Ahead of his first fight since agreeing co-promotional terms with Matchroom, Australia’s Teremoana Junior Teremoana has boldly predicted he will prove the “greatest heavyweight of my generation”.
The 26 year old impressed at Paris 2024, where he was eliminated by the eventual champion, Bakhodir Jalolov of Kazakhstan, and on Saturday fights Ukraine’s Volodymyr Katsuk, 36, over six rounds at Salle Des Étoiles at Sporting Monte-Carlo, Monaco.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev-Ricardo Espinoza Franco fight at super featherweight in the main event.
“I know what I have to be now to beat the best,” Teremoana Jnr said. “Now I’ve just got to take this opportunity with both hands and smash everyone in the pros. I believe I’m going to be the greatest heavyweight of this generation. That’s what I believe. Give me some time to prove it. Let me earn my stripes, and then we’ll go from there.
“It was great to get a date locked in so soon after signing with Matchroom. That’s what I want to do. I just want to fight. When I go overseas for any type of fight, I just embrace the moment. My family, we haven’t done this type of stuff. I’ve just been soaking it all in.
“I’m here to do my job of course. I’m not mucking around. I’m here to sort out the business. I’m a very entertaining fighter. I enjoy getting in the ring and punching on. At the end of the day, I think everyone just likes to see people get knocked out. So, if you want to watch heavyweight boxing and see people get knocked out – tune in.”
Teremoana Jnr’s career has also been guided by Tasman Fighters.
“I was born and raised in Australia,” he continued. “My dad is a Cook Islander and my mum is Australian-Scottish. For me to get into boxing, I used to play rugby from the ages six to 12 and then after that my dad put me into boxing. I’ve never really enjoyed boxing to be honest. I gave it away at the age of 19 and then pretty much I turned 21 and on my 21st birthday I decided to take on my first name which is Teremoana – since then that gave me a spark.
“I wanted to let the whole world know my grandfather’s name, because that’s who I’m named after. Three days after my 21st birthday I made the decision that I wanted to become a world champion just to cement his name into history, and that’s pretty much when it started. Four years later I qualified for the Olympics and now we’ve signed with Matchroom.
“I believe Matchroom is one of the best promoters in the world. They have promotions all over the world. They’re starting to branch out to Australia which has also brought a lot of eyes to Australian boxing. This is the best Australian boxing has ever been. I would say to have Jai Opetaia as world champion, Skye Nicolson as world champion, Liam Paro as a recent world champion – so many Aussies out there paving the path for us and inspiring the younger generation as well.”
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