bowie tupou

[buster007]

look. david is obviously a hater so his only motive is to make himself feel better by putting bowie tupou down. so do u feel better now david?

i think u r a goose david for suggesting that bowie embarassed australian fighters and its clear that u simply don't support australian athletes.

i just don't get how it matters where he trains or where he fights. the only person it matters as to where it is better for bowie to train or fight is bowie himself, not u david.

[Sweet P]

Maybe he should of stayed in oz with johnny lewis instead of jumping on a plane and telling no one he was going,prove yourself here first.

Yeah, and if he'd stayed at home people would criticise him for that. Who has he got to prove himself against domestically? He's already better than Hoppa, Mirovic, Wilson, Leapai etc. At least he gave it a go. A disastrous result to be sure, but you can't fault a man for trying.

I disagree he is better than the guys you mentioned. How do you come to that Conclusion???

[Sweet P]

I also don't see how David is a goose for his comments. His brother is doing well at the moment here in Aus taking on our best fighters. When he goes to the states at least he will have served his Apprenticeship at home and can take the experience with him.

[funso banjo baby]

Tupou was way over hyped and out of his depth.

king has a poor record but that dsnt give the whole picture...hes actually a good boxer

[buster007]

in saying that bowie embarrassed australian fighters is nothing short disgraceful. and it is unaustralian to suggest such a thing if u asked me.

[toppity]

there was no disgrace. A new plan would be advisable. There are many local fights that would be of interest. He can then reset and go to the states again if he chooses.

Perhaps lay off the "i'm going to be World Champ" hype for a little and concentrate on a few shorter term goals.

[oliverfennell]

Maybe he should of stayed in oz with johnny lewis instead of jumping on a plane and telling no one he was going,prove yourself here first.

Yeah, and if he'd stayed at home people would criticise him for that. Who has he got to prove himself against domestically? He's already better than Hoppa, Mirovic, Wilson, Leapai etc. At least he gave it a go. A disastrous result to be sure, but you can't fault a man for trying.

I disagree he is better than the guys you mentioned. How do you come to that Conclusion???

They've all already been beaten by lesser fighters than King.

[oliverfennell]

I also don't see how David is a goose for his comments. His brother is doing well at the moment here in Aus taking on our best fighters. When he goes to the states at least he will have served his Apprenticeship at home and can take the experience with him.

With respect, a US apprenticeship is more valuable than an Australian one and that's why Tupou chose that route. Yes, Johnny Lewis is a world class trainer, but there are so many more opportunities in both the rings and the gyms in the US. It WAS supposed to be an apprenticeship, it's not like Tupou was going straight for the big guns Stateside, he was fighting journeymen. That it backfired is not due to any deficit in homeland experience, he was just beaten by a better man.

[davidk59]

i did not say i don't support Australian Athletes it's just that tupou isn't a sportsman by fighting no one and expecting a world title without putting in the hard yards so do you want me to support a pretender no way i know U.S. boxers have more experience than OZ ones but as i say beating the best in your own country is a good starting point .
have you heard the saying you have to walk before you can run.

[davidk59]

in other words if he is not good in OZ how can he be good in the U.S. it's only here say that he would have beat our top guys but he didn't have the heart to take them on.

[davidk59]

i am not a hater i just support evenly matched fights

[adnileb]

Maybe he should of stayed in oz with johnny lewis instead of jumping on a plane and telling no one he was going,prove yourself here first

People need to understand that just because a fighter goes overseas, doesn't make him any better than when he left. It just opens more doors/opportunities for you to develop more in lesser time, Especially when you have so many world class heavyweight boxers, trainers, promoters etc in the US...don't get me wrong, we have some brilliant resources & trainers here including Johnny Lewis, but how many well seasoned quality heavyweight boxers do we have here to spar with??? If you keep sparring the same boxers, you unfortunately learn only to adapt to their style of fighting. You've got to mix it up with a variety of quality fighters in order to learn, gain additional skills and experience in order to progress quicker. Otherwise you just go with the flow and make do with what you got which sometimes can be counter-productive because you settle for mediocrity. And when that happens you end getting no where...You become an average fighter, no real purpose or goal.

Does it make it wrong for someone to move overseas to improve and become a better boxer?
If you look at most of our top fighters in Australia, at least half of them have gone overseas for additional work, sparring etc... otherwise they have migrated to Australia to improve. Bika, Darchinyan etc...

other people from OZ can go overseas and fight if they want to but isn't it better to beat the best people here before you go off and represent the country so you don't embarrass the real fighters over here who can fight when i look up tupous record i have never seen opponents with so many red squares in my life .90 percent had no chance to win so is this not supprising what had just happened .

