In 2008, Shane Cameron called out David Tua to fight in a boxing bout. In November 2008, Duco Events made an offer towards the two boxers to make the fight happen, however, Shane Cameron's team were unhappy with the date and money that was offered. In December 2008, Tua signed the contract for the fight to happened, however, Cameron had not signed as of yet. But it was confirmed that both boxers were guaranteed $500,000. In January 2009, David Higgins announced that the fight will happen in June 2009. In February 2009, It was announced that the fight would take place at Waikato Stadium, in Hamilton, New Zealand. In March 2009, Shane Cameron had a warm up fight against American Robert Davis. Unfortunately, during his fight with Davis, Cameron injured his hand. Due to the severity of the injury, Cameron required to have surgery on the hand, subsequently postponing the event. In April 2009, it was announced that the fight was postponed until October, with the venue changed to Mystery Creek Events Centre. A few day before the event, David Tua's home-country of Samoa was hit by an earthquake and tsunami. Tua's aunt died in the disaster.
Fight card
Fight details
David Tua vs Shane Cameron was held at Mystery Creek Events Centre in Hamilton, New Zealand. Tickets went on sale with prices going between $69 to $399 per person. It was also announced in May 2009 that the fight will be broadcast live on Sky TV PPV. It was confirmed that 7500 tickets were sold, and 88,000 Pay Per Views buys for the event. The PPV buys were considered a world record on a per-capita country basis. The announcer of the night was Daniel Hennessey, who made his boxing announcing debut. New Zealand Born Philippines resident Bruce McTavish served as the referee, with American Robert Byrd, Thailand's Pinit Prayadsab and Australian Brad Vocale as the ringside judges. New Zealander Pat Leonard served as the supervisor and representative for the WBO.
Broadcasting
Weigh-in
The weigh-in was held on 2 October 2009, at Sky City in Hamilton. David Tua weighed in at 107.8 kg, losing 26 kg for the fight. Cameron weighed in at 103.5 kg.
Aftermath
Tua won the bout by knockout in the second round. After the fight, Tua received a ranking of fourth in the WBO, and fifteenth in the IBF. Tua was in a broadcasting fight contract exclusively with Maori TV, which meant he could not fight overseas. Tua went on to fight Friday Ahunanya in March 2010, winning by unanimous decision. Cameron went on to fight John Hopoate in March 2010, winning by disqualification. David Tua retired in November 2013, and Shane Cameron retired in November 2014. Tua and Cameron are now long-time friends.
