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Pastimes : Boxing: The Sweet Science -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LPS5 who wrote (1170)	11/8/2000 8:18:26 PM
From: LPS5	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10489

Samoan suffered upset loss against Ibeabuchi in '97 By KEVIN IOLE REVIEW-JOURNAL David Tua is a man who laughs and smiles easily, who likes to joke and have a good time. But at the moment, Tua is not smiling. He furrows his brow, puts his chin into his hand and takes a deep breath. Tua, who will fight Lennox Lewis on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center for the heavyweight championship, is trying to recount the only blemish on his professional record. He lost a close decision in a superb fight to Ike Ibeabuchi on June 7, 1997, at ARCO Arena in Sacramento. He's trying to put his finger on what went wrong in a fight he lost but had been heavily favored to win. "Maybe the ghost of Rocky Marciano got me," Tua said, quickly breaking into a grin. Marciano is the only man to retire undefeated as heavyweight champion. Before the Ibeabuchi fight, Tua was 27-0 and looking for all the world like a future champion. Ibeabuchi was all but unknown at that stage, and a Tua victory seemed all but assured. It was supposed to be merely another step on the way toward a title shot for the Samoan. But that night, Ibeabuchi proved that he, too, deserved to be considered as one of the world's elite heavyweights. In what still ranks as one of the best heavyweight fights shown on HBO, Ibeabuchi narrowly escaped with a decision over Tua. "I guess the (boxing gods) said, `Who is this Polynesian guy who is trying to rewrite boxing history?' " Tua said. The fight was stirring from start to finish. Ibeabuchi fired punch after punch at Tua early on and seemed to sweep the opening rounds. But as the fight wore on, Tua began to blunt Ibeabuchi's assault and started to land punches more frequently. Tua's promoter, Dan Goossen, was not involved in the fight that night but insists Tua deserved the win. "When you look at the fight again and pay close attention, it's pretty clear that David should have gotten it," Goossen said. "He gave away the first three or four rounds, but he controlled the fight the rest of the way after that. There's no question he lost the first couple of rounds, but he really was in charge after that." Even though having an undefeated record would probably have gotten him his shot at the title a little earlier and earned him a few extra dollars on top of the $3.5 million guarantee he will receive for Saturday's fight, the loss has little visible impact on Tua. Ibeabuchi is in a state mental facility in Sparks as he awaits a determination of whether he is competent to stand trial in Las Vegas on charges that he sexually assaulted an adult entertainer whom he hired to come to his room at The Mirage. Like any professional athlete, Tua would like the opportunity to avenge his only setback, but thoughts of a rematch don't overwhelm him. "It's not like I'm going to rob a bank so I can get a chance to fight him," Tua said, laughing. He did, however, acknowledge that he learned something from the setback, even if he went to great lengths to insist he is not bothered by it. "I live in the moment and for the moment, not in the past," Tua said. "I've always been that way. It doesn't do me any good to think about what might have been. The good thing is now I know that I can't leave it up to the judges. I am not that kind of fighter. I'm not a boxer, and I'm not going to be cute and beat you that way. I am what I am. The fight (with Ibeabuchi) just crystallized in my own mind what I have to do to win. I won't leave it up to the judges anymore, you can believe that."