Inga's cousin, the boxing icon

'I guess he might have to settle for being world heavyweight boxing champion instead!

'As a rugby player, David was very explosive, as you can imagine. In one match he launched himself at one of the other guys, as the islanders do, and was warned not to do it again.

'Well, he did it again and got banned for fighting. Shortly afterwards, he went to America and into boxing, full-time.'

Tuigamala's one regret is that he will be unable to accept Tua's invitation to be in Las Vegas when his cousin meets his destiny on Saturday night.

Instead, the England-based Tuigamala will re-arrange his sleep to watch the fight on television without it affecting his performance for Newcastle in their Tetley's Bitter Cup tie against Bristol on Sunday afternoon.

'I was asked to be in his corner but Newcastle have already given me enough time off,' said Tuigamala, at 31, four years older than his relative.

'As much as I'd love to be there, David understands that. As he says, "we're both professionals and we know what we've got to do?.

'Typically, David usually rings me at about four in the morning. We'll have one more chat before the fight when he'll put me right on when it starts so I can get to sleep that bit earlier. There is nothing I can say which will motivate David any more because he already has all the motivation he needs.

'I'll remind him that the whole country is behind him. All the Pacific Islanders going to the fight will be wearing their special aloha shirts, the flowery Hawaiian-style ones, because this is a real celebration for the happiest, friendliest people in the world.

'One of our own is fighting for the greatest prize in sport and I will be wearing my aloha shirt.

'Being in such a minority as Polynesians, it's wonderful to see a young boy from a humble background who is so close to fulfilling his dream.

'We have people like Jonah Lomu, of course, but David really is someone very special because he's very humble, very quiet and always very well-mannered.

'Our Prime Minister has called for Saturday to be declared a public holiday in Samoa and that gives you some idea of what all this means to the people back home. His father used to fix all the buses in our village but he's not working as a mechanic any more. David bought him a waste disposal business in Auckland where he lives.'

And it will not just be in Newcastle this weekend where the Samoan connection will be rooting for Tua.

His midfield partner all those years ago for Otahuhu was Terry Fanolua, who plays for Gloucester against Leicester in the Tetley's Bitter Cup on Saturday at Kingsholm.

Tua, at 5ft 91/2in and almost 19st, is built more like a prop forward than a heavyweight champion but then Rocky Marciano was no taller and a lot lighter and look what happened to his opponents.

For examples of no-hope challengers upsetting the odds, Tua need look no further back than Cassius Clay, as he was then, against Sonny Liston in 1964.

'David has come out of nowhere, gone quietly about his business and waited patiently for his big chance. He has the utmost respect for Lennox Lewis, a great champion, but David feels it's high time he had a shot at the title.

'I'm confident he will win. I'm biased, of course, because he's my cousin but I have watched him develop as a boxer and followed his career with great interest.

'When I was in San Francisco playing for Samoa during the summer, I went to see David and the fight was big news all over the States. Goodness knows what it's like now.

'All his life he's had to beat older boxers and, although I'm a bit older than David, I'm glad to say I wasn't one of them! I did boxing as a youngster and I used to be a bit of a ruffian until, thank goodness, I saw the light and learned to turn the other cheek.'

His cousin will be doing nothing of the kind this Saturday night.