4m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:45am
Opetaia vs Cinkara, Round 1
Opetaia is prowling around his corner.
Cinkara is more steady, swaying from one side to the other on his feet.
Incredible atmosphere as the fighters are introduced.
Chris Flores (USA) is the referee.
Here we go.
Both men bounce, fending at each other’s gloves.
They clinch but the referee lets the much out of it.
Opetaia lands a jab and then works the body.
Cinkara goes to the body too.
Tentative stuff early.
Opetaia gets a bit more agitated and then lands to the body – good shot, more twitchy from Opetaia.
A good shot to the body follows that the crowd really enjoyed.
Good body shot from Opetaia.
Good left from Opetaia to the chin of Cinkara, which holds up nicely.
Opetaia flashes a left that just misses the chin of the Germany-born Turkish fighter.
A tense first round.
5m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:44am
Opetaia vs Cinkara: Tale of the Tape
(Getty Images)
Jai Opetaia (AUS)
Record: 28-0 (22 KOs)
Age: 30
Height: 188cm
Reach: 192cm
Weight: 90.19kg
Hüseyin Cinkara (GER)
Record: 23-0 (19 KOs)
Age: 40
Height: 190cm
Reach: 192cm
Weight: 90.29kg
10m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:39am
Jai Opetaia walks to the ring
Here we go, the sound ramps up again now as Jai Opetaia speaks out from the big screen.
“I am beating myself every day.
“I’m here to prove I am the best boxer in the world.
“This is my life.”
Those are the slogans that he says, with a montage of his greatest hits.
This is electrifying stuff.
Now the Samoan heritage music, far less militaristic than Cinkara’s.
Opetaia appears flanked by two Samoan warriors in traditional dress. Amazing.
He too is an incredible sight, Opetaia, the triumphant music adding the the atmosphere.
11m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:38am
Hüseyin Cinkara walks to the ring
Here comes the challenger.
He is in full traditional Turkish battle dress, with an approach music that mixes the traditional music if his heritage and modern elements.
He looks an imposing figure in the ring – it’s quite the dramatic entrance and has had the desired impact with near silence in the arena from the Gold Coast crowd.
14m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:35am
Opetaia: ‘How hungry is he?’
Jai Opetaia is aware that this might not be the fight that he wanted to have at this stage of his career.
He wants to unify.
But he is not taking Cinkara lightly.
“He does bring a lot of challenges. You don’t become number one mandatory on accident,” he said on Thursday.
“He’s the first one to step up. I’m sure they offered him cash to step aside so we could get a different fight, but he believes he can win.
“He’s got nothing to lose, he’s coming to win. It makes him dangerous, but we are ready for the danger.
“We prepare in those deep waters all day. Whatever he brings, we got an answer to. I’m curious to see how he comes out.
“How hungry is he? How tough is he? Let’s find out.”
Let’s find out indeed.
Here come the fighters.
17m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:32am
‘I’m not here to play nice — I’m here to take the belts’
(Getty Images)
Hüseyin Cinkara has been the model guest this week ahead of today’s main event.
But when he landed on Australian soil last week, he was far more bullish.
“I’ve got respect for Opetaia, he’s earned his place,” Cinkara said.
“But respect don’t win fights. Power does, and I’m the harder puncher between us.
“If he wants to dance, I won’t be surprised. I don’t think he wants to trade with me. I hit harder, I hit faster.”
He also said he was going to “knock Opetaia senseless”.
That’s less acceptable for a house guest.
19m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:30am
Hüseyin Cinkara’s first trip outside Europe
Any world title fight is a big deal – for both challenger and champion.
But this is bigger than most for 40-year-old, Germany born, Türkiye-based fighter Hüseyin Cinkara.
This is the veteran cruiserweight’s first professional fight outside of Europe – most of his contests have taken place in Germany or Türkiye.
He has won all of those fights – knocking out an impressive number of them – but the calibre of those opponents does leave a bit to be desired.
But the man who wears the hat of ancient Turkish warriors in all his pre-fight commitments is unphased by the difficulty of the task ahead of him.
“[I’ve] worked very hard for this fight,” Cinkara said through an interpreter on Thursday.
“[We’ve] covered all bases. [We’re] ready to go. There’s nothing [I] believe [we’ve] forgotten.
“[I’m] ready to fight. [I’m] bringing the game.”
21m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:27am
Jai Opetaia can’t be complacent
(Getty Images)
Everything suggests that Jai Opetaia should be able to win this fight comfortably.
That, in itself, could be dangerous.
The cruiserweight king in all but name, Opetaia is the best man at 90kg on the planet and should be fighting unification fights.
The boxing world knows it. The other fighters know it. And most of all, he knows it.
But he just has to be careful.
Complacency is the curse of the champion and any slacking off could allow this big-hitting man with 19 KOs to his name to make it a round 20.
That would be catastrophic to Opetaia’s hopes of unification.
22m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:27am
Time for Jai Opetaia…
That’s right, it’s main event time.
24m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:25am
I was trying to forget about that…
G’day Simon, this will be a welcome distraction from the shanigans at the Gabba…
– Mike
24m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:25am
‘I love being in the firing range’: McIntyre
Max McIntyre is speaking.
“Exactly what I expected, had to go through the gears. He’s never been knocked out before,” he says.
“I love being in the firing range, I feel comfy in there.”
Mick Francis is speaking now.
“This is all about progression. He’s 9-0 now, 8 knock outs,” the Tasman Fighters head honcho says.
“Make no mistake, this is a tough kid and Max made it look very easy.
“Australia needs to get behind this kid but this is the next big thing in Australian boxing.”
