Aussie heavyweight fast-tracks for proper Kiwi test

Murray Wenzel |

Teremoana Teremoana has locked in his next fight, as his promoter eyes a future world title.
Teremoana Teremoana has locked in his next fight, as his promoter eyes a future world title.

Keen to prove he’s the real deal, Teremoana Teremoana has fast-tracked his rise by locking in a date with a seasoned New Zealander tipped to finally take him beyond the second round.

The popular Paris Olympian is a perfect 12-0 as a professional and boasts nine first-round knockouts and a dozen stoppages before the third round.

Next, the Australian heavyweight menace will headline a Matchroom Boxing card in Melbourne on November 18 against Kiwi Hemi Ahio (25-1).

Boxing
Teremoana Teremoana has so far made light work of his heavyweight opponents. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn said Teremoana had been slated to fight Ahio next year but there was a need to provide his man with a sterner test sooner.

“We seriously have a superstar on our hands in Teremoana and he must close out this year with another big statement,” he said.

“I honestly believe he has the tools to become a future world champion.”

It comes with unbeaten cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia on the cusp of his own heavyweight debut in a blockbuster clash with former world champion Deontay Wilder in Wales.

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Australian Jai Opetaia (R) could soon be stepping up to take on Deontay Wilder. (Zain Mohammed/AAP PHOTOS)

Opetaia’s team remain in talks with the 40-year-old’s camp to stage the fight on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s clash with Anthony Joshua at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11.

The option poses a risk to Opetaia’s slated cruiserweight unification battle with David Benavidez for May next year, but is viewed as a profile-boosting solution to stay busy in the meantime.

Signed to Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing, Opetaia remains in a legal battle with the IBF after the organisation stripped him of their title on the eve of his Zuffa debut.

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Deontay Wilder (L) has had a long and distinguished career and has taken on the best in the world. (AP PHOTO)

That court action has caused a chain reaction in the cruiserweight ranks. 

No.2 contender and European champion Viddal Riley accepted a fight against unbeaten Frenchman Seydi Coupe instead of waiting to face New Zealand’s Queensland-based No.1 contender David Nyika in a potential title fight.

And fellow Zuffa boxer and former bantamweight world champion Jason Moloney is eyeing a fight return in Saudi Arabia next month, although that event remains in doubt following the weekend’s deadly Riyadh airport strikes.

AAP