A new heavyweight star is born with new Australian prospect Justis Huni achieving an incredible first with a stunning result
Boxing: Justis Huni more than respected the hype in his first professional fight, after beating his opponent Faiga " Django" Opelu will take a stopping victory in the 7th lap
Australia could witness new heavyweight title contender as Justis Huni won Australia’s heavyweight title on his professional debut
Fighter Faiga Opelu, who entered the fight with a 13-1-1 record, the 21-year-old put in a masterclass performance as he lived up to the hype
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Huni, an amateur star, is still eligible to fight at the Olympics next year despite his professional turn, with Olympic regulations allowing up to 10 professional fights
But he made history in his early days as the first fighter of any weight to win the Australian title in his debut
Fighting under the card of Jai Opetaia’s cruiserweight fight with Ben Kelleher in Brisbane, the expectations behind Huni are already huge with the youngster supposedly talented to be the best heavyweight in Australian history
In the seventh round, Huni had left Opelu bloodied and his team threw in the towel
Ben Damon said: « History was made in Brisbane and Justis Huni had to work there »
« To be here, to be able to fight for the Australian title in its early days, I couldn’t have done it without my team and my sponsors. I want to thank ‘Django’ and his team for this opportunity
But it was an impressive performance considering the opponent’s expectations and quality for his professional debut
« I fought internationally in the amateur ranks so I’m used to fighting in front of a big crowd so it just became natural, » he said
History is made: Justis Huni is the first man to win an Australian boxing title on his professional debut Beating heavyweight champion Opelu via 7th round TKO Huni showed great speed, durability and skills at a distance and up close
In the main event, Jai Opetaia taught Ben Kelleher during their WBO and IBF Intercontinental Cruiserweight title fight
Although Opetaia didn’t have her biggest fight, a sixth round flurry left Kelleher only able to defend herself until the ref called the fight as the sponge was thrown
Before fight night, Huni and Opetaia were already floating a potential fight on the track
« When this fight comes it will be the biggest fight in Australia, » said Opetaia « I think me and this guy can make history
« But in saying this, I first have a lot of checkboxes in the cruiserweight division, and it has a lot of checkboxes in the heavyweight division
« We still have a long journey ahead of us before this fight happens, but it’s great to make history together »
Earlier on the map, Queensland boxer Benjamin Hussain fought for up to five rounds with a broken jaw before the doctor called off the fight
In the second round, Hussain’s outside guard flew out of his mouth after a huge left hook
From that point on, Hussain could no longer shut his mouth as blood flowed from what was originally believed to be a tongue injury
But as the fight continued it became clear that the injury was worse than initially thought, with Hussain’s corner hearing discussing whether it was a jawbone. broken
« Your jaw is broken, mate I mean it’s badly broken, we have to stop it, » the doctor said
« What we think we saw with his mouth doesn’t look right We thought it could have been a cut tongue or a laceration in the mouth But it’s a broken jaw and that being said, Benjamin Hussain showed he was hard from another world
« He’s been through the vast majority of this fight with what appears to be a very, very badly damaged mouth and jaw »
WBO and IBF Intercontinental Cruiserweight Title – Jai Opetaia vs Benjamin Kelleher – TKO, Round Six
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Boxing, heavyweight, Jai Opetaia, Australia
World news – AU – Justis Huni makes history and wins Australian heavyweight title on professional debut
