By Johnny Walker

American heavyweight veteran Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett, who emerged victorious last year in an entertaining second scrap with New Zealand’s David “Tuamanator” Tua, is now set to defend his Asia Pacific and Oriental heavyweight titles against another Kiwi, Shane “Mountain Warrior” Cameron, on May 30 in New Zealand.

Barrett (35-9-2, 20 KOs) had hoped to meet Tua again to make it a trilogy (their first bout, held in Atlantic City in 2010, ended in a draw), but the enigmatic Tua has wavered on his future in boxing, and he may now retire from the sport. Not helping matters was the recent revelation—some three months after the fact—that Barrett had failed the post-fight drug test after their last meeting.

A livid Tua wanted the results of the second match overturned, but because of the lateness of the test findings, as well as other procedural irregularities, the belts remain firmly in Barrett’s possession.

An irate Barrett, for his part, claimed innocence in the doping matter, and called Tua an over-emotional “Queen of New Zealand” because of his Hamlet-like doubts and mental paralysis over his future in boxing.

Shane Cameron (28-2-0, 21 KOs) was brutally knocked out by Tua in the second round of a meeting dubbed “The Fight of the Century” in New Zealand in 2009, and has of late been fighting in the cruiserweight division, where he has racked up three straight wins and a couple of belts.

According to stuff.co.nz, this card will go under the moniker “Heavyweight Explosion,” and interestingly, could also feature ranked American heavyweight Chauncy Welliver, who holds the New Zealand NBF heavyweight title. Welliver and Barrett have been waging a war of words via Facebook and the New Zealand airwaves of late, and victories by both fighters could lead to an all-American heavyweight showdown in New Zealand later in 2012.

According to stuff.co.nz, the Barrett-Cameron bout will likely be a Sky Sports pay-per-view event Down Under.

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