Issac Hardman wants another piece of Michael Zerafa … but first, a larrikin contender is in his path on the Gold Coast
He wants another piece of Michael Zerafa, after the emotional boilover that marred their first bout. First, Issac Hardman has a beer chugging phenom standing in his way on the Gold Coast.
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You only need to compare how Issac Hardman comprehends a defeat to realise how far he has come in the past sevens years.
When he allowed the emotions to get the better of him in his last bout against Michael Zerafa, the ‘Headsplitter’ had not suffered a loss since his MMA fighting days.
On that fateful occasion, he fled to Thailand, worried he had lost part of his identity. That has all changed, and the Australian middleweight contender has sent a message to Zerafa.He wants another piece of him, and the result will not be the same.
Hardman will step into the ring for the first time since that controversial clash as the co-main event of Jai Opetaia’s world cruiserweight title pursuit on the Gold Coast.
That clash with Zerafa was marred by racism allegations thrown at him from the other corner, a suggestion he has vehemently denied and inspired a press conference brawl prior to the pair trading fists.
Hardman admits on that occasion he did not believe the emotions would get the better of him, especially given he was the one who called out the now IBF world number two ranked middleweight.
He had sparred more than 100 rounds with Tim Tszyu in the lead up, the physical work had been done.
But for all his words in the lead up, ultimately the emotions did in fact better him.
“The press conference was crazy, it was a room full of 60 people and it was me and my coach left out to dry. We literally had to fight our way out of that venue with punches,” Hardman said.
“I was doing interviews the day of the fight saying the emotion was yesterday, it stemmed from a racial accusation and the punch on and stuff like that was not going to affect my fight. “But I remember saying to (my trainer) Blair (Studley) right before I got in the ring ‘I’m going to walk straight up to (him) and punch his head in’.
“That’s essentially exactly what I tried to do — I didn’t throw a single jab, I walked straight up to him and tried to biff him and it didn’t work out.
“I’m still gunning for Zerafa, I still want that fight. That’s the best fight here in Australia … I won’t be fighting him at a press conference next time around.
“When you get two personalities in the media people love it, so I’m sure it will get done again but I want to earn the rematch, I don’t want to be gifted the rematch.”
Hardman’s first steps towards earning that shot will come on July 2 when he takes on the unheralded Beau Hartas at the Gold Coast Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Little is known about the 6-1-0 larrikin out of the ACT, with the only footage Hardman has been able to find on him a video from 2012 in which he sculls six VBs in 60 seconds.
It may not have been what Hardman was hunting for, but it certainly earnt his respect and changed the dynamic of his preparation completely.
“This is a sport where you can’t go in underprepared, you’re watching for sure – you’d be stupid if you didn’t. But there’s nothing on him, there’s a few interviews but I can’t find a fight on this bloke,” Hardman said.
“I can’t knock the bloke, he was the only guy in the division who was taking the fight. He’s had a bit of a lay off with Covid and had another baby I think and he’s raring to go, he jumped at the opportunity.
“I’m excited to piece the puzzle together on the night in front of him, I’ve never had to do that.”
Hardman has set about learning from the emotional misgivings that cost him.
Not much has changed in terms of his fight camp — he still sleeps at Nitro Boxing Fitness Centre, a substantial upgrade from the days when he would spend the night in his car waiting for training to begin.
But for the now 12-1-0 title hopeful, the biggest change over the past two months since his second round stoppage has been dealing with such setbacks. In a short period of time, Hardman said his mindset had transformed from his days in the UFC, and that would be evident to behold on the Glitter Strip come Saturday night.
“It’s refreshing to have that loss and not have my world change like I expected it to. The last time I lost was seven years ago, that’s what people forget,“ Hardman said.
“It was an amateur fight in MMA and I ran away to Thailand for a month-and-a-half, ran away from the missus I had at the time and tried to think I was doing this training trip.
“It turned to shit, I hated it, and it felt like my identity changed. That’s’ why I was so fearful this time around, my wife has only ever known me as a winner.
