Stripped Aussie champ lands title fight in shock twist; ‘p****d off’ Tszyu reacts to handshake snub

This is Fox Sports Australia’s combat sports column Fighting Words, where we give you all the latest news and views in MMA and boxing, from Australia and abroad.

Australian superstar Jai Opetaia has agreed to terms for a US blockbuster against WBC cruiserweight champ Noel Mikaelian — with the only delay now being a “difficult” Don King.

The surprise revelation comes as Team Opetaia have also declared Saudi billionaire Turki Alalshikh ready to help bankroll “a massive lawsuit” aimed at reclaiming the fighter’s IBF strap.

Only months after being sensationally stripped of the IBF cruiserweight title, Fighting Words can reveal Opetaia is now readying for a surprise showdown with Mikaelian, the WBC champ who has previously trained alongside Tim Tszyu.

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Opetaia’s manager Mick Francis confirmed the two camps have already agreed to terms.

The Tasman Fighters boss then added that the sole delay now surrounded Mikaelian’s famed promoter, the ageing Don King, proving “a little difficult”.

Regardless, the proposed date is August, and Las Vegas the likely location.

The announcement comes as Francis has also vowed to have Opetaia reinstated as IBF cruiserweight king, declaring the alternative will be a “massive lawsuit” bankrolled by Alalshikh.

“So we’ll then find out who has the deeper pockets,” the Aussie manager boss warned.

Despite suggestions Opetaia was being lined up for Englishman Chris Billam-Smith next — or even pitched into a megafight with David Benavidev — Francis confirmed the WBC showdown is now just awaiting agreement from the champion’s promoter, King.

“The deal with Mikaelian is pretty well done,” he said. “The only issue we have is Don King … [laughs] who even at age 94, is still proving to be a little difficult.

“The fight should’ve actually been locked away weeks ago, we’re just working through some last challenges.

“But we’ve already agreed to terms. And I’d suggest the fight will be sometime around August, and most likely in the United States … we’re just waiting on contracts to be signed.”

Francis then revealed he also isn’t done with the IBF, who stripped Opetaia shortly after signing on as the new poster boy of Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing stable.

“We’re not letting that issue slide,” Francis stressed. “My prediction is Jai Opetaia will be reinstated as IBF champion.

“Otherwise, there is going to be a massive lawsuit.

“And if that’s the case, we’ll find out who has the deeper pockets. And I think Zuffa, Dana White and Turki Alalshikh have deep pockets …”

TSZYU: “HE F***ING GOT ME, BRO”

Tim Tszyu has admitted to being “p***ed off” with Errol Spence Jnr’s now infamous handshake snub in Las Vegas a few weeks back – and is vowing to “go for his head” in the first round of their Australian blockbuster.

Elsewhere, Tszyu has also revealed how different, stylistically, he expects to look after recently dumping Cuban coach Pedro Diaz in favour of Australian boxing great, Jeff Fenech.

Asked how he will fight under Fenech’s guidance, and Tszyu crashes his fists together four times, grinning: “Like that … action.

“Jeff is one of the best inside fighters of all time. There’s a lot to learn from him in terms of that. So this fight, stylistically, it’s not going to be me running, moving. I’m coming in … I’m risking it all.

“I want to come in red hot. No feeling out this time around. Just come in red hot and go for his head, straight away.”

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And as for that moment when Spence snubbed his extended hand when crossing paths moments before the press conference to announce their July 26 fight?

“He f***ing got me bro,” Tszyu grinned. “Now he’s got me p***ed off”.

Tszyu added that he has been wanting this fight for five years, continuing: “Ever since he started talking smack on Twitter, saying Tony Harrison was going to beat me. He’s just bagged me out. Calling me trash. I thought ‘you know what, I really want to get this guy’.

“I’m not a guy who talks badly about people. That’s not me. But I’ve always had this thing against Errol.”

JUSTIS HUNI IN LINE FOR ASHES BLOCKBUSTER

Australian heavyweight Justis Huni looks set to headline an Australian pay-per-view event in August, and potentially in a massive Ashes showdown against Englishman Richard Riakporhe.

This column can also reveal Huni has agreed to at least two more fights with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, with a win in August then guaranteeing a spot on the undercard of Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua at the back end of this year.

Speaking with Fox Sports Australia earlier this month, Hearn tossed up a host of big names for Huni next up, including Deontay Wilder, Jarrell Miller and Derek Chisora.

However, it’s understood Huni would instead prefer to punch back into the world rankings against Riakporhe, who sits No.10 with the WBC and No.11 with the IBF after previously campaigning as a cruiserweight.

PARO WON’T BE BULLIED

Liam Paro says he expects Lewis Crocker to come forward and try to bully him when the pair clash for the IBF welterweight crown on June 24 in Brisbane.

Crocker, who remains undefeated and will be fighting outside the UK for the first time, has repeatedly claimed he will be the “bigger man” in the showdown with the Queenslander.

But Paro, a former world champion at super lightweight, insists he will be more than ready for whatever the Belfast fighter brings.

