Streamlined Tua Returns

He looked like a conquering hero as he was swept from the airport at South Auckland, New Zealand, into a parade, supported and cheered by his countrymen.

On the outside, he responded with smiles.

On the inside, David Tua was hurting.

“I felt embarrassed, humiliated,” he said.

All those cheers couldn’t drown out the boos he had heard several days earlier last November at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center, where the Samoan Aucklander lost a unanimous decision to Lennox Lewis in a heavyweight title fight. New Zealanders may have still been proud of Tua, but he couldn’t share those feelings.

“I was devastated,” said Tua, who will start his comeback tonight at the Texas Station hotel against Danell Nicholson in an International Boxing Federation title elimination bout.

“I was very disappointed. There really is not anything I can say. We had a basic game plan that we worked very hard on in the gym, day in and day out. I thought I did what I needed to do to win the fight. There was no Plan B.”

Tua’s promoter, Dan Goossen, and his manager, Kevin Berry, have since instituted Plan B.

Its goal is a leaner, meaner, no-frills Tua.

Gone is trainer Ronnie Shields, replaced by Joe Goossen, Dan’s brother, who stresses hard work and a strict diet to take off unneeded pounds.

There is obviously still more work to be done because Tua weighed in for tonight’s fight at 247 pounds, two more than he weighed for the Lewis match. But Tua insists he has shed fat and added 25 pounds of muscle.

Also gone is the sideshow--the Samoan warriors who provided a grand entrance for Tua and all the family and friends who formed his entourage.

“I am not the type of person to blame others,” Tua said. “To be totally honest, though, I would say, yes, all the distractions were a bunch of little things adding up. I think somehow it had some effect on me mentally.”

The winner of tonight’s bout between Tua (37-2, 32 knockouts), ranked No. 5 by the IBF, and Nicholson (39-3, 30), ranked No. 3, will become the organization’s No. 1 mandatory contender.

Both men have already beaten John Ruiz, the World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion.

Nicholson has won 15 consecutive bouts in a five-year winning streak, 12 by knockout. His last five bouts have gone fewer than two full rounds.

A member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, Nicholson won his first two bouts in Barcelona before losing a 13-11 decision to Felix Savon of Cuba.