David Tua gloves up to a man mountain.

This is truly 'Tua Time.' The meeting of heavyweights, the meeting of David against his critics, and himself, in the shape of Ustinov ranked 8th in the World and a veritable giant. By all reports Ustinov will 'lean down' on David in an effort to wear him out, clinch, push and lean. For the fans the question will be if Ustinov can absorb the body punishment David will look to work on the bigger man.

There are most often signs to read from David Tua before a fight. Before losing to Lewis he spoke about his destiny and never really delivered in a fight, that a spectator might have imagined that the winning of, belonged to Tua because  he believed it was his 'destiny.' So much for that and so much for the menacing Tua who entered the ring against Shane Cameron to destroy him, and the many times overweight David who seemed to go into the ring with a bag of problems epitomised by his weight.

'This' David Tua is lean and focused. I saw him recently and he was bleeding power and aggression, the 2 greatest assets of the Tua arsenal. By all appearances he looks together and focused, determined. Age also now enters against his natural disadvantage in height, but a boxer loses his power last when speed and footwork has already declined. Tua though has always been an 'on off' fighter, this week he has mentioned his 'own' demons. I suggest that it means he's looking into himself for triumph, not looking outwardly for what he thinks should be his or what might be his 'destiny,' focused on the fact that he can only bring what is in himself, that he can control nothing except himself, focus his mind there, not on his demons and not on his destiny.

I expect, hope, to see an honest fight and effort. I expect that David will be mindful of the death in the last week of another great Samoan warrior, Pita Fatialofa only 14 years David's senior and a mentor and inspiration, that this fight may in someway be for 'fats.' Tua was the boy pitched in to fight men by his disciplinarian father, he had no way out, no escape from his father's ambition that he should, and would be a fighter. Well a fighter he is, sometimes locked in a battle with himself showing all the fragilities of nature where maturity and fear of punishment has been forced upon a child. This Saturday evening there will be no shadows of the past stepping into the ring with him, only months of training that have seen him drop over 30 kilos, the mountain is before he and his raw power, the aspirations and goodwill of 1000s around the globe will be behind him wanting to see the mountain fall.