Speaker 1: Hi'm my Boris, and this is straight talk.
Speaker 2: When you're a boxer, you know, when you go somewhere
Speaker 2: size are the top, you know, you're like, oh, how
Speaker 2: am I going to approach? How how am I ever
Speaker 2: be there? Am I going to?
Speaker 1: You know what I'm going to do?
Speaker 2: So I've met him a few times and there's a
Speaker 2: way to beat him. Boxing is what I do. It's
Speaker 2: like a religion to me. I've grown up in the sport.
Speaker 2: I'm i first one at eight years old. Well my
Speaker 2: whole life training, running, punching bag, sparring. To get to
Speaker 2: the top is a freaking long journey. It's hard, man,
Speaker 2: It's a very lonely, hard road. But I was never stressed.
Speaker 2: I always seen the light at the end of the tunnel,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. Like, I always knew what
Speaker 2: the goal was, and that was the wind world title,
Speaker 2: get on the big stages. So now that I'm here, good,
Speaker 2: I'm the best cruise way in the world. I want
Speaker 2: these belts around my waist. I'm chasing unification. What there's
Speaker 2: me and Ramiroz. You know they say, well the top,
Speaker 2: that's what.
Speaker 1: Joe Battire. Well, we're doing straight talk made man straight up.
Speaker 1: I know that Polynesian surnames are often pronounced wrong by
Speaker 1: people like me, So how do I actually say your surname?
Speaker 1: Give it a go opataia.
Speaker 2: Opa tyle thank you, because a lot of people say oh.
Speaker 1: And in your language, we're in the Simon language, is
Speaker 1: always I always pronounced as opposed to oh, is that right?
Speaker 2: Is that right? He's more fuss I'm half fuzzy. So
Speaker 2: I'm learning myself.
Speaker 1: But it's pretty important because, like I've noticed in the
Speaker 1: Raby League circles now that commentators have really been careful
Speaker 1: to say the name, probably because there's sort of like
Speaker 1: send me disrespectful. I'm not get it for my surname.
Speaker 1: People pronounced my used to pronounce my surname wrong when
Speaker 1: I was younger. It's and I iced to think, fuck me,
Speaker 1: get it right, Like it's not that hard, but maybe
Speaker 1: it is hard for people who don't you know, don't
Speaker 1: don't know the pronunciation. But I just want to make
Speaker 1: sure it's right. So that's a that's not and so
Speaker 1: welcome mate, like it's and by the way, mum and dad,
Speaker 1: so obviously from your surname, your dad's Polynesian someone and
Speaker 1: your mum's an aus woman. Are they from Sydney or
Speaker 1: where from?
Speaker 2: Yeah? They actually grew up around.
Speaker 1: Around the Dalla area where our studios are just here
Speaker 1: and there.
Speaker 2: Man, Yeah, they grew up you know, they lived at
Speaker 2: the cross where we lived that I was born out
Speaker 2: in Westmead. We lived in a flat in Parramauta for
Speaker 2: a while and then yeah, we made them move to
Speaker 2: the Central Coast. So I'm a Central Coast boy at heart.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and actually not only a Central Boys Coast boy
Speaker 1: at heart. But you're a world champion in real turn,
Speaker 1: like absolute world champion. You've defended your title as well,
Speaker 1: so like well done made Because Jeff Phoanix is a
Speaker 1: good friend of mine, had told me that as far
Speaker 1: as he's concerned, and this is, you know, come from
Speaker 1: a legend that you probably are the most promising Australian
Speaker 1: fighter in the last ten years. And that's a big
Speaker 1: rap come from Fannick Jeff.
Speaker 2: Phoenix, you know, a legend of the sport, you know,
Speaker 2: and not just here in Australia. Man, he's well known
Speaker 2: all over the world, so you know that's a massive compliment.
Speaker 1: And he did train for well, they didn't he he
Speaker 1: managed me for a while he managed you yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: because and I'm going to take you back a little
Speaker 1: while and said something outside about it. But there was
Speaker 1: a his father was a good fighter too, But there
Speaker 1: was a young fellow here in Australia called willis a
Speaker 1: bit bigger than you. I think it would have been
Speaker 1: a heavyweight division. You would have been like you would
Speaker 1: have been in your nineties. In terms of chillos. He's
Speaker 1: probably in those days. He probably of one hundred and ten,
Speaker 1: six foot five. But I remember watching you spa with
Speaker 1: went for neck invite to me, and I watched watch
Speaker 1: his spa A much bigger guy, willis Man, and this
Speaker 1: is I'm going to take this somewhere in a moment.
Speaker 1: Obviously a heavyweight and a very experienced fighter, and as
Speaker 1: was his father, father fought for the war title. Do
Speaker 1: you remember those younger years when used to just jumping
Speaker 1: with anybody who would be put in.
Speaker 2: Front of you. Definitely, they've you know, molded my path.
Speaker 2: You know, there's like the apprenticeship of where I am today.
Speaker 2: And you know, special shout out to willis Man. He
Speaker 2: was like a brother growing up to me. You know,
Speaker 2: we grew up on the Central coast together. We were
Speaker 2: never allowed to go to the same school. Why not, Oh,
Speaker 2: just because we used to run a mark you know
Speaker 2: who were back in the day. But I tried to
Speaker 2: get into his school and that wasn't you know, going there. Yeah. So,
Speaker 2: but yeah, we spend plenty of time together. Man, We've
Speaker 2: done thousands around together, you know, hundreds. We grew up
Speaker 2: moving around together, and we grew up developing at one stage.
Speaker 2: You know, he's always been a tall dude. He was
Speaker 2: a bit skinnier, but and he really sort of shot
Speaker 2: off and man, he's a big boy.
Speaker 1: He was like six foot five or something like that.
Speaker 1: But for someone like you know, you're six or two
Speaker 1: or something like that. You're not small, by the way,
Speaker 1: but you're a proper cruise ofweight, you know, like, I
Speaker 1: don't know what you're normally walking around there, but you
Speaker 1: can obviously get down a cruiser. Willis is someone like
Speaker 1: him heavyweight. Does that sort of prepare you for perhaps
Speaker 1: fighting heavyweights in the future.
