Jai Opetaia expects Tim Tszyu to emerge from the lessons learned against Sebastian Fundora by dethroning Bakhram Murtazaliev as the IBF junior-middleweight champion.
The 29-year-old lost for the first time in March when, in a fight for the WBO and vacant WBC titles, Tszyu suffered a significant cut caused by Fundora’s elbow that inhibited his vision and performance from the second round.
He had agreed to fight the awkward Fundora at late notice after an injury suffered by his previous, and significantly different, opponent Keith Thurman. It was also suggested, after the fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that he lost via decision, that after seeing the cut Tszyu’s corner should not have allowed him to carry on.
Having sacrificed his title and undefeated record he seeks to win another at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, where Murtazaliev makes the first defence of the vacant title he won in April by stopping Jack Culcay.
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the defeat by Fundora, a second in succession would prove damaging for the Australian’s career – Fundora is also nearing being rewarded for victory with a lucrative fight against Errol Spence – but Tszyu’s compatriot is ultimately backing him to succeed.
It has been a significant period for Australian boxing. On Saturday – on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Opetaia stopped Jack Massey to defend his IBF cruiserweight title and Skye Nicolson outpointed Raven Chapman to defend her WBC title at featherweight.
Off the back of the announcement that Liam Paro will defend his IBF junior-lightweight title against Richardson Hitchins on December 7, it is possible that an often-neglected fighting culture could be celebrating the existence of four world champions by the conclusion of 2024.
“He had a bit of bad luck – he got unlucky with the cut and stuff like that,” Opetaia told BoxingScene. “But it’s all part of learning. I’m sure they’ve learned a lot, and I’m looking forward to his bounce back. I’m backing him all the way.
“It’s good to see a fellow Aussie on the world stage. There’s not many of us that make it up here; it’s common for Poms [Britons] and Europeans and Americans, but for people down our neck of the woods it’s a long route to get here. I’m backing him all the way.
“It’s a great fight. I’ll be backing Tim.
“I just hope Tim wins. He’s a fucking Australian – we back each other. Once it’s in-house, we want to take each other’s heads off. But once it’s our nation, and he’s flying our flag, and he’s one of us, we’re supporting him all the way. I hope he fucking beats everyone.
“It would be such a good thing if the Australian market would work as a whole team. You got all these Poms; you’ve got so many Pommies fighting on the same card, and they build up the Matchrooms and stuff like that.
“With us it’s a bit different, because if we were to have an Australian fight night, kind of like what the UFC do – they put all the Australians on the fucking same card – if we did something like that I would be honoured to be a part of that. I’d even take the pay cut to be a part of it, ‘cause it would just be such a historic thing for Australia, and that’s what it’s all about – being a part of things like that.
“We were in the fucking pub cheersing margaritas [when Paro defeated Subriel Matias]. We had a mad day, that day. That was awesome. We fucking celebrated for him.”
Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn has made little secret of his desire to in future stage a homecoming fight for Paro in Australia, and to potentially feature Nicolson, Opetaia and the heavyweight Justis Huni on the undercard. Tszyu, in the event of victory over Russia’s 31-year-old Murtazaliev, is expected to retain the fierce sense of independence that contributed to him angering the influential Turki Alalshikh.
“It’s always high stakes,” Opetaia continued. “Me; Tim; we’re in the peak of our careers. Every fight is high stakes. We don’t go into fights thinking, ‘Fuck – you know…’. It’s all risky business. One punch can change it all. We’re in this; putting our lives on the line; sacrificing every day. It’s all high stakes.
“For someone outside the ring watching, it might be different to them. ‘He can do this; he can do that’. But when you’re walking in that ring, and you’re punching on in that ring, anything can happen, so we’ve gotta take this shit serious – and I’m sure he does. He always does. He always delivers.
“[Tszyu’s independence is] good. He’s had Australia behind him – the pathways have been completely different for us. With Tim Tszyu, he’s with No Limits, who had the contract at [broadcasters] Fox, and Fox still controls everything in the boxing world in Australia, so it’s easier to market him, and especially having the Tszyu name.
“I’m not trying to discredit him at all – he obviously does the hard work and he wins the fights. He’s a great fighter. I’ve seen him as a young kid come up through the rankings; we used to be on New South Wales teams, all the way up as teenagers, so I’ve seen his hard work. I know it’s a long process, and he deserves a bit of that build-up, and to be able to sell a fight in Australia – I’ve been on the scene for a couple of years, and that Tszyu name, that’s two generations. It’s good for Australian boxing; it’s giving other Aussies big fights; they’re big cards. It’s all positive.”
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