Tua-Rahman III on Dec. 13

23.09 – Promoter Don King announced today that a third fight between David Tua and Hasim Rahman – this time, for the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim heavyweight title – has been added to the sensational HBO Pay-Per-View event on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The fight card is promoted by Don King Productions, in association with Caesars Atlantic City and Bally’s Atlantic.

In a world welterweight unification bout on the show, WBA/World Boxing Council (WBC) Champion Ricardo Mayorga (25-3-1, 22 KOs), of Managua, Nicaragua, will take on his International Boxing Federation (IBF) counterpart, Cory Spinks (31-2, 11 KOs) of St. Louis. In another world title fight on the card, Bernard Hopkins, who is recognized by the WBA as its “Super” middleweight champion, will risk that belt as well as his WBC and IBF 160-pound crowns, when he faces two-time world champion and current WBA kingpin, William Joppy.

Rahman (35-4-1, 29 KOs), of Baltimore, Md., is 0-1-1 against Tua (42-3-1, 27 KOs). Rahman, who flattened Lennox Lewis in the fifth round to capture the WBC/IBF heavyweight title on April 22, 2001, in South Africa, lost by 10th-round TKO to Tua on Dec. 19, 1998, in Miami. In the last bout for both boxers, Rahman, the WBA’s No. 3-ranked heavyweight, and Tua, who is rated No. 2 in the WBA, fought to a 12-round draw on March 29, 2003, in Philadelphia.

This will be the second world title fight for Tua. On Nov. 11, 2000, he lost a 12-round decision to Lewis.

King is expected to announce more title fights in the near future.