Boxing
Are Jai Opetaia and Justis Huni looking past this weekend's opponents in order to fight each other?
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Australian fighters Jai Opetaia and Justis Huni have said they would like to fight each other in the future.
The pair, both of whom fight this weekend on DAZN, have said that they are already in discussions for a $20m all-Australian blockbuster match.
Both men share the same manager, Mick Francis, who told Fox Sports Australia, that a fight between the pair is already ‘guaranteed’.
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Francis told Fox Sports Australia: “Jai and Justis will be fighting inside somewhere like Suncorp Stadium within three, four years. I guarantee it.”
Suncorp Stadium is in Brisbane, Queensland, and has a capacity of 52,500. It is where Manny Pacquiao travelled to fight Jeff Horn in 2017.
He added: “While both guys have tremendous respect for each other -- love each other and will help the other out as much as they can -- they also know that this event will be the biggest domestic fight Australia has ever seen. Two heavyweights from opposite sides of the border fighting for a world title, it will be huge. But before that happens, they both have to do their own things in their respective divisions.”
This weekend, Opetaia will face Italian Claudio Squeo in a cruiserweight title fight in Broadbeach, Australia. Huni, meanwhile, has travelled to England to face Fabio Wardley at the Portman Road stadium in Ipswich.
Despite the big-fight plans for Opetaia and Huni, the pair still have to win their respective matches.
Huni, 12-0 (7), is the b-side in his fight against Wardley. However, as DAZN wrote the other day, the 6’4” Australian comes off a glittering amateur career and even fought ten rounds in his debut for the Australian heavyweight title.
Since then, Huni has fought steadily, picking up a host of regional titles. He has travelled, too, visiting Mexico and Riyadh in recent fights. His last fight was in the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Australia – the same venue that Opetaia fights at this weekend.
Opetaia, on the other hand, will face Italian Claudio Squeo over twelve rounds in a defence of his IBF title.
The IBF cruiserweight champion won his title in 2024 with a decision over Mairis Briedis in Riyadh. He then returned to Riyadh to defend it against Jack Massey, before stopping David Nyika in four rounds at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.
Before any fight takes place between Huni and Opetaia, both need to win this weekend. Not only that, but Opetaia has made it clear that he hopes to unify the cruiserweight titles before any move northwards. To do that, he will need to fight – and defeat – Badou Jack and Gilberto Ramirez.
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