World title on horizon in Tua, Meehan bout

Kali Meehan's manager claims a fight between his man and David Tua will definitely happen in 2010, despite earlier claims by the Tua camp that they weren't interested in the WBA's No 3 contender.

George Christodolou told the Sunday Star-Times it was "when, not if" the fight happened, and he had a verbal assurance from Tua's manager Cedric Kushner and an email from Tua himself that they wanted the bout.

If it happened, the fight would be held in Auckland and would surely be sanctioned by at least one world body as a world title eliminator.

The WBO's senior Australasian official, Danny Leigh (a business partner of Christodolou), said his organisation, which ranks Tua third in the world, would sanction a Meehan-Tua fight as an eliminator, lining up the winner for a shot at their champion, Wladimir Klitschko. Leigh suggested the WBA, whose belt is held by the Brit David Haye, might also consider the fight an eliminator bout, given Meehan's standing with them.

Meehan, a former world title contender, hasn't fought in 15 months but it is possible that by the time he met Tua, probably in December, he could be a world champion.

It appears Kushner is trying to line up three offshore fights for Tua with the aim of fulfilling his three-fight contract with Maori TV and be free of obligation to them by the end of 2010, allowing him to then hold a big-money pay-per-view fight in Auckland before the year is out.

Christodolou said Kushner had told him Tua-Cameron promoters Duco Ltd would be given the local promotion rights to that bout.

A run of apparent bad luck has cost Meehan up to seven fights in the past year, with Christodolou saying he had lost chances to fight Nicolai Valuev and Hasim Rahman (over their purse sizes), Ruslan Chagaev (ill-health) and John Hopoate (who allegedly sent a text to Meehan saying "you will beat the f--- out of me").

But last week the WBA confirmed a Meehan-Chagaev bout in March as a title eliminator, with the winner to earn a mandatory title shot against the winner of Haye's first title defence against John Ruiz.

Haye would prefer to pursue the Klitschko brothers and unify the division, but Christodolou said Meehan-Chagaev, after claims to the contrary, was "definitely on".

A Fijian-born, Kiwi-raised Australian citizen who lives at Wyong on the NSW Central Coast, where he has been forced to work in security and on building sites because of his inactivity, Meehan still sees himself as a Kiwi.

"Tua-Cameron was not the best heavyweights in New Zealand going at it – this fight will determine the best heavyweight boxer in the Pacific region," said Christodolou. "Kali is a Kiwi; he lived here for 30 years, his parents still live here, he just lives there because there is more opportunity."

Leigh said: "There are some fights in between to be done and dusted, but the hype is there for the fight to happen. Depending on the progress of the Klitschkos at the time, it could be a WBO interim world title fight.

"At the end of the day, it will be the fight which defines who the best heavyweight fighter in the Asia-Pacific region is and they can go on to fight for a world title."

Christodolou was bullish about the prospect of matching his man and Tua, who are clearly the best heavyweights in the region. "David wants to take the fight, both fighters want the fight."

The fight would still have "some value" even if Meehan was beaten by Chagaev as he would likely retain top-15 status with the WBA, he said.

Meehan fought Lamon Brewster for the WBO title in 2004, breaking Brewster's jaw but losing on a disputed split decision, then lost a combined IBF, WBA and WBC title eliminator to Rahman, and has fought just six times since. He could fight a warm-up bout for Chagaev here early next year.

Kushner could not be reached for comment.

- © Fairfax NZ News