Speaker 2: Definitely. Well, I've always just moved around with heavyweights, you know,
Speaker 2: I've always you know, I even moved around with the
Speaker 2: old men Cully. You know, when you getting ready for
Speaker 2: fights and you know, just my old man was old school.
Speaker 2: You know. He would dad chuck me in with whoever,
Speaker 2: you know, and and that's all he was sort of
Speaker 2: taught the fight and taught the train. Was just you know,
Speaker 2: he told me stories about his old man. It didn't
Speaker 2: matter what weight they were. Everyone was aspiring everyone, and
Speaker 2: you know, you just got to learn to adapt to
Speaker 2: those styles. I feel like it sort of gives you
Speaker 2: more ammunition for when you do need that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1: Because stepping up a division, not many strains have done that.
Speaker 1: I mean, Panic did. He went up three divisions. But
Speaker 1: when you've got a fourth division in the end, which
Speaker 1: is the Zoom and Elson fight, which they awarded him
Speaker 1: post the fight, like twenty years later, thirty years later,
Speaker 1: whatever it is, but not many strains have done it.
Speaker 1: Are they? Are they ambitions of fighters? I had Drinkers
Speaker 1: Duplessus in here last week, which is who is the
Speaker 1: the UFC middleweight champion. He's talking about going up at
Speaker 1: division two? A dream going up a division, it's sort
Speaker 1: of proving yourself. Is that something that boxes do as well?
Speaker 2: Definitely? Well, once I've completed, you know, everything I've needed
Speaker 2: to do in the cruiseweight division. I feel like that
Speaker 2: is the next step, you know, going up to heavyweight,
Speaker 2: and I do lose weight to go down and cruiser,
Speaker 2: so I feel like I can make both weights comfortably.
Speaker 2: You know, You've got to change a few things in
Speaker 2: your training, but man, it's something I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 1: So when are you walking around it? What are you
Speaker 1: walking around it?
Speaker 2: Umm, probably walk around about ninety eight ninety nine kilos
Speaker 2: like comfortably, you know. But I can drop the weight easy,
Speaker 2: you know, like I don't struggle too bad, I don't.
Speaker 2: You know. I used to be bad back in the
Speaker 2: day when I was a lot more unprofessional, and you know,
Speaker 2: you wouldn't eat for two days trying to sweat at
Speaker 2: their hearts, sitting and sawn as It's used to be painful.
Speaker 2: But now now now it's good. You know, I eat
Speaker 2: the day before Wayne, and you know, we're very professional now.
Speaker 1: So if I could just you know, because you units
Speaker 1: probably don't quite understand this, but so cruse it just
Speaker 1: sell us a cruise weight Wayne, Wayne weight is.
Speaker 2: So cruise weight weight is ninety points seven.
Speaker 1: So just yeah, just okay, just under ninety one killers.
Speaker 1: So you've got to you walk around at ninety eight
Speaker 1: ninety nine. You've got to drop a kilos. You say,
Speaker 1: you can do that quite comfortably. When you look at
Speaker 1: someone like Usik, who's the current heavyweight champion, you're now
Speaker 1: occupying his previous division, the cruiseweight champion division. You look
Speaker 1: at someone like him, you look at someone like him.
Speaker 1: I don't think he'd be much bigger than you.
Speaker 2: No, he's not too much better. I reckon, he's moment
Speaker 2: an inch half an inch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've.
Speaker 2: When you're when you're a boxer, you know, when you
Speaker 2: go somewhere his size and everyone up all the time,
Speaker 2: all the time. How am I gonna you know, I approach?
Speaker 2: How am I going to beat him? How am I
Speaker 2: going to you know what I'm gonta do? So I've
Speaker 2: met him a few times, and you know I've stood
Speaker 2: next to him, So there's a way to beat him.
Speaker 1: That's as a fighter yours, you are actually sizing them up.
Speaker 1: You're I mean, I'm not in an aggressive way, but
Speaker 1: you think he's Well, if I have to jump in
Speaker 1: with this bloke, you know, I'm sort of just getting
Speaker 1: his shape. I'm understanding. I'm sort of profiling him, sort
Speaker 1: of thing, you know, with your brain your profile on
Speaker 1: the guy. Do you feel confident about it? You know,
Speaker 1: like do you You obviously watch his fights, that's different,
Speaker 1: that's the style. You watch his style, but just in
Speaker 1: terms of his physicality when you meet him, you think
Speaker 1: to yourself, Man, I reckon, like, I don't feel overpowered.
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, I might be a chance here.
Speaker 2: Definitely. I feel like everyone's beatable, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: And I feel like, you know, you train right, you
Speaker 2: prepare properly, and you know, I just feel like everyone's beatable.
Speaker 1: Man, that's a pretty positive mindset. I mean, how do
Speaker 1: you grow a positive mindset because you're a pretty mind
Speaker 1: getting you a pretty shy guy, like because you're not
Speaker 1: one of those cocky guys out there, Karen On, you're
Speaker 1: not aconom mc gregor style person in terms of you know,
Speaker 1: like up front, how do you develop your positive mindset
Speaker 1: about like that type positive mindset?
Speaker 2: Boxing is what I do? You know? Boxing is like
Speaker 2: boxing is honestly, like it's like a religion to me,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. Like it's just I've grown
Speaker 2: up in the in the sport, I've fought people all
Speaker 2: over the world. I've it's like another language to me,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So I feel like there's
Speaker 2: just the way to beat everyone, and I feel like,
Speaker 2: because I've done it for my whole life, I just
Speaker 2: feel I just feel like I want to find out
Speaker 2: that way to beat him and I can do it,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. I gotta sort of execute
Speaker 2: what's right and wrong minimum mistakes and then and then
Speaker 2: I can. I personally feel like I can just beat
Speaker 2: everyone if I fight smart. But if if you don't
Speaker 2: fight smart and you make one mistake, you're.