“I’ve heard him say in interviews that he’ll be the bigger man, which gives me the feeling he’s going to try and walk through me,” Paro says. “If anybody says they’re the bigger guy, that’s usually what they’re going to try and do – bully the so-called smaller fighter.”

Paro made it clear he has no issue if Crocker chooses that path.

“I welcome it,” he said. “I’ll walk him onto punches all night long until he can’t take them anymore. But if he wants to box off the back foot, we’re ready for that as well.”

TEAM OPETAIA SLAM “BULLS****” BENAVIDEZ CLAIM

Back on Opetaia, and his team have also taken aim at longtime American promoter Sampson Lewkowicz – the same man who Tim Tszyu once branded a “weasel”.

Speaking on The Punch Podcast this week, Lewkowicz suggested there is no chance of his superstar client David Benavidez ever throwing down with Opetaia, given the big punching Aussie has been stripped of the IBF crown.

While Benavidez claimed two cruiserweight straps against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez last weekend, and urged Dana White to make the Opetaia fight, Lewkowicz dismissed the idea before taking a shot at Australia’s cruiserweight king.

“He lost the belt for money,” the promoter said of Opetaia. “So now let him keep the money.

“He made a very bad decision and the people surrounding him didn’t have the patience to look for the best for their fighter. Money isn’t everything for a fighter. The belt is everything … [and] he means nothing without the belt.”

To which Team Opetaia says what?

“That’s absolute bulls****,” manager Mick Francis fired. “Everyone knows Jai Opetaia is fighting for belts, for legacy – and not money.

“Benavidez says he will fight Jai Opetaia, then looks for every reason why it doesn’t suit. I’ve heard he wants a fight with Dmitry Bivol but I’m not sure that happens. So maybe be the end of the year, when there is nothing else, he takes the fight – because the offer is already on the table.”

MAN WHO FOUND PACQUIAO SIGNS AUSSIE

In an interesting aside to The Punch Podcast’s Lewkowicz interview, the man famed for helping discover a young Manny Pacquiao confirmed he’s now guiding hyped Queensland prospect Cooper O’Connell.

Undefeated in four fights, the 19-year-old son of Australia’s longtime fight queen Shannon O’Connell has been declared a potential world champion by Lewkowicz – who now has the teenage southpaw living and training fulltime in Las Vegas.

Elsewhere, the promoter also suggested he would be willing to have another of his star clients, Sebastian Fundora, fight the winner of Tszyu-Spence.

Tszyu, of course, has already twice fought The Towering Inferno, and lost both times.

LOMACHENKO RETURNING FOR ‘BIG FIGHT’

Boxing superstar Vasiliy Lomachenko is reportedly returning to the ring later this year.

The Ukrainian maestro, who is considered by many to be the greatest amateur boxer in history, announced his retirement in June last year.

However, according to Mike Coppinger of The Ring, Lomachenko is preparing a comeback and will target “big fights” rather than tune-ups, following the expiry of his deal with Top Rank.

The former world champion’s most recent bout came against Australia’s George Kambosos Jr. in May 2024, where he claimed a dominant win.

JDM BREAKS HIS SILENCE

West Aussie UFC star Jack Della Maddalena has broken his silence for the first time since suffering a brutal loss to Carlos Prates in Perth – and he’s looking at the positives.

The former welterweight champ was stopped in the third round by the dangerous Brazilian striker in a result that stunned many fight fans.

Now, for the first time in his pro career, Della finds himself on a two-fight skid.

“Thanks for all the love and support,” he wrote on Instagram. “I could not be prouder to represent my gym @scrappy_mma_and_fitness, my family, my city and country.

“Not the desired result this time around but it was in line with the desired challenge; fighting the most vicious and toughest opponents.”

Welterweight kingpin Islam Makhachev has suggested that perhaps the Aussie hasn’t fully recovered from their world title showdown in November last year.

SKYE DENIED SCOTNEY SHOWDOWN

Australia’s Skye Nicolson may have just seen her long-awaited showdown with Ellie Scotney slip away after the British world champion confirmed this week she is moving up in weight.

Scotney’s decision to leave the junior featherweight division is a major blow for Nicolson, who has spent months pushing for a blockbuster clash with the undefeated English star.

The pair have traded shots publicly over the past year, with Nicolson repeatedly insisting Scotney had shown little interest in making the fight happen.

Now, with Scotney set to campaign at featherweight, the much-discussed bout appears unlikely – at least for the foreseeable future.

Nicolson told Fox Sports Australia last month she feared the fight was slipping away because both Scotney and Amanda Serrano viewed her as a “banana skin opponent”.

“Hearing Ellie talking about Amanda Serrano, it doesn’t give me a lot of hope about our fight being made,” Nicolson said.

“And so that would mean my undisputed chance gone — again.

“Which is frustrating.

“I was in the mandatory position for Amanda two years ago, but it didn’t happen because she vacated the belt.

“And now it feels like this is what is going to happen again with Ellie …”