‘Do it in a heartbeat': Jai Opetaia's promoter wants seven-figure Suncorp Stadium super-card

News.com.au

5 hours ago

Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium could host a seven-figure boxing supercard, with promoter Mick Francis saying he will push the Queensland government for funding to stage a world title unification blockbuster between Jai Opetaia and Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez.
Opetaia is Australia's pound-for-pound best boxer and defended his IBF cruiserweight world title in devastating fashion against Italian challenger Claudio Squeo on Sunday night.
While Squeo was being stretchered out of the arena, with a broken jaw, Opetaia doubled down on his call for a unification bout with Mexico's Ramirez.
Francis says an Opetaia-Ramirez showdown could be held at Suncorp Stadium, but needs the Queensland state government to back it.
'If we had government support, we could make it happen,' Francis told CODE Sports. 'This fight has been building for a while, and it's a stadium fight, but the State government has to get behind it.
'We had some guys here tonight from Experience Gold Coast, and they brought a couple of State dignitaries along.
'If they want to make it happen, they'll make it happen.
'I would suggest to put a major event on at Suncorp, you'd need $9 million or $10 million from the State government. But they'd get it back ten-fold.
'If you put it on at the right time of year, it'll definitely sell out.'
Jeff Horn staged two fights at Suncorp Stadium, including his heroic world title win over Manny Pacquiao in 2017.
He then fought Anthony Mundine at the venue a year later.
Francis said it would take some serious buy-in from the Queensland government and other promoters in Australia, but argued it could be done.
'We've done it before with Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn, so I don't see why we couldn't do it again,' he said.
'And boxing's bigger now than it was back then.
'Imagine No Limit, Matchroom Boxing, Spencer Brown, Tasman Fighters, Riyadh Season, Main Event, Foxtel, and DAZN.
'If we all work together, guess what? We can do massive shows, massive events and highlight Australian boxing.
'We just need to get off our asses and make it work.
'We'd love to do that. Jai would love to fight on the same card as Tim Tszyu.
'But we need to work with other promoters and join forces.
'If we went to the State government and said we want to put Jai Opetaia, Tim Tszyu, Justis Huni, Conor Wallace and George Kambosos on, we would get the funding.
'Every one of those fighters has a big name, and they're all good guys. Tim's a great guy, we can put Nikita on too.
'Make it a 10-fight supercard. We'd do that in a heartbeat.'
Opetaia lives on the Gold Coast, and has headlined three cards on the Glitter Strip.
And while he loves the idea of a stadium fight, he says his preference is still in his hometown.
'Central Coast Stadium – Gosford – that's what I'm chasing, bro,' Opetaia told CODE Sports in the dressing rooms after knocking out Squeo with a brutal right hook.
'I've been chasing Central Coast Stadium since I was a little kid.
'I've always wanted to take a world title back there, it's my home.
'I'm a Central Coast boy. I've got people at home, that's where I come from.
'People from there, they feel like they don't have purpose. They don't have much. We didn't have much.
'To go around the world, and then back home and do it there, that's the ultimate goal.'
Opetaia laughed when he's asked if he had scraps in and around Gosford Stadium back in the day.
'I got bashed a couple of times, but that's about it,' he joked.
Opetaia was relentless against overmatched Squeo on Sunday, forcing 'Il Toro Rosso' to one knee when he broke the Italian's jaw with a right hook.
Opetaia later said he knew instantly that it was broken.
'I felt it, and I heard it click when it landed,' Opetaia said. 'I heard the punch when it hit his jaw and I thought, 'This poor bastard'.
'I've been there before. I saw his jaw, and when I looked at it, it had a little bump.'
It was the same venue and the same ring Opetaia's own jaw was shattered when he first won the IBF world title against Mairis Breidis in 2022.
'I didn't go down though,' Opetaia told Code Sports.