The end of the road for the Tuaman?

David Tua has been boxing for a long time. But we reckon that it's time for him, to use a cricketing phrase, to draw stumps.

The Tua camp put huge stock in his rematch with ageing American fighter Monte Barrett. Barrett clearly beat Tua when the two fought last year, but in the kind of result that only boxing can seem to produce, the fight was declared a draw. Last night Barrett outpointed Tua over 12 rounds; the Herald reports:

David Tua's hopes of another shot at a world heavyweight boxing title is in tatters after American Monte Barrett defeated him in a unanimous decision in Auckland tonight.

In a bout that was dubbed a career-defining fight, the 38-year-old Tua failed to show any of the power of his glory days until the closing rounds when he knocked down Barrett in the 12th round, but it was not enough to wrest the win from the American.

Barrett used superior ring craft to outbox his more respected opponent over the 12-round contest to secure one the biggest wins in his 46-fight professional career and claim the WBO Asia Pacific and Oriental Belts.

The loss, Tua's fourth in his 58 professional bouts, may force him to hang up the gloves, something the 40-year-old Barrett put on hold for the chance to rectify a draw with the Samoan-born New Zealander in New Jersey last July.

Barrett who became the first man to floor Tua with a 12th round knockdown in Atlantic City last year, was knocked down with 58 seconds left in the final round after a vicious combination of punches from Tua, but he managed to haul himself off the canvas and survive until the bell to earn a deserved win.

The judges scored the fight 114-113, 115-112, 115-112 in favour of Barrett who is about to embark on a career as a professional wrestler.

We reckon that it's time for David Tua to be looking for work elsewhere. He's patently not going to be a contender again, and he runs the risk of serious long-term damage if he continues to punish a body which no longer reacts with the speed it did when he won an Olympic bronze medal in 1992, and when he first entered the professional ranks. His once-lethal left hook no longer knocks opponents over.

If David Tua needs any convincing that now is the time to quit, he need only look for video footage of a shuffling Muhammed Ali. Ali claimed to be The Greatest, and probably was, but is now just a pale shadow of the man he was due to Parkinson's Disease, arguably exacerbated by taking too many shots to the head.

Boxing is a mug's game. True; a great title fight can be a thing of beauty and athleticism amidst the violence, but for every champion there is a legion of pugs, struggling to make ends meet fighting other pugs for rent money. There's nothing beautiful about that.

We saw a video clip of Tua in one of Sky TV's previews for the pay-per-view fight yesterday. He arrived at a school in his old-school Mini, complete with 040SUM personalised plate (a great touch), and had the children hanging off his every word as he spoke to them in English, Maori and his native Samoan tongue. In that role, he's a natural, and the children loved having him there. Maybe there's a role for him somewhere in reaching out to Pasifika youth, especially those gravitating towards a life of drugs, gangs and crime.

Regardless, we hope that those from whom David Tua takes counsel are honest enough to tell him tht now is the right time to pull the pin. There will be no title fight. There will not be another big pay-day. As a fighting force, David Tua is finished. We hope that he realises that before it's too late.