World News – UA – Australian prodigy sets sail for world title

Having represented Australia in the Olympics at just 17, it seems Jai Opetaia has always been in boxing

We first saw him as a prodigy, Australia’s youngest Olympic boxer Now at 25, we see him grow up to be a world class fighter

« I’ve been in the game literally forever, man, I had my first fight when I was eight and grew up in the gym, » Opetaia, who is coached by her dad Tapu, said at Wide World of Sports

« I’ve been doing this all my life, but as far as the pros go long but also pretty fast I turned pro about five years ago now it’s a great roller coaster, you still can’t wait something

« As soon as these international borders open, these international fights will begin. We plan to have a title eliminator early next year, and then after that, the world title

« It’s in my fingers man it’s so close All I have to do is keep winning, keep training hard and it’ll all fall into place

« I’m ready I feel like I’m ready to take this kind of fight There are a few boxes I need to check off first but even if they changed it for now then I would fight »

Opetaia (19-0, 15 KOs) will face Ben Kelleher (13-1-2, 4 KOs) on Thursday night at Fortitude Music Hall

It’s a cruiserweight rematch that the chic southpaw doesn’t take lightly Kelleher was keen in their first fight, in Sydney in 2018, before injuring his hand and suffering a loss in the third TKO turn Opetaia intends to make a statement and silence the skeptics

« There is definitely an unfinished business. There are a lot of people who said he is doing fine and there are a lot of people supporting him for this second fight, » Opetaia said.

« I’m excited it’s a good fight He’s a tough opponent and I know he will come and fight because he’s fighting in his hometown

« I trained hard I’m ready for it to go anyway If it does all 10 laps I’m ready to do 10 tough laps but if the punch comes in and I hurt him early , I will try to finish it soon enough

« I’d like to see what he gives me and what I can work on The more he throws, the more mistakes he’ll make and that’s what I react to

« I’m just going to go and do my thing We trained really hard, we had some decent sparring I feel like we are prepared for any circumstance in the ring

« If he takes it and tries to do his best, which I think he will, I’ll be prepared for it. If he makes a mistake, he will pay the price »

Preparation was complicated by COVID-19; the NSW central coast slugger moved to Queensland due to border issues Opetaia was scheduled to fight in March, which had to be abandoned, and he’s been out of the ring for almost a year

« It was a bit difficult, it put my career on hold the whole time, » Opetaia said

« But it affected everyone, not just me so I can’t let it eat me up too much We always trained hard and focused on the positives and waited for this fight to come Now c ‘is here so we’ll just focus on Thursday and make sure we play at night

« In our sport you always have to be disciplined I guess it made it a little easier that nothing was open!

« I have a great home gym, I have good people around me who I can work out with, who keep me on track And I really used it like time in. family

« I was doing a lot of running I have a lot of cardio machines and I have weights in my garage My old man is also my trainer which is great he could come and do some towels, cardio busters, stuff like that We were very active during the break « 

Opetaia made a big statement in her last fight, scoring a sublime eighth-round save for veteran Mark Flanagan at the Hordern Pavilion.The fight appeared on a non-PPV Fox Sports channel, as did Kelleher’s fight, reminding the boxing fans the talent that first erupted in London 2012

« I always believed in myself and knew what I was capable of but having him on this big stage now everyone knows it, » said Opetaia, who is ranked fourth with the IBF and 10th with the WBO

« I used to say for a long time that I was supporting myself and being the best in Australia, but after playing this performance everyone now knows in Australia It was good to present it and I feel like that it was a fight that had to happen for me to go abroad

Opetaia vs Kelleher will headline Thursday night’s fight card, while amateur sensation Justis Huni, 21-year-old professional heavyweight debut against Australian champion Faiga ‘Django’ Opelu is the main support fight

Huni could make history by winning a national title in his first professional fight If the hype turns into results, he could end up fighting Opetaia in an all-Australian blockbuster in the years to come

Opetaia is not only doing it for Australia, but also for Samoa, the land of his family heirloom When he gets his chance for the world title, he intends to base his training camp in the Pacific island nation, as it has done in the past

Ambassador of the Samoa Tourism Authority, Opetaia urges Australians to visit Samoa once a travel bubble in the Pacific is in place and he himself is desperate to return Samoa does not recorded only one case of COVID-19 but has been hit hard by the global fallout

« A lot of my training has been done at ‘Sa’, we are going to do a lot there to prepare for the coming fighting, » he said « A huge thank you to the Samoan government and the Samoan people »

Jai Opetaia, amateur boxing, Australia, heavyweights