Speaker 1: Gone, because it only takes one punch. One punch, yeah,
Speaker 1: and it could be just a bit of a careless error.
Speaker 1: You've got to be on who else is left in
Speaker 1: your division now that you would like to aim up against.
Speaker 1: The last win was pretty convincing. Where to from here?
Speaker 2: I'm chasing belts.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: There's a Mexican guy, Ramirez that that I'm really going.
Speaker 1: To fight my belts.
Speaker 2: You hold, he's got the w B O and the
Speaker 2: w B A.
Speaker 1: So you've got the ib F and you've got the
Speaker 1: ring magazine. Yeah, yep, so you wanted you're chasing w
Speaker 1: B O w B A. That would be next.
Speaker 2: I want that w BO, you know, and then there's
Speaker 2: a WBC who I think he's an African fellow, who's
Speaker 2: got that? So I mean, honestly, I don't. I'm not
Speaker 2: I'm not like chasing fighters, you know what I mean, Like,
Speaker 2: I don't even I don't even watch these fighters unless
Speaker 2: I have to, you know what I mean. The only
Speaker 2: fighters I watch is if i'm if I'm learning of someone,
Speaker 2: you know that I'm adding to my game. I don't
Speaker 2: really watch people just for the fun of it, because
Speaker 2: I live the sport, you know what I mean, Like,
Speaker 2: I don't so one of my home I just like
Speaker 2: to relax. Otherwise, when I'm watching boxing, I'm thinking about
Speaker 2: it too much. I'm like, I should be about.
Speaker 1: The gym, you know, so you start obsessing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, seriously, that's what it is. That's a I always
Speaker 2: say it's a blessing any curse, you know what I
Speaker 2: mean that that same sort of thing that can make you,
Speaker 2: you know that that drives you and pushes you, can
Speaker 2: also make you can do it too much or you
Speaker 2: know you can you can shift it the wrong way
Speaker 2: or something like that.
Speaker 1: So well, So I watched you at Luna Park many
Speaker 1: years ago. Yeah, I went with Jeff and and I
Speaker 1: look at yours, and you know, they're all saying styles,
Speaker 1: wind fights. Your style now compared then? And I said,
Speaker 1: think myself, this kid when I watch you, that this
Speaker 1: kid could do anything that sort of thing. You're pretty young.
Speaker 1: Then it must be like eight years ago, seven, eight
Speaker 1: years ago when you're fought to Lunar Park. And but
Speaker 1: I thought you just didn't give. I felt like he's
Speaker 1: your cruising. Yeah, I thought he just it's too easy
Speaker 1: for you. How have you changed your style?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 1: And what was it that sort of got you to
Speaker 1: say I could be world champion? I am world champion.
Speaker 1: What change style? Who changes style?
Speaker 2: I wouldn't to be honest, I wouldn't say he's changed
Speaker 2: my style. It's just I adapt to what I need
Speaker 2: to adapt to, you know what I mean. I feel
Speaker 2: like that's what makes me. You know that that's what
Speaker 2: separates good from great in the ring. Is It's not
Speaker 2: it's not how good you are at one style. It's
Speaker 2: being able to adapt to someone who's a heavy puncher,
Speaker 2: being able to adapt to someone that's a fast puncher, counterpuncher,
Speaker 2: you know, like it's it's it's adapting in the ring.
Speaker 2: You know, like even all these game plans and stuff
Speaker 2: like that, like going in with a game plan that, yeah,
Speaker 2: we go in with like little game plan and we
Speaker 2: work on certain punches that we feel like are going
Speaker 2: to land more. But and we just perfect the craft.
Speaker 2: You know, minimum mistakes is what our main focus is.
Speaker 1: So you train not to lose in other words, but
Speaker 1: something so would you say you're a defense, you're working
Speaker 1: on your defense, or you just make sure you stay.
Speaker 1: That could be distance, that could be anything, but is
Speaker 1: that something that is really important to you, and then
Speaker 1: you come for the kill when it's time to come
Speaker 1: for the kill. It's just a balance of everything, you know.
Speaker 1: It's no one thing in particular.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's not one thing in particular. You know, Like
Speaker 2: you look at my last fight, it was we punched
Speaker 2: on like there was no backwards that the fight before that,
Speaker 2: the guy didn't even touch me, you know, I boxed
Speaker 2: his ears off. So it's like, you need to be
Speaker 2: able to do what needs to be done, and I
Speaker 2: feel like the key to it all is strength and
Speaker 2: strength and fitness, you know, like you need to be
Speaker 2: able to adapt to any style you need to. But
Speaker 2: if you're not fit enough to do it, then that's
Speaker 2: when shit goes out the window.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's interesting your I mean, and you know we're
Speaker 1: talking about Jeff Nick probably one of the fittest fighters
Speaker 1: ever in history according to Johnny Lewis. Anyway, you know,
Speaker 1: fitness is a big deal. Can you give us a
Speaker 1: sense of when you are in your training, when you're
Speaker 1: in camp, for example, you know what can be your
Speaker 1: twelve week period? Least, say you've got a fight coming
Speaker 1: up and you know, you know three months would you
Speaker 1: start your fight camp three months out? Or I know
Speaker 1: you're always training, but like when you're stay getting serious.
Speaker 2: And we'll stay active, you know, we sort of stay
Speaker 2: fit and we keep our body moving. But as soon
Speaker 2: as they give me the call, you know, as soon
Speaker 2: as they call me, Well, when we train, we train,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, Like we don't go through
Speaker 2: the motions like we we chase pain, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. Like you've got to train smart when you're
Speaker 2: training hard like that otherwise your body, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean, you need to be on top of your recovery.
