on points 1990 Junior World Championships, Lima, Peru (Heavyweight) at the 1990 Oceanian Championships, Nukuʻalofa, Tonga (Heavyweight) at the 1990 New Zealand Championships (Heavyweight) at the 1989 New Zealand Championships (Heavyweight) at the 1986 New Zealand Juniors Championships (Juniormiddleweight) Professional career Tua debuted in December 1992. Of his first 27 fights, 23 were won by knockout. In Tua's 1997 fight against Ike Ibeabuchi, the two fighters combined to set the record for most punches thrown in a heavyweight fight on record. Ibeabuchi won the decision, handing Tua his first professional loss. Prior to this, Tua had scored devastating knockouts against future titlist John Ruiz (via 1st-round KO, in only 19 seconds) and Darroll Wilson. Tua also beat David Izon and future champion Oleg Maskaev to set up the fight with Ibeabuchi. After the loss to Ibeabuchi, Tua took on future champ Hasim Rahman and TKO'd Rahman in the 10th round. The victory over Rahman marked the beginning of Tua's struggles with his weight. He ballooned up to 253 pounds when he defeated Obed Sullivan in 2000 by KO. Later that year, he weighed 245 pounds in the loss to Lennox Lewis. Tua was disappointing in the fight, with both fighters avoiding each other and Tua not throwing combinations. Tua lost a clear-cut decision. The fight with Lewis was for the WBC, IBF, & IBO heavyweight titles and took place in November 2000. Tua lost on points by a wide margin. Following the Lewis loss, Tua regained steam with a KO over Danell Nicholson but lost by a close decision in his next fight to future champion Chris Byrd. In 2002 he beat prospect Fres Oquendo and demolished Michael Moorer in his next fight with a powerful shot 30 seconds into the first round, which put Moorer out cold. In 2003 he drew in a 12-round rematch with Rahman. 2005 comeback Tua was inactive for over two years before he stepped into the ring on 31 March 2005 and bested Talmadge Griffis in a 10-round bout—ending the match and earning a TKO victory with 26 seconds remaining. Tua's next contest in October 2005 ended in a split decision over Cisse Salif with Tua dominating in the late rounds. Tua defeated Edward Gutierrez by knockout in the fourth round of a scheduled 10-rounder on 26 July 2006. The fight was held at the Manhattan Center ballroom in New York City, and featured