“I took a loss and thought ‘how are they going to react?’ but it’s all gravy baby, my life is good. I got married two weeks after that fight to my beautiful now wife, and just had the time of my life.
“We were meant to go on our honeymoon to Fiji, and she said Fiji is always going to be there, let’s have a fight. We’re all in.”
'It would take a lot': Horn weighs in on future as historic anniversary dawns (June 29)
Jeff Horn has just about drawn a line through any potential return to the ring, declaring it would “take a lot” to consider a swan song bout.
One of the Australia’s biggest names in boxing, ‘The Hornet’ will be eagerly watching on to see whether his former Olympic Games teammate Jai Opetaia can achieve world title glory.
Opetaia’s July 2 clash on the Gold Coast with IBF and The Ring Cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis will fall five years to the day since Horn claimed the WBO Welterweight belt from Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao.
Horn does not believe in any hoodoos with regards to the date, nor does it give him any greater inkling to put the gloves back on himself.
In the past, he has said that his boxing career would not stretch further than when he turned 35 — a milestone he is just eight months shy of.
And having not fought since his August 2020 TKO defeat to Tim Tszyu, Horn was adamant he was not actively seeking a final fight and was instead determined to play his role in Opetaia becoming the nation’s next champion.
“Look there’s always the potential of me coming back in, but it’s been almost what a year and a half that I’ve been out so it would take a lot for me to get back in there,” Horn said.
“I don’t really believe in omens or anything with the date, but it is a great day for Australians on that day. Hopefully Jai can replicate it on the day.
“It’s the biggest prize there is in boxing; to have a world title around your waist is the biggest thing we fight for in the sport — it’s what we dream of. This is everything Jai would be after, he’s done the second biggest thing which is go to the Olympics and now it’s that world title.”
Horn has watched Opetaia’s career transcend throughout the past decade, after the pair represented Australia together at the 2012 London Olympics.
Just three days out from the night where Opetaia either ascends to the top of the food chain, or is forced to plot how he earns another chance, Horn said there was very little he could say or do in order to help the 26-year-old prepare.
He said ultimately the work had already been done; now it was a case of keeping calm and putting it all into practice.
“The fights that Jai has had, the experiences he has had since then, has made him a better fighter,” Horn said.
“I know his power has certainly increased, he’s dropping guys now quite comfortably so that’s what has changed about Jai. Jai’s a pretty chill guy, I know that about him, and I think he’s going to be that throughout this.
“I just told him to keep being himself, keep doing his normal routine. I know he’s been training hard so everything should fall into place for him. Just chill, be his normal chill self.
“Jai is a relaxed guy, keep that relax nature about yourself. I know he’s done the work, just chill, do what he does best and be the awkward southpaw he is.”
‘I was turning on people’: Years of pain revealed in global quest
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 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.”
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 27/7.
“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 fighting’. 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 heels.
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 his 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 weigh-in.
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.”
Ask the sparring partners: Why world champion does not fear Gold Coast challenge
Mairis Briedis has arrived on the Gold Coast, and the world champion has declared the setbacks that have plagued the build up to his bout with Jai Opetaia will not hinder him once the opening bell tolls.
And as the Latvian boxing sensation, who holds the IBF and The Ring cruiserweight titles, prepares to defend his belts for the second time he has sent a coy warning to his Australian rival that his own hunger has simply intensified.
Both pugilists have been forced to call for a postponement to the July 2 clash at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, with the bout initially poised to go ahead on April 6.
However first it was Briedis to fall, having been diagnosed with Covid-19, before a freak rib injury to Opetaia delayed the new May 11 slot once again.
While Opetaia may be the determined up and coming prospect eager to write his name into the sport’s history books, Briedis has encountered similarly frustrating pre-fight circumstances before.
A coronavirus outbreak in Europe forced his 2020 contest with Yuniel Dorticos to be postponed a week before they were due to step into the ring, while Briedis has also needed to fight through the physical barriers that floored Opetaia.
