'He's a giant': Brother could steal Pangai's thunder

Tevita Pangai Junior's long-awaited professional boxing debut could yet be upstaged by his younger brother.

Jermaine Pangai is as big and as strong, if not stronger, than the former Canterbury Bulldogs heavyweight. 

'The Bulldozer' is something of a known quantity having knocked out Jeremiah Tupai-ui on the undercard of the Sonny Bill Williams vs Mark Hunt bout last year.

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However, his younger brother has never fought on such a high-profile card, although he's no stranger to the ring. 

Jermaine sought to contest the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games but opted not to compete and instead pursued rugby league.

There is an air of expectation for the Pangai brothers, with chatter behind the scenes that Jermaine packs a bigger punch than Tevita.

This reporter asked NRL-turned-boxing legend Anthony Mundine what he thought of Jermaine, at which point his eyes lit up.

"Yeah, I like Jermaine," he told Wide World of Sports.

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"I've been watching him since he was 15 and he's improved a lot. He's a lefty, he's sleek, and he's a giant. He's a big boy, he can bang. 

"He's hurt Tevita a couple of times when he was 15, 16 – so he's a dangerous boy."

Jermaine has the benefit of flying under the radar relative to his brother, who is more than happy to take the limelight.

"I think he's a bit of an underdog obviously because he hasn't got that profile like Tevita  because he's not playing first grade at the moment," said Mundine.

"But because Tevita had them years in first grade, State of Origin, whatnot like I did, he's got that profile now he can bring that across to boxing."

While Tevita's career in the NRL is over, Jermaine still has ambitions to follow in the footsteps of his brother.

The fight is something of a side quest for the 19-year-old who represents the Canberra Raiders in the under-21s Jersey Flegg Cup. 

Jermaine will return to the team in 2024 and has ambitions to eventually graduate to the NRL.

In the meantime, he's happy to fly under the radar while Tevita headlines the fight card.

"I'm approaching it pretty well, like letting my brother get all the shine while I just stay in the shadows, which is pretty good for me," Jermaine told Wide World of Sports.

"That's just how I like it. I don't really mind people in my business but it just feels good to finally get an opportunity to show my talent and what I can give in the ring."

Jermaine has been boxing on and off for four years, although that's been largely interrupted by his quest for an NRL career with the 'Green Machine'. 

While Tevita is all-in on boxing for the foreseeable future, Jermaine is taking a 50-50 approach for the time being while he's still young.

"Like my brother said, you can't be 50-50 – but at this point, I'm 50-50 because I love both sports and I enjoy playing and boxing as well," he explained.

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"My parents never really thought that I'd be a really sporty person. They thought I'd be a good boy and go to school. Obviously I was the complete opposite but then I found my love doing boxing just trying to lose weight and be healthy and stuff like that. 

"My dad just saw the talent that I had and then he just thought I'd try to give it a shot and this is where I'm at.

"I just really want to try my hardest just to try to make any high achievement in footy, in rugby league, but I'm just really focused on this fight at the moment.

"Everyone tells me that I'm still young. I can make a decision any time. I think I'll take my chances of being young and just keep making a, make a good chance when I'm older."

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Although Tevita has given up NRL for the time being, Jermaine still looks to his older brother and his storied career as inspiration.

"I've got a long way to go because my journey just started last year," said Jermaine.

"But my manager and my brother said that I've been progressing really well since I started. As long as he's happy, I'm happy.

"He's, he started from the bottom and look where he is now. He's getting all these interviews and I'm just grateful to be here and just have people asking me questions.

"Maybe one day I'll be like that."

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