BATTLE TO TAKE
Jai Opetaia reveals demons that nearly ended his rise, writes Nick Wright
EVERYTHING Jai Opetaia has been striving for in his life has built up to this moment, but the world champion contender has revealed how close he came to giving his dream away.
Sacrifices have become synonymous with the 26-year-old in the lead up to his challenge of the IBF and The Ring cruiserweight titles, forgoing huge family meals and the lifestyle commodities the average man or woman grow to crave.
However, through it all, Opetaia has been fighting more than the pugilist in the other corner.
Several years had gone by before the Australian sensation got surgery on his hand, having fractured it in just his third professional bout.
Two different bones suffered from the constant blows, but still he found a way to fight through the pain – and built up a formidable record to boot (currently 21-0).
But Opetaia has revealed he always knew in the back of his mind there was an issue, a problem no amount of adrenaline in the ring could overcome.
He said at that time, as he was developing his name and reputation, he need to make a living, he needed to provide for his family and he needed to ensure nothing but himself was going to get in his way of achieving global domination.
“When I first turned pro I was fighting pretty regularly, and you have to stay active. When you’re a young boxer coming up, financially you don’t get much back from boxing,” Opetaia said.
“A few years ago, it seemed so unrealistic to get the surgery and then have the time off, because I needed to keep active. I needed to keep getting my name out there, so I was constantly training with the fractured hand, I was always sparring.
“Me and my old man, we always just had to make things work. We were always in sticky situations, we always had to evolve, adapt and do what we had to.
“In my head I was thinking all boxers’ hands are stuffed – it was in pain but I thought it was a normal thing because I’d had it for so long.
“(But) in fights the adrenaline and stuff, you throw it (the hand) but you’re not throwing it as hard as you can. In the back of your head you’re thinking ‘I can’t hurt it too early’.”
It reached a point – his move to the Gold Coast in August 2020 – where Opetaia was instructed to receive the necessary surgery on his hand or risk not being able to compete.
This would mean a prolonged stint on the sidelines, perhaps forced to watch as other rivals surpassed him and achieved what he had set out to do since he was a child.
But his trainer, Mark Mathie, said once he began training Opetaia he noticed parts of his craft that were hindered, and the call was made to get the hand treated.
“Neurologically his brain wasn’t allowing him to throw it anymore, because it hurt so much,” Mathie said.
“He would throw it and pull it back at the last second. It’s a defence mechanism; if you’re going to put your hand on a hotplate you’re going to put your hand back.
“Whether you want to put it on there or not, your brain will make you pull your hand off the hotplate.
“That’s what he was going through … you can’t win a world title like that,” he said.
Ahead of his Gold Coast Convention Centre contest for Latvian champion Mairis Briedis’ world belts, Opetaia said there were several times he wondered whether he would ever fight again.
Did the surgery go wrong? Will the hand pack the same power as it once did? Opetaia said self-doubt surrounded him 24/7.
“It was very hard, I was sitting at home sometimes and I was like turning on people. I was like ‘these guys have stitched me up’,” Opetaia said.
“I deadset was thinking this guy has given me the wrong surgery, my hand was just in pain and I thought my career was over.
“So many mind games, and then you’re at home watching TV about all these other fighters and their careers are going further and further.
“You think ‘I should be in the gym, I should be training, I should be fight
ing’. But I was just sitting at home and I put on a bit of weight.
“There was one stage a few months after my surgery I couldn’t even pick up a coffee cup, and how am I going to punch someone as hard as I can when I can’t even pick up a coffee cup?”
Opetaia spent more than a year out of the ring, his October 2020 victory over Benjamin Kelleher not followed up until a December 2021 clash with Daniel Russell.
The result: a Round 3 TKO – the shortest bout of his career in more than three years.
Since the Briedis fight was announced the pair have been forced to cool their heals.
The Latvian’s diagnosis with Covid-19 moved the fight from March to May, before an Opetaia rib injury set it back again to July 2. Now, with one week left until the first bell tolls, Opetaia said there were no distractions left to hold him back.
He was fully fit, all antics behind him in the lead up to Friday’s weighin. His lifelong obsession has at last given him the chance to enter boxing folklore.
“It (the injury setbacks) all makes you stronger, they say what doesn’t break you makes you stronger and it mentally built me a bit stronger as well,” Opetaia said.
“Trust me, when you’re getting ready for a fight it’s always in your head. Before bed, every morning, each session – but that’s what makes you push that extra bit.”