Paris 2024: Aussie super heavyweight plots boilover against reigning world champion
Teremoana Jr is the biggest super heavyweight in Australia’s Olympic history, now he meets the defending gold medallist in a super heavyweight blockbuster and prepares to pull of one of the upsets of the Games.
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Teremoana Teremoana Jr has revealed how the death of his grandfather is driving the Australian super heavyweight sensation to pull off one of the boilovers of the Paris Olympics.
Buoyed by his savage 169-second knockout win in the round of 16, Teremoana Jr has warned he is coming to destroy 201cm monster Bakhodir Jalolov in their quarter-final blockbuster on Friday night.
This shapes as one of the most explosive bouts of the Paris Games.
Jalolov is the king of the super heavyweights. The Uzbekistan behemoth is the reigning Olympic gold medallist. He is 14-0 as a pro with 14 knockouts. At 30, he is a two-time world champion and three-time Asian championships gold medallist.
Jalolov starts the raging favourite. There will be fireworks when 235kg of pugilistic power collide. Someone is going home without a medal. Teremoana Jr insists he won’t be him, saying he is primed to claim the biggest scalp of all.
“I don’t fear him,” the 198cm Sydney-born slugger said.
“Someone is going to get knocked out. My plan is to box him and if a punch lands, we are both heavyweights, I know someone is going to feel it.
“I’m glad we are meeting earlier because in my mind I’m winning gold, which means he goes home without a medal.”
Jalolov is a frightening sight in the flesh. He flashed a menacing half-grin when asked if he is wary of the Teremoana Jr threat.
“I know about the Australian,” he said through an interpreter. “I am here to win gold. That’s it.”
Teremoana Jr will take his grandfather’s spirit into the ring. At 19, the Campbelltown kid quit boxing, then Teremoana Tangauru died of cancer in 2018.
“When my grandfather passed away, that was the turning point,” Teremoana Jr said.
“I turned 21 a few months after his death and from that day I decided I would get serious about boxing.
“I’m here for legacy and to honour him by winning gold.”
Australian teammate Shannan Davey can smell a monster Olympics upset.
“He is too fast for Jalolov,” Davey said. “Jalolov does the basics very well, but Teremoana is the better boxer overall.
“He is going to win gold. I have no doubt in my mind he will do it.”
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Originally published as Paris 2024: Aussie super heavyweight plots boilover against reigning world champion
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