Speaker 2: I'm lucky. I've got good people around me, you know,
Speaker 2: Like what a great performance coach Mark Matthew, I got
Speaker 2: my boxing coach Taps I got my assistant coach carry
Speaker 2: and as a team. You know, they you know, if
Speaker 2: it's too early and they see me going too hard,
Speaker 2: they give me a week, you know, go go fishing
Speaker 2: for a week or something, you know, go because otherwise
Speaker 2: it's just drives drives drives, and you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: They're trying not to burn me out. But honestly, man,
Speaker 2: I don't have the I don't have the special recipe
Speaker 2: for you, you know what I mean. We just we
Speaker 2: just show up every day and we try our best.
Speaker 1: Then maybe that is a special risky. Just try to
Speaker 1: turn them every day and do your best.
Speaker 2: Get there, just be there and then rock ups the
Speaker 2: first one.
Speaker 1: And Joyson hard and Australia find smart partners and you
Speaker 1: have to bring people in from overseas or has.
Speaker 2: That, yes, and no, you know what I mean. That's
Speaker 2: it's it's like who you're fighting, you know what styles
Speaker 2: you need? You know what I mean. We're a bit
Speaker 2: limited in there's a big jump from you know, world
Speaker 2: class and then there's you know, going lower from that.
Speaker 1: But yeah, there's a big difference in a good prior
Speaker 1: in a world class.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's you know what I mean. But there's boys
Speaker 2: out there, you know that the Australian boxing is getting
Speaker 2: huge and it's it's in a good spot at the moment,
Speaker 2: so it's it's progress. There's a few out there, man.
Speaker 1: So I guess Rod is not going to jump in
Speaker 1: anymore with this.
Speaker 2: He's a he's a completely different style, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. And he's a good duty and he's he's
Speaker 2: a crafty little fighter, is he. You know, he's tricky,
Speaker 2: he's awkward, and those awkward shotters when you get hit,
Speaker 2: so you know you've got to be switched on when
Speaker 2: you find it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So if I just go you just mentioned fishing.
Speaker 1: I mean you've said it a couple of times, so
Speaker 1: obviously fishing is something that you love doing. Why is
Speaker 1: it because it's full relaxing, Like what what do you
Speaker 1: completely take your mind off what you do with other things?
Speaker 2: I think so, I think it's just that sort of escape,
Speaker 2: like just doing something that's sort of you know, when
Speaker 2: you're fishing, you're only thinking about catching the fish, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. So I think that's why I
Speaker 2: like that sort of just escaping and being outside as
Speaker 2: well the nature. So I love it. Ain't being on
Speaker 2: the water.
Speaker 1: It's amazing. You're you're a world champion and you're on
Speaker 1: the world stage, and you know, boxing is still extraordinarily popular,
Speaker 1: like extraordinarily popular, and you know, more more eyes watch
Speaker 1: boxing than UFC. Still you get to mix it up
Speaker 1: with this oudis. You know, you go to those sorts
Speaker 1: of environments, you know, where like everybody's full of praise
Speaker 1: for you, yet your humility and humbleness is still there.
Speaker 1: Just want to go fishing, You want to go to
Speaker 1: fishing a yam. But down from the Gold Coast where
Speaker 1: you live these days, how do you keep humbling hum
Speaker 1: and keep your humility? Where does that come from?
Speaker 2: Man? I'm honestly, bro, It's a weird balance, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. Sometimes I am you know, like I
Speaker 2: am I am on the big stage now, like I
Speaker 2: am rubbing shoulders with greatness, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: Like where I am and the award nights I go
Speaker 2: do and the events I'm at, And it's starting to
Speaker 2: spin me out because I used to look at them
Speaker 2: and be like, oh, you know, there's thing, there's things.
Speaker 2: But these greats are doing that to me now, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, is that coming out of their
Speaker 2: way to talk to me. So it just it blows
Speaker 2: my mind and then you know, I'm grateful for it
Speaker 2: or you know what I mean. But sometimes you do
Speaker 2: lose track, you know, like sometimes you come home and
Speaker 2: my normal conversations with my you know, my normal people,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. I'm talking like this, but
Speaker 2: you know, really oh relaxed, relax. So I feel like
Speaker 2: it's a balance you have to try and find. And
Speaker 2: you know, like I said before, I haven't got the recipe,
Speaker 2: Like I'm not sure. I'm trying my best every day
Speaker 2: and I feel like that's all we got to do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're just had a baby. Your partner's just had
Speaker 1: a baby, Yeah, which you have? I just had a girl,
Speaker 1: Like awesome, how older she's seven months? That brings back
Speaker 1: down definitely, especially when they you had to change an appy,
Speaker 1: or they're screaming because they've got saw tummy, or just
Speaker 1: wake up in the middle of the night. How have
Speaker 1: you been dealing with that?
Speaker 2: It's been good. I've got a really great partner, you know,
Speaker 2: who's who's been with me for a long time, you know,
Speaker 2: so it's it makes life a lot easier when you
Speaker 2: got someone that's got your back and you know she
Speaker 2: we're both in this together, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: We're both been in this journey for a long time.
Speaker 1: Again, she's been with you for a long time, for
Speaker 1: a long.
Speaker 2: Time, since since we were young.
Speaker 1: So before Ji was the world champion.
Speaker 2: Exactly when was a little ship, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: She she'd been there. She believed in the dream. You know,
Speaker 2: I was like I had nothing, you know. She she
Speaker 2: really supported us and you know, took care of us
Speaker 2: and made us, you know, supported the household. Was the
Speaker 2: breadwinner for a long time. I was going off spy
Speaker 2: and training camps. We weren't making no money, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. She stood It's been a long journey.
Speaker 2: You know it's so but we're here now. You know
Speaker 2: it's all paid off, and but we still got a
Speaker 2: lot of hard work to do. You know, you never
Speaker 2: get comfortable, and you know, you know, you in a
Speaker 2: relationship yourself. Yeah, you know, you know they're they're working things.
Speaker 2: You got to constantly work on them, and you know
Speaker 2: they're roller coasters, so bring it on. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So, and I guess Joe, given that you now have Leilah,
Speaker 1: your little daughter, said my old order probably sometimes could
Speaker 1: be waiting back here for you on the Gold Coast
Speaker 1: when you fly in overt out an airport or Brisbane
Speaker 1: airport or Sitting airport, which when you fly in from
Speaker 1: from from an event, how relieved you feel to be
Speaker 1: looking for thinking I'm back.