You don't have to beat the best or even fight here in OZ to become a better fighter. And you sure don't have to represent OZ. I don't know how you come up with embarrassing real fighters David?. Because we are referring to the heavyweight division, there are not that many great fighters at the moment. I can count them on my hand. Although we have some possibly prospects, but even they are questionable. Mark De Mori is a fighter I feel is improving greatly, apart from his own drive and passion in the sport, he has moved around abit including in OZ, NZ, US which I'm sure has helped him gain valuable experience to develop as a fighter. And yes, Im sure he'll fight Hoppa, Solo, Leapai, Kirby etc in the near future.

if Johnny Lewis is training you, you don't leave Johnny Lewis, he has contacts in the US to get you the right kind of training

Johnny Lewis is a well respected trainer, but he is not a God. Sure he has contacts in the US but guess what, unless you got some great financial backing/sponsors, who's going to pay for flights, hotels, accomadations, meals, quality sparring, membership, gears etc? I can tell you Johnny won't be paying for it.
Quality sparring doesn't come cheap whether your flying overseas or paying for David Haye or any other pro boxer and his entourage to come over. It only makes sense to move to the US/UK permanently or temporarily to advance your career and associate with the best.
Pro boxers need to also understand that this is there business. So like any good business they must have a good plan, team with a good structure that will help the fighter to keep learning and developing on a consistent basis. The operative words being keep learning.The team all must understand what the common goal is otherwise you have conflicts of interest or go with the flow and end up no-where.

Gee I should write a book...

[adnileb]

i did not say i don't support Australian Athletes it's just that tupou isn't a sportsman by fighting no one and expecting a world title without putting in the hard yards so do you want me to support a pretender no way i know U.S. boxers have more experience than OZ ones but as i say beating the best in your own country is a good starting point .
have you heard the saying you have to walk before you can run.

davidk59, to be honest, I don't think you know half the s*** you are talking about. Are you are boxer, promoter, trainer or just someone who hates Bowie? And yes I do think your a hater...

[Hounddawg]

He's Michael Kirbys Brother/Manager.

[adnileb]

He's Michael Kirbys Brother/Manager

Well that explains all the crap. Not gonna even bother to reply to further posts. David, do yourself and your Brother Michael a favour. If you don't understand the boxing game how the hell are you gonna manage Michael???...Are you going to deny him fighting overseas if the opportunity arises? Or maybe just keep fighting the same heavyweights here in OZ until he's 40? Spar the same Guys? train the same way? blah blah blah...I can almost guarantee you based on your answers, Mike will have a bleak future...

If I was Michael I'd be looking for another manager...nothing personal, all business.

[davidk59]

listen say someone wants to be a soccer player if they can't make the grade in OZ are they going to make it Europe , if someone plays basketball and they can't make in the NBL here in OZ then how are they going to make it in the NBA in the U.S. even if they have good coaches and players to play against you have to show potential first and the facts are bowie never came out of his comfort zone and didn't fight against anyone here in OZ to warrant his departure to the U.S.
Now as far as Michael Kirby the IRON RHINO goes look at his record all the green squares of his past and future opponents now he can fight thats why i have put him in with Johnny Lewis trained Soliman Haumono
to show his potential and give the fans what they want to see in the heavyweight division so how is this a bad thing ,then if the fight goes our way i'll take the IRON RHINO for a fight overseas because he'll be ready and we'll also fight on the local scene so big things are happening for the IRON RHINO.

[oliverfennell]

i did not say i don't support Australian Athletes it's just that tupou isn't a sportsman by fighting no one and expecting a world title without putting in the hard yards so do you want me to support a pretender no way i know U.S. boxers have more experience than OZ ones but as i say beating the best in your own country is a good starting point .
have you heard the saying you have to walk before you can run.

He wasn't "expecting a world title", he was fighting Marcus Rhode and Demetrius King...

[davidk59]

i know he wasn't going to get a world title because America hasn't got any world champions in the heavyweight division if he was serious about his boxing he would try to be the first Australian to win a Commonwealth Crown in the Heavyweight division then move through Europe where the real heavyweights are.
do you think the Yanks are going to let an Ozzie jump at the head of the queue instead of their own national heros

[oliverfennell]

What, then, is your point?

[dan h]

Who cares? Move this shit to the current scene because Bowie is not an Australian any way. He fights out of the US and was born in Tonga.

He is not an australian athlete.

[davidk59]

What, then, is your point?

my point is whenever he fights a fighter that can hold his hands up he'll get smashed unless he goes back to fighting bums again .

[toppity]

Who cares? Move this poop to the current scene because Bowie is not an Australian any way. He fights out of the US and was born in Tonga.

He is not an australian athlete.

Well that seems just a little harsh. We can lay our claims to him if he ever makes it, as we have a want to do as a nation. I'm happy to keep an interest in him.

I say "Vote 1" for Bowie to stay in the Australian forum.

[oliverfennell]

Who cares? Move this poop to the current scene because Bowie is not an Australian any way. He fights out of the US and was born in Tonga.

He is not an australian athlete.

Well that seems just a little harsh. We can lay our claims to him if he ever makes it, as we have a want to do as a nation. I'm happy to keep an interest in him.

I say "Vote 1" for Bowie to stay in the Australian forum.

x2

I'm sure everyone will agree this forum serves as an Australasian/Oceanic board, not just Australia. Otherwise we're going to have to steer away from any Tua-Cameron talk.