Tua has bout but no trainer

Just seven weeks out from his rematch with Monte Barrett, Kiwi heavyweight David Tua, below, hasn’t yet begun work with a specialist boxing trainer. Chris Martin, who won plaudits for his handling of Tua’s points victory over Demetrice King in his last outing in March, doesn’t know yet whether Tua wants him on board again. Aucklander Martin confirmed to the Sunday Star-Times on Friday that he hadn’t heard from Tua. Tua had previously worked with the veteran American Roger Bloodworth, who trains fellow heavyweight Tomasz Adamek. But Adamek has a September 10 date to challenge Vitali Klitschko for his WBC world title in Poland. Tua’s fight was confirmed this week, as first revealed by the Star-Times , as a pay-per-view event promoted by Sky Television.

– Steve Kilgallon