Meehan wants to fight Tua
Posted: 08 Oct 2009, 05:38
Meehan wants to fight Tua
8-Oct-2009 10:08 AM
FIJIAN ‘Checkmate’ Kali Meehan has put his hand up to fight David Tua, and his No 3 ranking with the WBA might be a temptation as New Zealand's comeback heavyweight looks to manoeuvre his way back up the various ladders reports Stuff.
Tua's hopes of a rematch with Hasim Rahman in Auckland in December look doubtful. It seems on the back of Tua's devastating knockout win over Shame Cameron last weekend, Rahman might be running scared.
In the immediate aftermath to Tua's win, reports out of America suggest the inactive Rahman is now looking at a November bout with 48-year-old Ray Mercer, a former WBO heavyweight champion, in New York.
Original plans for last weekend's promotion at Mystery Creek were for Rahman and Meehan to fight on the undercard.
It was to be an eliminator with the winner of that bout fighting the winner of the Tua-Cameron clash.
It never eventuated because Rahman priced himself out of the market, leaving Meehan idle. But the issue continues to simmer.
"We must work out who the big fish in this pond is," Meehan said of the Australasian heavyweight scene in an interview with American website fightnews.com
It's a question of whether Tua wants another tune-up fight or wants a bigger name.
At 39 Meehan has been around. He has been ranked by the IBF and WBC and was the WBA No 1 contender behind champion Nicolay Valueav, the massive Russian, before dropping to No 3.
That ranking will be something of a lure for Tua. Having demolished Cameron, the WBO No 7, in such emphatic fashion, a win over the rated Meehan would get Tua moving in other rankings in the alphabet soup of organisations that shape boxing's global organisations.
Meehan, the Fijian-born Australian has fought 38 times in a professional career that started in 1997, winning 35 with 29 knockouts.
With the bulk of his fights coming in Australia he has the look of a journeyman but he has made strides in recent years, fighting in the United States and Germany regularly. He is a former North American heavyweight champion.
In 2004 he lost a WBO heavyweight title fight against Lamon Brewster on a split decision over 12 rounds in Las Vegas.
He has fought Rahman before with Rahman knocking him out at Madison Square Garden in New York in the fourth round of their WBC/IBF heavyweight elimination fight in 2004.
He has beaten former Aussie champ Colin Wilson with early knockouts in all four of their meetings and since gone on to bigger things. As a reference, an aging Wilson knocked out John Hopoate in the feature fight of the Tua undercard last weekend.
Meehan, who hasn't fought competitively for more than a year now, has sparred with Cameron previously and in typical fighter's talk in the buildup to last week's extravaganza said he felt he could beat either Cameron or Tua.
The 1.96m Meeham, nicknamed "Checkmate", even suggested he had the size and skills to beat Valuev, and the other world champions Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko.
"All three of these champions are big strong men, but they are only human," Meeham told fightnews.com.
"To defeat Vitali, I believe one needs to apply boxing skills and movement. For Wladimir, I think you have to make him fight. I do rate both of these men, they are a credit to themselves and the sport of boxing.
"I would love the chance to match my skill and heart against theirs. I am confident I can defeat them. As for Valuev, I was ranked No 1 for so long and that fight was never given to me. I have been calling his name for so long to fight me and give me a shot at the title."
Respected American boxing site eastsideboxing.com described Meehan as "hovering around the top bracket of heavyweight contenders for the past couple of years. He is at the
twilight of his career and would give the Russian behemoth a tough night at the office".
That might never eventuate. But a Meehan-Tua clash could be something of an eliminator in
itself.
8-Oct-2009 10:08 AM
FIJIAN ‘Checkmate’ Kali Meehan has put his hand up to fight David Tua, and his No 3 ranking with the WBA might be a temptation as New Zealand's comeback heavyweight looks to manoeuvre his way back up the various ladders reports Stuff.
Tua's hopes of a rematch with Hasim Rahman in Auckland in December look doubtful. It seems on the back of Tua's devastating knockout win over Shame Cameron last weekend, Rahman might be running scared.
In the immediate aftermath to Tua's win, reports out of America suggest the inactive Rahman is now looking at a November bout with 48-year-old Ray Mercer, a former WBO heavyweight champion, in New York.
Original plans for last weekend's promotion at Mystery Creek were for Rahman and Meehan to fight on the undercard.
It was to be an eliminator with the winner of that bout fighting the winner of the Tua-Cameron clash.
It never eventuated because Rahman priced himself out of the market, leaving Meehan idle. But the issue continues to simmer.
"We must work out who the big fish in this pond is," Meehan said of the Australasian heavyweight scene in an interview with American website fightnews.com
It's a question of whether Tua wants another tune-up fight or wants a bigger name.
At 39 Meehan has been around. He has been ranked by the IBF and WBC and was the WBA No 1 contender behind champion Nicolay Valueav, the massive Russian, before dropping to No 3.
That ranking will be something of a lure for Tua. Having demolished Cameron, the WBO No 7, in such emphatic fashion, a win over the rated Meehan would get Tua moving in other rankings in the alphabet soup of organisations that shape boxing's global organisations.
Meehan, the Fijian-born Australian has fought 38 times in a professional career that started in 1997, winning 35 with 29 knockouts.
With the bulk of his fights coming in Australia he has the look of a journeyman but he has made strides in recent years, fighting in the United States and Germany regularly. He is a former North American heavyweight champion.
In 2004 he lost a WBO heavyweight title fight against Lamon Brewster on a split decision over 12 rounds in Las Vegas.
He has fought Rahman before with Rahman knocking him out at Madison Square Garden in New York in the fourth round of their WBC/IBF heavyweight elimination fight in 2004.
He has beaten former Aussie champ Colin Wilson with early knockouts in all four of their meetings and since gone on to bigger things. As a reference, an aging Wilson knocked out John Hopoate in the feature fight of the Tua undercard last weekend.
Meehan, who hasn't fought competitively for more than a year now, has sparred with Cameron previously and in typical fighter's talk in the buildup to last week's extravaganza said he felt he could beat either Cameron or Tua.
The 1.96m Meeham, nicknamed "Checkmate", even suggested he had the size and skills to beat Valuev, and the other world champions Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko.
"All three of these champions are big strong men, but they are only human," Meeham told fightnews.com.
"To defeat Vitali, I believe one needs to apply boxing skills and movement. For Wladimir, I think you have to make him fight. I do rate both of these men, they are a credit to themselves and the sport of boxing.
"I would love the chance to match my skill and heart against theirs. I am confident I can defeat them. As for Valuev, I was ranked No 1 for so long and that fight was never given to me. I have been calling his name for so long to fight me and give me a shot at the title."
Respected American boxing site eastsideboxing.com described Meehan as "hovering around the top bracket of heavyweight contenders for the past couple of years. He is at the
twilight of his career and would give the Russian behemoth a tough night at the office".
That might never eventuate. But a Meehan-Tua clash could be something of an eliminator in
itself.
