IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia suffered 44 consecutive punches to the stomach during a training session ahead of his title defence against Jack Massey this weekend.
Opetaia has been gearing up for his title defense with intense training since the beginning of the month. During a training session on October 9, the Australian took 44 punches to the stomach in less than 30 seconds. He kept moving, but kept his hands at his sides, showing no intention of defending or fighting back.
As an amateur, Opetaia won bronze at the 2012 World Junior Championships, and represented Australia at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Opetaia, born in 1995, has won all 25 of his professional fights, with 19 of them by knockout. He won the IBF and The Ring cruiserweight titles when he defeated Mairis Briedis in July 2022, and then defended both titles with a technical knockout of Jordan Thompson in September 2023.
The Australian was stripped of his IBF belt due to a disagreement with the IBF, but retained his The Ring belt when he knocked out Ellis Zorro in December 2023. He retained his The Ring belt and regained his IBF belt when he defeated Mairis Briedis in May 2024.
Opetaia will defend his two cruiserweight titles against England’s Jack Massey at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 12. Massey has two losses and 22 wins in his professional career, including 12 knockouts.
Cruiserweight is also known as light heavyweight, with a weight limit of under 90.72 kg. Historically, there have been many names competing in this class such as Evander Holyfield.
Massey, who worked as a scaffolder with his brother and with his father in a brake pad factory, said the advice he received from his father and brother during this period helped him decide to pursue a boxing career.
“My dad worked in the same brake pad factory for 40 years,” Massey told Sunsport. “When I was there, he always asked me: ‘Do you want to be stuck here like me for the rest of your life – or do you want to make a name for yourself in boxing?’ My brother said the same thing. They always told me it would be an insult if I didn’t make a career in boxing, and that was always in the back of my mind.”