'Ready for war': Aussie Opetaia alert to Italian ambush

West Australian

2 days ago

Like the 27 challengers who have come before him, Jai Opetaia is swatting away Claudio Squeo's threat to derail the Australian boxing superstar's undisputed world title dream.
Opetaia (27-0, 21KOs) will place his IBF and The Ring cruiserweight belts on the line against the unbeaten Squeo (17-0, 9KOs) on Sunday.
Despite entering the bout as a 15-1 underdog, the Italian is promising to prove the doubters wrong and pull off one of boxing's great boilovers at the Gold Coast Exhibition Centre.
"This is a big opportunity to shock the world, the people writing you off," Squeo said through a translator on Friday.
But with a multi-million-dollar pay day and a place in Australian boxing immortality also at stake, Opetaia is having none of it.
With much bigger fish to fry, the 29-year-old is vowing to win whatever way is required, knowing a loss is non negotiable ahead of a succession of potential super fights that could propel him to Hall of Fame status.
"I believe I can beat him in the pocket, I believe I can outbox him. We are just going to fight smart," Opetai said.
"We've got to choose our battles and just wait til Sunday."
The fight comes almost three years after a then-unfancied Opetaia defied two jaw fractures to beat champion Mairis Briedis and claim his two straps.
Opetaia has fought five times since, with the Briedis rematch last year his only genuine challenge, and is yet to land a shot at the other three belts in his division.
Badou Jack owns the WBC belt but it is WBO and WBA champion Gilberto Ramirez who is firmly in Opetaia's sights.
The Mexican two-weight champion is due for a mandatory defence later this month and insistent he will face Opetaia next.
Should both win, as most predict they will, Opetaia will be in line to finally secure a unification blockbuster against Ramirez later this year.
An Opetaia-Ramirez mega-money four-belt stoush would sit nicely on the undercard to September's historic duel between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford in Las Vegas.
Little wonder why Opetai's priority is to see off Squeo however he needs to, saying he's even ready to slug it out for 12 full rounds if that's what it takes.
"Once that bell goes every time, man, it's on and I'm ready for 12 rounds of war," he said.
"I've got no doubt he's going to come forward. That's got to be his game plan.
"We've just got to be patient. We just stick to our game plan, do what we do and we put on clinics.
"So on Sunday, I love to put on a clinic. We always do the goods, we always put on good performances.
"We are some hard-noses. We've been in the trenches the last couple of weeks. I'm riding in the wave. You know how I train to stop people."