Speaker 2: Yea, honestly, No matter where I go, the best part
Speaker 2: of the trips getting walking through my front door. I'm
Speaker 2: not okay, man, I've been all over the world, you know,
Speaker 2: I've rubbed shoulders, been met great people. The best time
Speaker 2: on my trip every time is walking through my front door.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you're and I read some with it. Your
Speaker 1: religion is an important part of your life, your faith
Speaker 1: more im probably more important, not so much religion, but
Speaker 1: your faith. Has faith always been a part of your life.
Speaker 1: Was a something you've adopted more recently.
Speaker 2: No, I've always been pretty religious, you know. I come
Speaker 2: from you know, being salmon. There's you know, God has
Speaker 2: always been a very important key to you know, our life.
Speaker 2: You know, it's it's everything's a gift from Him. You know,
Speaker 2: it's not it's not ours, it's it's a journey that
Speaker 2: sort of He's I don't know how to put it
Speaker 2: in words, but we're always grateful to God. You know
Speaker 2: what I mean. We're always thanking God for before every fight,
Speaker 2: we say our prayer, before every meal, we say our prayer,
Speaker 2: you know, just things like that.
Speaker 1: I know it's you seek similar for his Christian faith,
Speaker 1: he's very overt like obviously he doesn't mind hiding it
Speaker 1: and he doesn't sorry, he doesn't mind showing it. He
Speaker 1: doesn't try to hide it. And I guess if you
Speaker 1: are truly a person of faith, then that's the sort
Speaker 1: of person you're going to be. You've got to be prepared.
Speaker 1: You don't have to promote it, but you've got to
Speaker 1: be prepared to stand up for it when the time shots.
Speaker 1: Have you noticed that about Yusik too, because I see
Speaker 1: where's the crucifix on his chest and he kisses before
Speaker 1: he goes into the fight. It's good to see young
Speaker 1: men because relatively speaking of both young men prepared to
Speaker 1: stand up for what they believe in similar to other faiths,
Speaker 1: to not just Christianity. I mean we see that with
Speaker 1: saty ber Williams with his Muslim faith, et cetera. Being
Speaker 1: proud of their faith. That's an important factor in I
Speaker 1: think in people's success today. Do you find having that
Speaker 1: faith is part of your success.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, I feel like gods a massive part of
Speaker 2: my success. But you know, it's a working relationship ship
Speaker 2: as well. You know, I'm trying to be better and
Speaker 2: be better, just better every day and everything. You know,
Speaker 2: better son, better, better brother, better partner than my fiance,
Speaker 2: you know, better religious person, you know, like my religious journeys.
Speaker 2: It's weird, you know, but it's it's it's mine, so
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. It's not that I try
Speaker 2: and hide it. But at the same day, it's no
Speaker 2: one's business, you know what I mean. So we're just
Speaker 2: trying to figure it out and be better.
Speaker 1: But do you think it's funny because when you get
Speaker 1: to your level in the world, on the world stage,
Speaker 1: in the world boxing stage especially or as just as
Speaker 1: a world sporting stage, because you know, the cover's a
Speaker 1: lot of sporting sporting variety of sports. This this sort
Speaker 1: of sometimes is a presumption. People assume that you're flawless,
Speaker 1: you know, like you don't make mistakes. There's an assumption
Speaker 1: that gie when I make a mistake, or anybody else
Speaker 1: for that matter, which is not right because we're all
Speaker 1: human and we all make mistakes. But the game here
Speaker 1: is to be able to prepare to learn from our
Speaker 1: mistakes and be better at what we do, not just
Speaker 1: not just not just in an ethical or moral sense,
Speaker 1: not just as a brother or a son or a partner,
Speaker 1: but also as a box as well. And if you
Speaker 1: have that, it seems to me you've got that attitude
Speaker 1: in relation to everything you do. I'm just going to
Speaker 1: get better. I accept that I make mistakes, but I'm
Speaker 1: going to get better, and I'm going to get better.
Speaker 1: I'm going to get every day get better. Is that
Speaker 1: sort of like an attitudinal thing that you've got and
Speaker 1: you've always had.
Speaker 2: I don't know, it's just life, bro. I think it's
Speaker 2: just sort of you know, learning on the way. And
Speaker 2: I don't know, it's a hard question to answer. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, I think there's things in life that make
Speaker 2: you sort of think, fuck, you know, it's time to
Speaker 2: sort of wake up and stop being a little kid.
Speaker 1: Grow up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you've got to grow up with your big boy
Speaker 2: pants on, and I can start moving forward.
Speaker 1: So let me say one thing to like, its nearly
Speaker 1: seventy years that I have aged next year made I'm
Speaker 1: still doing it so and it never stops. My May
Speaker 1: died and ninety like he told me the same thing.
Speaker 1: You just you're always pulling yourself up. Give yourself an
Speaker 1: upper cart, get on with it, be better, try and improve,
Speaker 1: and I think you're doing. I actually think the humility
Speaker 1: and the humbleness I'm getting from your legs is overwhelming,
Speaker 1: overwhelming for me for someone who is at the same
Speaker 1: time the world champion in a boxing division, which by
Speaker 1: the way, not many Australians ever get there, and they
Speaker 1: plenty try plenty with great talent, never really get there
Speaker 1: and to and you've also defended you but your you're
Speaker 1: you know, you've defended that position and now you're talking
Speaker 1: about going on getting at WBC and w B a
Speaker 1: w BO, so you also got a whole lot of
Speaker 1: ambitions ahead of you. That is sort of nearly the
Speaker 1: opposite type of personality. I'm feeling they're coming from you,
Speaker 1: And it's just great to see someone like that when
Speaker 1: you see, you know, Tyson Fury, who has a totally
Speaker 1: different sort of personality or condor of McGregor in the UFC,
Speaker 1: totally different personality, and it just goes to show anyone
Speaker 1: Australian who's an aspiring person you don't have to be
Speaker 1: a certain personality to be the best in the world
Speaker 1: and that's a that's a big exposure to Australians. Do
Speaker 1: you feel any pressure in these stage as joy Opataya
Speaker 1: to continue on as that aspirational person aspiring other young Australians,
Speaker 1: not just in boxing, in sports generally anything for that matter.
