed to capitalise on his strong finish to the second round and wasn't very aggressive in round 3.
Round 4 Bostic won that round. Siale's took some blows to his right eye and it's nearly closed up.
Round 5 Siale is back in the fight after landing some powerful blows into Bostic's head.
Round 6 Bostic sees out the round on the defensive as Siale goes on the attack, but is unable to land any significant blows.
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Undercard fight No. 4 Israel Garcia vs Brett Smith
Round 1 Garcia had a tentative start to the round but ended up controlling the round in the end. He landed some good shots into Smith's head.
Round 2 Garcia lands a low blow and Smith goes down. Smith gets up and keeps fighting. Garcia lands a great blow on Smith falls into Garcia and Garcia falls to the ground. The referee talks to Smith. Smith is hit again and goes down shortly before the bell.
Round 3 Smith is disqualified for using his shoulder! Garcia wins the fight!
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Undercard fight No.3 - Bronwyn Wylie vs Christina Tai (Womens)
Round 1 Wylie probably won this round 10-9.
Round 2 Tai had better round this time, but it was close.
Round 3 Tai won that round. She gets some good left and right punches in.
Round 4 That was a close round. Too close to call. Wylie wins the fight in a split decision.
Check out the ring girls at the fight tonight courtesy of Photosport:
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Undercard fight No. 2 - Heavyweight 4 rounds: Clarence Tillman (USA) vs Leamy Tato (NZ)
Tato is referred to as 'The New Zealand Mike Tyson' and once played rugby league for the Manly Sea Eagles.
Round 1 Right at the end of round 1 Tillman hits Tato with at right on the side of the head and knocks "The New Zealand Mike Tyson" down. He gets back up immediately. Round 1 goes to Tillman!
Round 2 The round it pretty uneventful until Tillman landed five punches right on the bell on Tato in the corner.
Round 3 Both fighters exchange some vicious blows and brawl in one of the corners. Tillman again gets a shot in on the bell. Tillman won that round.
Round 4 The fight goes the distance. A pretty even last round. Tillman hoists his arms into the air signally victory and the crowd boos at the unsporting gesture. Tillman WINS in a split decision.
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8:53pm: Prime Minister John Key is spotted in the crowd at Trusts Stadium.
8:51pm Injured All Black Ali Williams, being interviewed by Stacey Morrison of Maori Television predicts a third round knock out victory for David Tua.
8.48pm The fight is being broadcast on television in Samoa. No doubt there'll be plenty of interest in the fight there. There are Tua supporters with Samoan flags in the crowd at the fight tonight too.
Hip-hop group Smashproof keeps the crowd entertained between bouts at the black tie event.
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Undercard fight No.1- Light Heavyweight 6 rounds: Robert Berridge (NZ) vs Areta Gilbert (NZ)
Round 1. Gilbert had a slight advantage in round 1 landing a good right hand into Berridge 'The Butcher's' face.
Round 2. That was a close round. Too close to call. Both fighters got some good shots in.
Round 3. Berridge knocks Gilbert to the ground twice. Each time Gilbert gets back up. Berridge unleashes a round of shots at Gilbert's head and he's in trouble on the ropes. The referee intervenes and Berridge WINS THE FIGHT BY TECHNICAL KNOCK OUT!
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Tonight David Tua faces another challenge in fulfilling his goal of securing a world heavyweight title fight when he meets former sparring partner Friday 13th Ahunanya at Trusts Stadium, Waitakere.
The match up puts two heavyweight fighters up against each other who have never been knocked out in their professional careers.
Tua showed his punching power late last year when he knocked Shane Cameron out in the second round of their ‘Fight of the century’ with a clinical display of power punching at Mystery Creek.
Yesterday Tua weighed in at 108.7 kilogrammes, 4.5 kilogrammes heavier than Ahunanya who weighed 104.1 kilogrammes.
Samoan born, South Auckland based Tua has a formidable record of 50 wins and four losses.
Ahunanya who hails from Nigeria and is based in the United States has won 24 of his 32 fights, 13 by knockout.
3 News will bring you live online updates of the undercard fights as we build up to the main event David 'The Tuaminator' Tua versus 'Friday the 13th' Ahunanya where we will bring you round by round coverage.
The full boxing card includes:
- Light Heavyweight 6 rounds: Robert Berridge (NZ) vs Areta Gilbert (NZ)
- Heavyweight 4 rounds: Clarence Tillman (USA) vs Leamy Tato (NZ)
- Main undercard: Heavyweight 8 rounds: Israel Garcia (USA) vs Solomon Haumono (AUS )
- Main Event: 12 rounds: David Tua (NZ) vs Friday Ahunanya (USA)
3 News
source: newshub archive
