Talk is rife that David has fallen out with his promoter Kushner. Kushner said as much and David isn't talking. For those that remember, when David slowly lurched toward a settlement with his former manager and mentor Kevin Barry a High Court Judge commented adversely on the way David engineered the business relationship to the point of a 'raid' type invasion to obtain paperwork. It was a bad scene and David stupidly put aside common sense and his career onto hold to 'engage' in the legal battle which saw millions lost.
Credit to David he reinvented himself to some degree after that with help from yes, Kushner, Tuigamala and others. Well, Inga has been struggling financially and Kushner has fronted with cash to fill the gaps as David somewhat meandered toward what was hoped to be a title fight. Now he won't talk to Cedric Kushner, and his lawyer won't talk whilst David has also closed up shop. Boxing promoters don't enjoy a great reputation but Kevin Barry in my opinion was blind-sided by David, that looks to be happening now with Kushner. I say that mostly because David isn't talking, a divided camp and silence speaks volumes louder that any talk or prevarication.
Time for David to take a hard look at himself. He's not a young man, he can't forever ride a sympathy ticket on the boxer ripped off by manager, particularly where there is so much visible between the lines - a bridge too far for credibility to extend. It could simply be that David doesn't want to pay Cedric Kushner back, has his eye on the total purse from his recent fight sponsored by SKY TV. David could be blaming others for what he has failed to do in the ring with his own fists.
Life is tough for fighters and that is why there is a fascination with them. David does humble and devout very well, but he does anger and surliness poorly. There was something wrong with the man for the majority of his last fight and for at least 2 weeks leading up to it. David might find being an assassin requires a different constitution than that of a fighter, stealth and deceit are not the ways of a fighter and not the way for someone loved by his own community and sports fans alike.
Great fighters have mental durability and toughness, the ability to get back up and cop the bad licks along the way. By his silence David does himself and his fans a great disservice, he should speak truthfully and now - he long ago chose to present himself as humble and truthful so time to front up, tell it like it is. He put himself down in a bad decision that could have been resolved around a kava bowl, brought disrespect on a man who had opened his home to him. Right now he looks like he's putting himself down again, no prayers ringside will do, no bitching about being ripped off will help. We've been this road with him before, he's learnt this lesson to not go quiet and hating while supping on paranoia. Time for Tua to front up to preserve his reputation into the future.
So today the news he has retired. It seems part of what I wrote earlier may have been driven by the split with his wife Robina. It was she, from an outsiders point of view, that drove David toward believing he was being ripped off by Kevin Barry and the case that followed. He is nz's own story of the boxer who makes a fortune but loses it and in the process often blaming other external issues. To his credit David is quiet on that, admitting sleeping in his gym and sometimes in the home he transformed for his mother on Robertson Road. David was a conflicting storm, with an utter ruthlessness that we may not have seen enough of in the ring, sometimes moody and sullen outside the gym but in his own peaceful moments he was and is a giant - not only for memorable fights but that his kind heart was always buried in Mangere and for the people who needed him.
ReplyDelete