Speaker 1: Do you feel any pressure?
Speaker 2: There's always pressure, you know, there's always pressure to do better,
Speaker 2: pressure to you know, when fights, become a better person.
Speaker 2: I don't know, man, I'm honestly just focused on myself,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, And I feel like that's
Speaker 2: what that's what they that's why I get to just
Speaker 2: do it the way I can do it, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. I'm just trying to. I don't I've
Speaker 2: always said I don't want to be the most famous fighter,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. I don't want to walk
Speaker 2: past someone and go, oh, you know, he's a superstar.
Speaker 2: I want to walk past people and they go, he's
Speaker 2: the best fighter I've seen, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And I feel like that is that's where boxing is
Speaker 2: getting two different sort of there's the soap the show
Speaker 2: bus of boxing, and then there's the boxes, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean.
Speaker 1: That so I feel like a fighters fighter.
Speaker 2: I want to be a fighter that I used to watch,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, the my old man used
Speaker 2: to go, come here, come sit down, like I used
Speaker 2: to be upstairs playing my game. It's get downstairs, come
Speaker 2: you watch this, you know what I mean? Like I
Speaker 2: want to be a fighter that a coach makes their
Speaker 2: fighter watch, you know what I mean, Like gets a
Speaker 2: coach gets their pattern paper and goes, oh, that's what
Speaker 2: you know. It's a craft, you know, not not those
Speaker 2: fucking superstar and talking ship and you know who's got
Speaker 2: the best argument and who's winning. That's never really interests me,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: So that's interesting, so so and but boxing, the fight
Speaker 1: game sports are entertainment at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: To a large extent, there is entertainment value in there.
Speaker 1: What do you think of the Saudi entry into serious
Speaker 1: entry into the boxing scene now promoting fights because it's
Speaker 1: and it is showb is a little bit of shower.
Speaker 1: There's obviously pay for you and all that stuff. You've
Speaker 1: got to make money out of the thing. They've got
Speaker 1: to make money out of it to promote it. What
Speaker 1: do you think about that? Or do you rather just
Speaker 1: see you back in the old US style system. You know,
Speaker 1: everything's controlled by one person or two or three.
Speaker 2: Now I think this REA season stuff is the best, yeah, honestly,
Speaker 2: and being a part of it, Like I feel like
Speaker 2: the thing that gets away of the best fighting the
Speaker 2: best is actually not the fightst it's the promoters, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. A lot of promoters that don't
Speaker 2: see either eye and you know, who's going to get
Speaker 2: the bigger card or who wants their organization to be
Speaker 2: more involved on the fight night. But when it comes
Speaker 2: to REACT season, they all it is REAT season, and
Speaker 2: then everyone's a part of that, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And I'm like, that's what they really needed. The sport
Speaker 2: needed that, you know, making putting promoters in the same
Speaker 2: room that have never even spoke to each other, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, But money talks, you know, And
Speaker 2: now we're seeing some of the best fight nights in
Speaker 2: the world. So I feel like this REAT season the
Speaker 2: best thing that's happened to boxing for a long time.
Speaker 1: And do you think that it's I mean, at the
Speaker 1: very top level, traditionally they get a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of dough. I mean, they get paid a lot
Speaker 1: of money per fight. But then if you sort of
Speaker 1: drop down and into different other levels that boxes don't
Speaker 1: relative to what they're going to put themselves through, they
Speaker 1: don't earn enough money. Do you think the entry of
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia will read which is the capital there? Do
Speaker 1: you think that has actually sort of made it a
Speaker 1: bit more fair everybody's getting paid more money sort of thing,
Speaker 1: and that you know, you're getting paid for what you
Speaker 1: do properly as opposed to sort of not being totally
Speaker 1: recognized in a financial sense the way you should be
Speaker 1: in the old system, because you know they're put money
Speaker 1: into it and people and you're get to get paid. Well,
Speaker 1: that's important.
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, I feel like they're we're getting paid what
Speaker 2: we deserve finally, you know what I mean. It's been
Speaker 2: a long journey man, Yeah, you know, like what was
Speaker 2: I I was twenty? I think I was like twenty
Speaker 2: maybe even twenty or zero, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: What am I twenty seven? I don't even know my
Speaker 2: own record in twenty seven twenty six? But I honestly
Speaker 2: think I was nineteen to zero before I got my
Speaker 2: first paycheck.
Speaker 1: Yeah, mad crazy, And this is what this is what
Speaker 1: a lot.
Speaker 2: Of fighters don't understand. These days is there. They see
Speaker 2: the big dollars and they see the big sign, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, then they just they asked for
Speaker 2: too much straight away. But they need to invest in themselves,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. That it's not always just money,
Speaker 2: but it's time effort. You know. You need to invest
Speaker 2: in yourself and you need to build and build and
Speaker 2: the opportunity will come, you know. Like I mean, we
Speaker 2: were just my whole paychecks were going towards just getting
Speaker 2: on the card for for a long time, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean.
Speaker 1: So that's interesting. Could you explain a little bit how
Speaker 1: that works because a lot of people don't understands, you know,
Speaker 1: like you're you might be fighting on the safety to paper.
Speaker 1: They're expecting you to sell tickets, you know, or your
Speaker 1: management team to sell tickets because that's how they make
Speaker 1: their money, you know, and sell tickets for the night
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. It might not have been televised. It
Speaker 1: might have been televised, but you know, after you pay everybody,
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of day left for not at all,
Speaker 1: Joe Lakers, not me. You might've got twenty five, thirty five,
Speaker 1: forty thousand dollars, there's not a lot of relative to
Speaker 1: what you give up during the year, You're lucky to
Speaker 1: get that much.