The veteran is not just comfortable in how to deal with such continued adversity, he has seen it all before.
“It’s not like we’re in this situation for the first time, we had an even crazier experience with the fight against Dorticos where the fight was moved a week before,” Briedis said.
“We kind of take it all as it is, it’s part of the game. I guess the worst was when I was in Chicago when I was boxing just after I had done surgery for my wrist.
“They told me that I was not to even train for three months but I didn’t want to miss the chance to be in the (World Boxing) Super Series second season, so I had to go there.
“This is just how the sport is.”
Briedis’ willingness to defend his mantle on foreign soil is perhaps the finest signal of his confidence. He will be walking into a hornets nest, with a parochial crowd expected to be jeering him towards defeat at the hands of Opetaia.
That is exactly how the 28-1 powerhouse likes it, unfazed by the pressure headed his way and adamant his forthcoming clash will only cement himself in combat folklore.
When asked if even at 37, having reached the pinnacle of his craft, he still had the hunger and desire to compete he offered a simple yet daunting response.
“My sparring partners were not complaining that I’m missing the hunger,” Briedis said.
“I’m prepared just as for any other fight. When you are stepping into the ring, when the fight starts, everyone’s in the same position.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a champion or not, you’re not given different gloves or anything else. Both guys are warriors and both guys are in the same situation at the beginning of the fight in the same conditions.
“I hope it’s going to be like boxing on my home soil, where it’s really loud and the referee sometimes misses the gong. You can barely hear your corner, or you can’t hear it at all, so “I’m expecting to have the same atmosphere right here.”
‘We’re building a beast’: Inside the unique surgery that saved Jai Opetaia's title fight on the Gold Coast
Overcoming injury has become synonymous with Jai Opetaia’s career in the ring, and his most recent hurdle has taken a unique procedure to save his forthcoming world title fight.
For most of his time boxing he had been battling a hand injury, stressing that the wound may never truly heal. Now, as he returns to sparring from a torn rib cartilage ahead of his quest for the IBF cruiserweight belt on the Gold Coast, he is a new man. Because as he says, he and his team are not simply finetuning a fighter to take on current champion Mairis Briedis.
“We’re sculpting an animal,” Opetaia declared at Surfers Paradise’s WickedBodz, “we’re building a beast.”
Opetaia’s journey to take on the Latvian star has been a tumultuous one already, with his recent setback forcing the bout to be postponed.
The 26-year-old pugilist suffered a cracked rib while sparring, however rather than get it assessed immediately he believed it to be nothing more than the usual knocks and bumps every competitor endured. When he went to throw one punch too many, the cartilage completely tore and agony followed.
chance encounter with a Gold Coast surgeon, who happened to be a client of Opetaia’s head trainer Mark Mathie, enabled Opetaia to be rushed in for a unique surgery to save the fight.
“He contacted me the next morning because he found out through doctors at the hospital that Jai may have hurt his ribs,” Mathie said.
“He had a look at the scans … he liaised with a few other doctors around the world and the country, and they came up with a few different processes from their experiences.
“They used clamps that they brought and that they haven’t used a lot of before that they got flown in from Melbourne. They got around the bones and separate the ribs back open and it doesn't need to be screwed.
“Therefore the recovery time is a lot less. The surgeon who did it, he’s a trauma surgeon so this was a bit of fun for him.”
Such has been the speed of his recovery, Opetaia said he felt no lingering impacts of the wound sustained. He said in the past he had allowed injuries to impact his mind, casting doubt over his future in the sport at times. But that was the younger Opetaia, not the world champion in waiting he has declared he was.
Jai Opetaia reveals his scars following surgery on an injured rib cartilage. Picture: Supplied“When I first got the injury I was pretty stressed out, I wanted it to get better and better. Now it’s in the back of my mind, I don’t even think about it anymore,” Opetaia said.
“Everything we do is hard, 100 per cent, there’s no more trying to look after it. It is what it is, you get injuries and just have to keep pushing through.
