Boxing legend Terence Crawford reveals advice for Jai Opetaia and rising Australian boxers

Visiting boxing royalty Terence Crawford has advice for the next generation of Aussie boxers and Gold Coast star Jai Opetaia. He also talked his upcoming $80m bout and Aussie wildlife run in.

Boxing legend Terence Crawford on stage with News Corp reporter Peter Badel. Photo: Darren Burns,

Visiting US boxing star Terence Crawford urges Gold Coast fighter Jai Opetaia to not over-train and the next generation of Aussie fighters to “stay the course” amid “rocky moments”.

Crawford and Opetaia - preparing for his upcoming IBF cruiserweight title fight on the Gold Coast against Claudio Squeo - were at The Star Gold Coast on Monday night for a Q&A with fans and aspiring boxers in the US star’s first visit down under.

On his Gold Coast visit, Crawford spent time cuddling koalas, stopped in at Gold Coast boxing gym FiteKlub where he caught up with Aussie fighters and retired NRL star Kevin Proctor.

On stage on Monday night, Crawford left advice for Opetaia and Australia’s next generation in the ring on how to ensure they are in tip-top shape for a major fight: “Hold nothing back, leave it all in the ring, don’t leave it all in training.

“We tend to want it so bad that we work so hard then we leave our fight in the gym.

“Save it, do everything you have to do in preparation, get your rest, get your mental together.

“Then just go out there and be you, have fun, you know what you’re doing in there.

“You can fight, just go out there and have fun, don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”

Opetaia revealed of his preparation: “Prep is like any prep, we’ll prepare for a hard 12 rounds. We’ve got some unfinished business, we want to become undisputed so this guy’s in the way.”

Crawford, one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers of all time with a stunning 41-0 record with 31 KOs, faces off with Saul Canelo Alvarez in September in an $80m fight that will be a long-awaited legacy-defining bout.

Boxing legend Terence Crawford with former Gold Coast Titan Kev Proctor

Crawford, 37, told Gold Coast fans he believed it was a fight he matched up strongly in and sent a warning to his Mexican rival: “He’s got to prepare for me, that’s how I look at it..

“I don’t ever go in a fight and say ‘I need to prepare for this, prepare for that’, because if I’m preparing myself to get better than my last fight then they need to worry about me.

“I don’t need to worry about them.

“Sizing Canelo up, he’s not a big guy. Looking at what he’s accomplished he’s the best out there, Canelo’s always the smaller fighter in his fights.

“He's thick but he’s short, short arms, stocky, compact, you know my arms (are) longer, I’m taller and faster.

“So it makes for a good matchup.”

Opetaia was asked if there were any boxers on his hit list after Squeo but instead had a major focus on building his legacy and claiming new belts.

“It’s different for me, I don’t really chase names,” he said.

“There’s not really anyone like a specific name that when this is all said and done like I want to go ‘I beat him’.

“I’m more chasing belts, so whoever’s got a belt I want to fight, that’s how I think.”

Boxing legend Terence Crawford at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Photo: Ian Rreyno

Crawford left the next generation of aspiring Australian boxers making their first steps in the professional world with advice: “Just stay on the course, because you’ll have rocky moments, you gonna have those times where you think your career is not going anywhere. You’re going to have those times where you think you’re not going to have the opportunity or just nothing is going right.”

In his short Australian tour, Crawford made sure to tick off items on his bucket list, including holding a Koala.

“It was cool, it took a poop on me,” he said.

“I love animals, so I’m not afraid of animals.”

Originally published as Boxing legend Terence Crawford reveals advice for Jai Opetaia and rising Australian boxers