Speaker 2: Yeah, honestly, like you fight for Aussie titles and stuff
Speaker 2: like I don't know how everyone's contracts set up, man,
Speaker 2: but nineteen and zero, like literally I had won titles,
Speaker 2: knew some well titles, Aussie titles, and that I was
Speaker 2: getting fucking peanuts, you know what I mean. But I
Speaker 2: was never stressed, like I wasn't. I always seen the
Speaker 2: light at the end of the tunnel, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. Like I always knew what the goal was,
Speaker 2: and that was the win world titles and get on
Speaker 2: the big stages. So I always knew this time was
Speaker 2: you know, we're investing in ourselves. We've got to keep training,
Speaker 2: We've got to keep you know, keep pushing. Like it's hard, man,
Speaker 2: It's it's a very lonely hard road, especially when now
Speaker 2: that I'm here good, you know, like when they pay
Speaker 2: me well, like I'm like, you know, I feel like
Speaker 2: I deserve this. You know, I've done all my apprenticeship,
Speaker 2: I've been I'm my first one at eight years old, well,
Speaker 2: you know, and like my whole life train and run
Speaker 2: and punching bag, sparring, like it's just never ending. So
Speaker 2: you know when they when they say we're getting paid
Speaker 2: a lot, so we should to get to the top
Speaker 2: is a freaking long journey.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And and you're not going to be fighting when
Speaker 1: you're forty, so like it's it has a time limit
Speaker 1: on it too, you know, Like so you've got to
Speaker 1: you got to make your money in a short period
Speaker 1: and that's going to Las hear for the rest of
Speaker 1: your life and your family and everybody else. How important
Speaker 1: to the people like Eddie hearn in the world, like
Speaker 1: Eddie hearn Like you know, how important of those sorts
Speaker 1: of individuals in the fight game. You're in the boxing
Speaker 1: game to bring to life the money and the more
Speaker 1: eyeballs and more interest and a better better entertainment too.
Speaker 1: I mean, have you had you know, like have you
Speaker 1: any thoughts about that, like those sorts of individuals.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've got a little bit to do with Eddie Hearne,
Speaker 2: you know, like I try and just keep it nice
Speaker 2: and short, you know what I mean. Like we're there
Speaker 2: for a purpose at the end of the day, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. My job is to go there,
Speaker 2: win a fight, come home and look after my family.
Speaker 2: That's all I think about, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I'm not going over there to be friends with people
Speaker 2: and you know, make mates and you know, get get
Speaker 2: in their good books and stuff like that. All I've
Speaker 2: got it. All I'm thinking about is winner. That's all
Speaker 2: they care about, you know what I mean. And I'm
Speaker 2: not trying to bad mouth from or anything like that.
Speaker 2: I'm just I'm there for a job, you know, And
Speaker 2: unless I do my job, mate, I'm out. Someone else's in.
Speaker 2: That's the way I look at it. So I'm just
Speaker 2: I'm driven, I've got off, I can gold. Do you know,
Speaker 2: I'm there for a purpose.
Speaker 1: So that's because so apart from sort of taking on
Speaker 1: the WBOWBA and WC belt holders and sort of consolidating
Speaker 1: all the belts into one division, the next outcome for
Speaker 1: you would be obviously going up into the next way division,
Speaker 1: which is heavyweight. When do you think, assuming everything goes
Speaker 1: according to plan, when do you think you start to
Speaker 1: train for that, in other words, maybe put more weight
Speaker 1: on or whatever the case may be. When do you
Speaker 1: start to take that process on? Because you know, like
Speaker 1: you're a planner. It looks like to me, when you're
Speaker 1: nine er oh, you're still thinking to myself, how do
Speaker 1: I get to twenty seven, twenty eighteen? How to win
Speaker 1: a world titled? You're planning way ahead and you're being
Speaker 1: patient about that way ahead plan. My gut feeling is
Speaker 1: that you're you're probably still already thinking still now thinking yourself,
Speaker 1: I've got a five year planned ahead of me, or
Speaker 1: it's something ahead of me I'm to do. I got
Speaker 1: to I'm going to hit that milestone. I can hit
Speaker 1: that milestone and then I'll be in the heavyweight division.
Speaker 1: What is your lot? How long far out do you plan?
Speaker 2: Oh? Man, I don't want to put a time on it.
Speaker 1: You know, how are you now, Joe? I'm twenty nine,
Speaker 1: so you've probably got five years good?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean heavyweight can take an older age, of course,
Speaker 1: but we just see how we go.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I want these belts around my waist.
Speaker 2: I'm chasing unification fights, you know, like I do not
Speaker 2: understand why these aren't happening. You know, I'm the best
Speaker 2: cruise weight in the world. You know, there's me, and
Speaker 2: there's me and Ramirez. You know, they say, were the top,
Speaker 2: Let's fight. Why are we beating around the bush?
Speaker 1: Why wouldn't Ramirez fight you.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I got no clue. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, like, is he is he fighting anybody else?
Speaker 2: I think he's got to fight come up. But and
Speaker 2: I'm telling you it's an easy fight to make. I'm
Speaker 2: ready for that fight to happen. So fuck, I just
Speaker 2: want to fight to happen, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I feel like I've been running around in circles every
Speaker 2: time I fight someone that say, oh, you know, I've
Speaker 2: been chasing this wo and then every time I went off,
Speaker 2: fight Wo's next. Then I gotta fight someone wos next.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: You know, It's just it becomes annoying. You know, I'm
Speaker 2: trying to tick boxes and and get this ship done
Speaker 2: and then but at the end of the day, I
Speaker 2: can only find who they put in front of me.
Speaker 1: So yeah, but they say the but the matchmakers aren't.
Speaker 1: Are they sort of saying it's coming or they're just no,
Speaker 1: he's not He's not ready for mirror.
Speaker 2: It's coming. Apparently we've got one more fight, and then it's.
