Tim Tszyu vs. Tony Harrison: Jai Opetaia tipping another Australian to join world champion ranks

Australia’s only current male world champion believes he will have company next month in the form of Tim Tszyu.

Tszyu fights Tony Harrison for the interim WBO super welterweight world title in Sydney on Sunday, March 12, and Jai Opetaia sees similarities between his win over Mairis Briedis in July.

Opetaia won the IBF and Ring Magazine cruiserweight titles when he defeated the Latvian via unanimous decision and famously reached the final bell with a badly broken jaw.

The 27-year-old went into this fight with strong credentials on the domestic scene, but doubts remained as to his ability to compare him to one of the all-time greatest cruiserweights.

Opetaia tells The sports news He expects Tszyu to continue improving Australia’s reputation as a fighter.

“I feel like it’s a step up for Tim, but that’s what they said about me and Briedis,” Opetaia said.

“I had never fought someone like Briedis, he was the best in my whole division.

“I believed in myself, I knew I could do it and I rose to the occasion and that’s what I see in Tim.

“Boxing is second nature to us humans like me and Tim, boxing is all we know.

“In his past fights, he only had to fight as well as he had to to win those fights.

“He only fought to that level because they just pushed him to that level, but when he’s fighting someone who’s even better, he can level up and that’s where you see what champions are made of and who belongs there.”

Harrison, the only man to defeat the current undisputed champion of the division, Jermell Charlo, has notably belittled Tszyu’s skill level and the quality of his previous opponents.

Opetaia believes this is representative of the broader attitude towards Australian boxing, but insists that the rest of the world, like it or not, is beginning to come on board.

“I hope he beats Harrison. Even Harrison, the way he’s talking, they just underestimate us Australians and that’s freaking me out,” Opetaia said.

“The way they condescend to us. We have to show these guys.

“I want them to see Australia as if we’re one of the best boxing countries in the world and we’re not far from that.

“We have some good fighters from this country. The females kill it.

“These other countries had better watch out because Australia is evolving.

“Because we’ve always been pigeonholed like ‘You’re not good enough for the international level,’ I feel like a lot of fighters believed in that in the back of their minds.

“Now we’re starting to say, ‘Fuck these guys, we’re good enough to fight these guys.’

“This is how we must feel, this is how we must believe. We have to believe that we are the best.”

Despite his win over Briedis, Opetaia feels he still doesn’t get the respect he deserves from his rivals.

That’s partly because injuries – the jaw and recent shoulder surgery – have prevented him from converting the momentum of his championship win into more big fights, but now, back in full training, the southpaw is ready to remind the division who’s boss is.

“I feel like I’m a problem for all of them. I feel like they still underestimate me,” Opetaia said of the other 90.7 kg (200 lbs) champions.

“I feel like I’m seen as an outsider just because we’re here in Australia and they’re all over there, but I feel like they underestimate us.

“It’s exciting, I love the feeling of being the underdog.”

Opetaia will do his first sparring session this weekend ahead of the Briedis’ fight to return against mandatory challenger for his IBF belt, Mateusz Masternak of Poland, in late April or early May.

Masternak defeated Aussie Jason Whateley in a lopsided unanimous decision in October to earn the right to face Opetaia.

“We’re just making sure we’re training hard and staying fit, so when that call comes, we’re ready,” he said.

“We look at the fight against Masternak from Poland. He’s my first mandatory challenger.

“He’s a tough opponent, he’s a good fighter, but we’re looking forward to it.”

“We want to fight him, get him out of the way – we don’t take it lightly, it’s a tough fight but if we train hard, prepare properly we can do it and then we keep fighting for more belts.

“Now that I have the world title, they can’t walk anymore. I’m at the top and they have to fight me now. I’m at the head of the table.

“It’s exciting, every fight we have from now on is a world title fight.”