“We’re in a contact sport, we’re literally going into a ring trying to take each others heads off. It’s bound to happen, so you just have to keep pushing through – everyone gets injuries. “It was an awkward injury, but the main focus is they got it done. That’s all we’re worried about, the injury is good now, it’s at 100 per cent.
“What I’ve done coming back from the surgery I had and now I’m about to fight for a world title and win it it’s unheard of.”
The countdown to Opetaia’s clash with Briedis has reached the one month stage, with the pair to come to blows on July 2 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. While the battle for the belt has now been delayed twice, Opetaia said that had only made him hungrier to make an impression.
Jai Opetaia is recovering from a rib injury and will be ready for his world title fight. Picture: Supplied.This is a moment he said that had been building inside his head since before it was announced, and he promised to stand as another Australian world champion alongside George Kambosos Jr once the final bell sounded.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this, even the build up to this Briedis fight has been a long time,” Opetaia said.
“It’s always in my head, just grinding and grinding. There’s no way in the world he’s worked as hard as me for this fight.
“This is a world title fight for me, this is a make or break situation and I don’t think he understands what he’s got himself into. I’m young, hungry, ready to go.
“This guy is coming on a full stomach, I’m coming starving. We’re almost there now, and once we win this it opens up a whole new chapter.”
Kingscliffe duo to fight on ‘biggest card in Australian boxing history’ (April 18)
At last, Moloney brothers Andrew and Jason have both emerged victorious on the same card in America. Now they are on the cusp of their grandest career moves, having been locked in for what is set to be the “biggest card in Australian boxing history”.
The Kingscliffe pugilists wasted little time returning to training from the moment they returned from their triumphant bouts in the United States, as they prepare to line up on the undercard of George Kambosos Jr’s defence of his world lightweight titles.
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Speaking after his 10-round win over Francisco Pedroza, Jason declared he and his team were pushing for his fight at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on June 5 to be against Thailand star Nawaphon Kaikanhain in a world title eliminator.
The victor would then put themselves on a collision course with unified world bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, provided the Japanese sensation overcomes Nonito Donaire on June 7.
“It’s not officially locked in. I’m number two in the world in the WBC (World Boxing Council) and we’ve been ordered to fight the number one from Thailand,” Jason (23-2-0 record) said.
“That would be huge. The winner would fight in the title for the next fight, so that’s what I want to happen. For us to be able to fight at home in front of such an audience on such a big platform is huge for our careers.
“We want to go out and have two really impressive performances and get people talking about the Moloney boys at home. In the future we want to do what George is doing, bring titles back to Australia and have these massive stadium shows.”
The Moloneys had to endure a nervous wait as to whether or not they would still get their chance to impress on the Kambosos card, after the showcase was thrown into disarray earlier in the year.
With the Australian champion originally set to fight Vasiliy Lomachenko, the Ukrainian then made the brave decision to withdraw from the contest to help defend his nation against the Russian military invasion.
However once Kambosos was matched up with American Devin Haney, the Moloney twins were quick to refocus and use their recent fights to lay the foundation for the Melbourne show.
It was the first time the pair had both had their hands raised on an American fight card.
While Jason is working towards earning his first world titles, Andrew is out to win them back.
The 31-year-old lost his WBA super-flyweight belt to Joshua Franco in 2020, and was unable to win them back when the pair faced off twice again.
But on the back of his eighth round TKO victory over Gilberto Mendoza last week, with his wife Chelsea and son Lee in the stands for the first time in the US, Andrew said he had rediscovered his mojo on his quest back to the top.
“It was great to have my son and wife there who was able to come over,” he said.
“It was the first time they’ve seen me fight in America; my son has been to two before that but hadn’t been able to travel to America while we’ve been over there. It was really special.
“I’ve strung together two fights now, so it’s good to be active again and now I just have to keep climbing back up those rankings to get back to world title contention.”
Originally published as Issac Hardman wants another piece of Michael Zerafa … but first, a larrikin contender is in his path on the Gold Coast
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