{"id":459677,"date":"2025-07-22T20:28:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T20:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=459677"},"modified":"2025-07-22T23:15:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T23:15:56","slug":"its-a-joke-fenech-explodes-over-disrespected-aussie-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=459677","title":{"rendered":"'It's a joke': Fenech explodes over 'disrespected' Aussie star"},"content":{"rendered":"

After years of being "disrespected" by those within the sport, the time has come for Australia to get behind the "best boxer in the country", according to Jeff Fenech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the \ufeffmajority of Aussies have been throwing their support behind Tim Tszyu<\/a> – with his status as the son of iconic champion Kostya coupling with a fantastic rise to the world stage – Jai Opetaia<\/a> has been putting together an incredible resume to less fanfare.<\/p>\n

The current IBF and The Ring world champion, Opetaia (28-0, 22 KOs) has established himself as perhaps the most feared cruiserweight on the planet in recent years.<\/p>\n

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The 30-year-old has torn through opponents both at home and abroad, while his two wins over Mairis Briedis – which included winning the gold with a broken jaw<\/a> – have become stuff of legend within the hardcore boxing community.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Opetaia has become \ufeffa personal favourite of world-renowned promoter Eddie Hearn after signing a co-promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing in 2023 and has since fought on blockbuster cards in Saudi Arabia featuring the likes of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.<\/p>\n

Despite all this, Opetaia hasn't fully won over the casual Aussie audience yet and according to Fenech, it's time he was pushed into the spotlight in his home country.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Wide World of Sports, the former world champion was quizzed about why Opetaia hasn't received the same plaudits as some of his Aussie counterparts.<\/p>\n

His response saw the Hall of Famer go to town on those in the Aussie scene.<\/p>\n

"Jai Opetaia is the best fighter in the country, he has been for years," Fenech said.<\/p>\n

"Nobody knows about Jai – Fox never put him on TV, nobody ever said anything about him, because they are that stupid. It's a joke, the sport is a joke.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"You mean to tell me that there wasn't somebody out there that had eyes and could see that Jai Opetaia was going to be a great fighter? Even when Jai was 17, I said that this kid could be the greatest fighter in Australian history.<\/p>\n

"Australia missed out on watching a great go through his infancy and become a great fighter, because of the jealousy and the shit that goes on in the sport.<\/p>\n

"You get your kudos when you earn it and he's earned it for the last three or four years and still got nothing from Australia. If I was him, you know what I'd be saying to Australia and all those idiots that have disrespected him and didn't care about him."\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opetaia's next task on the road to become an undisputed world champion will see him take on Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez, who holds both the WBA and WBO titles.<\/p>\n

Ramirez (47-1) is \ufeffan elite-level talent but has yet to step into the ring with Opetaia – something that Fenech believes might be for good reason.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"Everybody says they want it until it's signed on paper," he said.<\/p>\n

"Everybody says they will fight somebody until the contract comes in front of them and they ask for more, because they don't want to fight.<\/p>\n

"If they fight, Jai will have no problem, because Jai is too skilful."\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opetaia \ufefflast fought on the Gold Coast in June, recording a dominant fifth-round knockout win over Claudio Squeo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After years of being "disrespected" by those within the sport, the time has come for Australia to get behind the "best boxer in the country", […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":453635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459677"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=459677"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":459693,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459677\/revisions\/459693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/453635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=459677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=459677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=459677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}