Despite having his ear bitten off by Mike Tyson, Australia's Jay Opetaia remains the most exciting fighter on the planet in a bizarre exchange in which he appeared to liken him to Evander Holyfield at a press conference. He is said to be one of the.
Arguably the No. 1 fighter in Australia right now, Opetaia will look to formally confirm his rank when he rematches Mairis Briedis for the IBF cruiserweight world title this Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It's been almost two years since Opetaia, 28, won the belt in a brutal war the Central Coast product fought and won despite suffering bilateral broken jaws.
Although he was later controversially stripped of his belt, the Australian remains undefeated and is the ring's cruiserweight champion and, according to promoter Eddie Hearn, “one of the greatest fighters on the planet.'' He says he is ready to “establish himself.”
Speaking at a press conference in Riyadh on Friday morning (AEST), Hearn also described Opetaia as one of the most exciting fighters in world boxing right now.
The praise came as the Australian, who is aiming to become the country's only world men's boxing champion, claimed to be the “next generation of greatness” and added, “This is my time.”
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But when it was Briedis' turn to take the microphone, the former champion seemed to liken Opetaia, who suffered a broken jaw in their first encounter, to Holyfield, who had his ear bitten off by Iron Mike.
The Latvian also recognized Holyfield, who was not only in Riyadh during fight week, but also sat in the front row at the press conference alongside another heavyweight great, Lennox Lewis.
The pair are among a number of celebrity guests scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia for the blockbuster card, headlined by a world title showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. The card doubles as the undisputed heavyweight showdown since Lewis defeated Holyfield 25 years ago.
But Bridis didn't discuss that fight, instead talking about Holyfield and Tyson's crazy 1997 showdown. There, Holyfield was bitten twice on the ear, losing part of his ear before his rival was disqualified.
“Mr. Holyfield is very clever,'' he said.
“When he got into a fight with Mike Tyson and Tyson bit his ear…he did big business after that.
“And when I get into a fight with Jay and bust his jaw, I don't have a very good manager…but it's okay.”
However, the statement was clearly not meant as a disrespect to Australians, Briedis continued: “I have a lot of respect for Jay.
“When we fought, I saw a real warrior in the ring, how he was able to fight with this big injury.
“I have great respect for you.
“In the ring, I hope that the stronger boxer wins.
“Good luck to both of you.”
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Meanwhile, Opetaia said he now feels like a “completely different version” of the fighter who won the IBF gold medal in incredible fashion.
“I stepped it up a few levels,” he said.
“I'm 28 years old and I'm about to enter my prime.
“I feel the next generation of greats is emerging.
“When I look around (during fight week), I see greatness everywhere.
“And I’m honored to be able to stand in front of them.
“But now it's my time.
“I feel like I’m the next great guy.”
Hearn also went on stage and said of Opetaia:
“Pound-for-pound, one of the most exciting fighters on the planet.
“He’s had two great wins (in his last two appearances) against two very good British fighters, and now he’s up against an elite guy who he’s already shared the ring with.
“And if you haven’t seen the Briedis vs. Opetaia fight yet, be sure to watch it again because it was brutal.
“And we're going to see another strong performance from the man to my right who has established himself as one of the greatest fighters on the planet.”
In a promotional video for Matchroom released this week, Opetaia also revealed that he does not consider Briedis an underdog, despite him breaking his jaw in two places and beating him in his last start. emphasized.
“I don't consider him an underdog at all,” the Australian said.
“I see him as Bridis.
“It was the same as when I saw him go into his first game.
“If anything, I’m expecting a more aggressive Briedis.
“I know he’s going to come out swinging, he has to.
“If he tries to calm down and box, he's going to have more problems, like he had in the first round of our fight.
“And this time my jaw isn’t broken.
“So you can stay in the clinch.
“He will feel my power.
“Because my boxing is so good, they think they can come in and bully me because I move so well.
“But when I start holding back the punches, they'll say, 'That guy can hit too.'
He then added: “Confidence comes from effort.
“For days I have been pushing my body through deep waters.
“I feel like it’s impossible to beat me.
“I push my body to its limits.
“I try every day not to hurt myself.
“I'm in pain every day.”
