Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Sideline Sid was thrilled to learn that David Tua was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in California over the weekend.

Tua was the master of the left hook and brought an excitement to boxing throughout his two decades in the professional ranks, which few fighters could hope to emulate.

After a short and sharp distinguished amateur career, that included winning the third of his amateur heavyweight titles at the QE2 Youth Centre in Tauranga, Tua turned to the 'paid to punch' ranks at the tender age of 19 in 1992.

As a professional career beckoned, Tua talked to several former New Zealand professional fighters including Western Bay local Denny Enright, before signing with leading USA promoter Top Rank.

With the legendary Lou Duva in his corner, David Tua shook up the heavyweight ranks, beginning with his 37 second knockout of Ron Hume in his first professional contest in Virginia Beach in December 1992.

During his illustrious career, Tua ended 16 fights in the first round, including future and former heavyweight champions in John Ruiz and Michael Moorer.

The Ruiz fight was the bout where Tua got the American fight fans to sit up and take notice.

He floored his well credentialed opponent in the first 19 seconds of the opening round.

The dawn of the new millennium brought his well published World Heavyweight title fight with Lennox Lewis.

The British boxer used his height and reach to negate the Kiwi pugilist's dynamite in two hands, with a unanimous points victory.

However, Tua will be forever remembered in New Zealand for the 'Fight of the Century' with Shane Cameron in October 2009.

At 37, Tua was coming back from a two year hiatus, while Cameron brought a 23-1 record to the Mystery Creek Events Centre ring in Hamilton.

There was genuine excitement in the New Zealand fight community and a heap of overseas interest in the bout, where the two fighters split a reputed million dollar purse.

Over the preceding two or three years, Cameron had continued to call out Tua, which got under the skin of the USA-based fighter.

The words coming out of Tua camp in the days leading to the fight, was that David was annoyed by some of the comments from his opponent and he was going to stamp his mark on who was the best Kiwi heavyweight, with a emphatic performance.

Tua knocked down Cameron twice in the first round before referee Bruce McTavish ended the contest, just 20 seconds into round two.

The fight receipts produced a bonanza for promoters Ducco Events, with 7500 fight fans ringside, and the 88,000 PPV (Pay for View) buys being considered a world record on a per capita basis.

Both fighters fought on before retirement four or five years later, with Tua hanging up his gloves to be regarded as one of the all-time heavyweights with an iron punch in each glove.

Today, both men are firm friends and operate boxing gyms in giving back to the sport that they both love.