An Australian and a Latvian walk into a boxing press conference. One is wearing a Crocodile Dundee hat.
Can you guess which?
It sounds like the set-up for a joke, but Jai Opetaia isn’t laughing.
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“Bro, all these f—ing crocodile hats, the suits, it doesn’t mean nothing to me,” the Gold Coast fighter responds through gritted teeth.
“All that matters is that f—ing title. All this little shit, I don’t care about it, it’s all stupid.”
The title Opetaia refers to is the IBF cruiserweight belt that sat on the table in front of Mairis Briedis as media and boxers gathered at Sea World on Thursday.
Opetaia is gunning to steal it from 37-year-old Briedis, who has held the belt – as well as the Ring Magazine title – since 2020. He is the best cruiserweight in the world, having also previously been the WBC and WBO champion.
The Latvian native set tongues wagging when he showed up to Thursday’s press conference rocking a silver suit, topped with the hat that Aussie icon Paul Hogan wore in the 1986 cult classic.
Through broken English, he explained he was inspired by the story of fellow Latvian, Arvid Blumenthal, who called himself Crocodile Harry and vehemently claimed to be the inspiration behind Hogan’s famed movie character.
“The hat is from the movie, Crocodile Dundee, the original guy is a fellow from Latvia,” Briedis told media.
“In Australia now I’m like Crocodile Harry. I need to dedicate this fight to my fellow from Latvia.
“I saw for the first time Australia, and I learned about this story, and it’s very exciting for me.”
So which character is Briedis, and which is Opetaia?
“I’m not the crocodile. I’m like my fellow from Latvia, a hunter. A crocodile hunter,” the champion says.
The irony of the bizarre kit was Briedis looked more fair-dinkum Aussie than Opetaia as the pair sat two metres apart at their penultimate meeting before Saturday’s title fight.
You got the feeling Opetaia was ready to knock the hat off his opponent’s head right there and then.
Here’s everything you need to know about the IBF cruiserweight title bout.
WHEN AND WHERE IS IT?
The event will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday.
The first fight will begin at 6pm, and the pay-per-view card begins at 7pm.
The main event title bout is expected to start at or around 10.30pm.
HOW TO WATCH
The fight card is pay-per-view and will be broadcast on Main Event and Kayo Sports.
FULL FIGHT CARD
Mairis Briedis vs Jai Opetaia – for the IBF cruiserweight world title
Issac Hardman vs Beau Hartas – middleweight
Dana Coolwell vs Lorenz Ladrada – featherweight
Taylah Robertson vs Yoselin Rodriguez – super-flyweight
Faris Chevalier vs Conor Wallace – light-heavyweight
Joel Camilleri vs Koen Mazoudier – super-welterweight
David Nyika vs Louis Marsters – cruiserweight
Miles Zalewski vs Shiva Mishra – featherweight
THE MAIN EVENT
One of either Mairis Briedis or Jai Opetaia will walk away from the Convention Centre holding the IBF and Ring Magazine cruiserweight titles.
The Australian southpaw was the youngest to ever represent his country in boxing at an Olympic Games, donning the colours in London in 2012 when he was only 16 years old.
Since turning professional in 2015, the Queenslander has won all of his 21 bouts, and an incredible 17 of those by way of knockout.
This world title fight – Opetaia’s first – was delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and various other setbacks.
“This is a huge fight, this is everything I’ve been waiting for,” Opetaia told media on Wednesday.
“Going into the ring we know we’ve done everything right, left no stone unturned, and we’re ready to win a world title.
“Fighting for a world title, this is a lifetime of work. This isn’t just about one camp, this is a whole lifetime, from my childhood to now.”
Briedis, who turned professional in 2009, has only lost once in 28 bouts. That time he lost the WBO and WBC cruiserweight belts to Oleksander Usyk – a southpaw, just like Opetaia.
The Aussie is confident he has the tools required to bring the Latvian unstuck on Saturday.
“He definitely hasn’t fought a boxer like myself, I believe,” Opetaia said.
“He’s fought some great fighters, but he’s been at the top because he’s been the only cruiserweight with some decent movement and a bit of hand movement. All the other ones are just power punchers.
“He got out-boxed by Usyk, but all the other ones were heavy hitters, they were power punchers.
“But that’s not our game plan. We play the game, it’s a chess match in there.”
Jai Opetaia: 27 years old, 21-0-0 (17 KO), 191cm height, 193cm reach.
Mairis Briedis: 37 years old, 28-1-0 (20 KO), 186cm height, 190cm reach.
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