30m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:19am
Max McIntyre with the TKO win!
Thrilling from McIntyre!
He was patient. He was poised.
And then, when the acceleration came, it came with such ferocity that there was nothing Morris could do but stagger backwards and end up on his back.
A brutal upper cut, followed by a clubbing right, and the red corner said Morris had enough.
Incredible shot from McIntyre to end it, just sheer power and timing.
He’s astonishing.
32m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:17am
McIntyre vs Morris, Round 4
McIntyre misses with a wild overhand right.
He misses with a straighter right that time too and Morris clinches. McIntyre is warned by the referee there for use of the head.
Good shot from McIntyre as they come together.
Morris lands but then McIntyre goes back to his distance and it’s a couple of jabs that land.
McIntyre goes to the body as they clinch – the referee lets them work and Morris lands a couple
He’s caught there by a big upper cut though. McIntyre is landing hard again.
Good shot from McIntyre. AND ANOTHER!
MORRIS IS DOWN!
A MASSIVE RIGHT FROM McINTYRE!
AND IT’S OVER!
IN COMES THE TOWEL!
36m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:13am
McIntyre vs Morris, Round 3
McIntyre has been landing the cleaner shots so far, with Morris desperate to make it untidy and uncomfortable for the young upstart.
Great shot from McIntyre, so patient as he waited for Morris to come in and he landed hard on the side of his head.
McIntyre lands again. Good shot. The timing is there and the confidence to know when to throw those shots is impressive for someone so young – he’s only 21, remember.
Morris comes in and they clinch.
McIntyre jabs.
Good solid shot from McIntyre lands.
Big shot from McIntyre that time, right onto the body of Morris.
“Take it to him Jed,” is called from the supporters.
He’s not taking him anywhere at the moment.
McIntyre lands to the head but cops one for his troubles this time as well to end the round.
39m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:10am
McIntyre vs Morris, Round 2
McIntyre looks a very confident young man in the ring – he’s grown in stature a lot since I first saw him a couple of years ago.
But he is rabbit punched a couple of times there and the referee must have missed it. That might dent him a bit.
The referee now calls the pair together to stop using their heads on each other.
Good shot from Morris lands – and then the pair clinch untidily again.
Morris lands a jab. Not McIntyre does so as well.
McIntyre looks slock and always on the cusp of springing forwards.
They come together again and it’s untidy in close again.
Good body shot from McIntyre gets through.
Morris swings and misses after being beaten to the punch by McIntyre.
McIntyre tries to uppercut his way out of a clinch and lands a couple of shots.
McIntyre lands a shot right on the bell to end the round.
44m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:04am
McIntyre vs Morris, Round 1
McIntyre works the jab early.
He backs away, letting the jab of Morris miss his nose by a hair, so tight is his judge of distance.
McIntyre looks to hook and then throws a sneaky uppercut, incredibly skillful shot to play.
McIntyre has his jab working very well early.
He looks for that upper cut again there, but misses again.
Good jab from Morris gets through the guard.
Morris comes in and McIntyre throws a left at him.
Good body shot from McIntyre. He is liking that upper cut feint at the moment and looks for it again.
Good body shot again, as Morris cops it and then gets a bit rough in the clinch.
Good first round, not explosive but some good stuff in there.
45m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:04am
McIntyre vs Morris
There was a bit of push and shove at the weigh in between this pair, so expect a full-blooded encounter tonight.
Both men walk to the ring with plenty of fanfare.
Morris comes in relatively quickly, bad to the bone blaring over the speakers.
McIntyre, meanwhile, takes his sweet time, a heavily produced package of highlights playing on the screens behind and around the arena.
There are plenty of those highlights too, to be fair.
Morris, the former Australian champion, came in at 76.20kg and has plenty of support in the crowd.
McIntyre, who came in at 76.06kg, has far less support but he will earn that support if he performs her as well as he can.
1h agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:49am
You cannot take your eyes off Max McIntyre
(Getty Images)
Max McIntyre (8-0) has been called the most exciting prospect in Australian boxing.
If you’ve ever seen him fight, you’ll know why.
All the charisma that a marketer could hope for, hands with speed to spare and, most importantly, the sort of punch power that makes opponents weak at the knees.
He is a super exciting fighter and he’s up against Jed Morris (8-2) for the WBC Australasian super middleweight title today.
1h agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:43am
‘He ran all night’: Wyllie, crowd upset with draw
Here are the three scorecards.
- 97-93 in favour of Fleming.
- 100-90 in favour of Wyllie.
- 95-95 a draw!
A horrible one to score for sure.
Perhaps a draw is fair?
I still think Wyllie did the better work but we said this would be hard so maybe this is the right call.
“We’re fighters, we fight,” says a clearly unhappy Wyllie in the post-fight.
“He ran all night.”
He really did. Those last few rounds were remarkable. The evasion was amazing, but very frustrating for Wyllie and the crowd.
Meanwhile, Fleming is also unhappy.
“Were you guys watching?” Fleming says on the microphone as boos rain down on him.
“Look at his face. He knows he lost that fight,” he adds to ever more boos, stoking the fires of frustration in the support.
“Youse all seen it. I got ripped.”
The crowd disagrees, clearly.
1h agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:41am
A tough one for the judges
This is going to be unpopular with one set of supporters.
The crowd did not warm to Fleming when he got up on the ropes and, although he was impressive with his elusive powers, he didn’t land enough for me. This is boxing, not hide and seek.
The crowd think Wyllie should get it and I agree.
Lots of tight rounds, but I scored it 97-93 in Wyllie’s favour.