Speaker 1: The next he's got one more fighter. You're going one
Speaker 1: to fight both of us, both of you, and so
Speaker 1: that would be this year then yeah, probably twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: because because you must be having a fight cup you
Speaker 1: would have something coming up. And this year, earlier, this year,
Speaker 1: before the during this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're talking, man, unless there's contracts in frontio, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. It's all say but they're talking
Speaker 2: around may or something like that. But man, we we
Speaker 2: just we just wait for the phone call. As soon
Speaker 2: as they call, we get ready.
Speaker 1: And who negotiates it for you? Like, who does all
Speaker 1: the deal.
Speaker 2: I've got a great team behind me. You know, I've
Speaker 2: got a whole board of it. You know, I got
Speaker 2: Mickey Francis or Tasman Fighters or Scott Evans. You know,
Speaker 2: I got scared. We all sit down, we all make
Speaker 2: a team plan and but I don't care. Just chuck
Speaker 2: them in. Let's fight.
Speaker 1: Did you ever think to yourself that did you ever
Speaker 1: play footy rugby league?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I used to play footy when younger.
Speaker 1: Yeah, up in the Central Coast. Did you ever think
Speaker 1: to yourself, I'm going to become a rugby league player?
Speaker 2: Dream? It was? I was always boxing, yeah, And I
Speaker 2: was even like I was always missing a lot of
Speaker 2: my footy games because I was had fight coming up
Speaker 2: and stuff like that. So I was always going to
Speaker 2: be a fighter.
Speaker 1: So giving you're born around the East and suburbs, who's
Speaker 1: your team?
Speaker 2: Who do you go for?
Speaker 1: Man, I'm New South Wales Blue, absolutely, totally, totally.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I know you live in Queensland now, but you're never
Speaker 1: going to be a Queenslander.
Speaker 2: I'm waiting for North Sydney Bears to come back. North
Speaker 2: Sydney Bears come back way. I'll tell you what I'd
Speaker 2: be wearing the jersey, Yeah, at home, you know, I
Speaker 2: want to be connected to it.
Speaker 1: And who's your favorite footy player, like someone you from
Speaker 1: the past to say when you're a kid.
Speaker 2: One of my favorite footy players that the big Pommy
Speaker 2: dude that took that hit up and he broke his cheek.
Speaker 2: Sam Sam Burgess from I think he's an animal, the
Speaker 2: way he used to play no fear, the way you
Speaker 2: take days hit ups. He's just in it for the boy.
Speaker 2: He's like, he just loves that straight off the back fans.
Speaker 2: That's what it's about up running that.
Speaker 1: I remember, you know, it's funny that night I went
Speaker 1: to watch your part because his brother Luke forward on
Speaker 1: that night and I saw Luke and Lukes he never
Speaker 1: had a fight before and I remembering gassed after the
Speaker 1: other guy did to They both gassed after the first
Speaker 1: first round. I think someone got injured in the fight
Speaker 1: got called off. But yeah, Sam, he is an animal
Speaker 1: like he was fantastic, like he's a leader. Yeah, totally, yeah, totally.
Speaker 2: The way he runs out balls, how you should run
Speaker 2: up every time?
Speaker 1: And what about state of origin? Who's your one of
Speaker 1: the legends that you watch it?
Speaker 2: Love? Oh man, Honestly, I got so much love and
Speaker 2: respect for Paul. Yeah, Paul Gallan. Just his work ethic,
Speaker 2: He's just an animal bro that mindset, you know. Just
Speaker 2: he's for the team that when he wears the jersey
Speaker 2: it means something. And a great engine too, oh good engine.
Speaker 2: He's even in the in the boxing gym, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. He's got a engine. He's always trained.
Speaker 2: He still does still does some big session.
Speaker 1: I'll watch. I follow him on Instagram and today he's
Speaker 1: doing some mad stuff. It's funny, you know. Chock announced
Speaker 1: today ban knuckle fighting. He's him. He's gonna do with
Speaker 1: Condom Agrega to own the ban knuckles in Australia. In Australia,
Speaker 1: he's gonna fight it in Australia and and there's men
Speaker 1: approved in Queensland and Victoria, but the Combat Commission hasn'
Speaker 1: approved here in South Wales at this stage. And that
Speaker 1: bare knuckle process is pretty scary stuff. What do you
Speaker 1: think about the bar knuckle fighters? You know, the you
Speaker 1: know and by the way, allegedly you know, Tyson Fury's
Speaker 1: father was, you know, the king of that. Literally they
Speaker 1: called him a king of bean Knuckle fighting in Ireland.
Speaker 2: Is what it is.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: People need to get paid.
Speaker 1: Yeah, people, that's interesting. They do because they've got nothing
Speaker 1: else to do. They've got no other way of making
Speaker 1: it quit.
Speaker 2: It's their way of fighting, you know, it's it's it's
Speaker 2: pretty barbaric, you know, and but you know it's sit
Speaker 2: here and judge them. When we're sitting in these nice chairs,
Speaker 2: totally fancy microphones in front of us. These guys are
Speaker 2: bare knuckle fighters. So they love it. You know, they're
Speaker 2: not there because they they're there because they want to
Speaker 2: be there. They choose to be there. So who are
Speaker 2: we to take that away from totally?
Speaker 1: Well, and I'll probably get in trouble for saying, but
Speaker 1: I actually like it. I like watching it. They do
Speaker 1: put raps on, but it's not quite bare knuckle, but
Speaker 1: they've got wraps on. But still I like watching it.
Speaker 1: I mean it is by Barrack, but in a story,
Speaker 1: it's the best man wins. You don't have to be there,
Speaker 1: no one's forcing you. If you want to do what
Speaker 1: you want to do it. I want to say to you.
Speaker 1: What I want to say to you is that please
Speaker 1: feel know that and feel that Australians are very much
Speaker 1: behind what you're doing. Like we love Australian man. I'm
Speaker 1: a FI fan, but Australians love what you're doing on
Speaker 1: the world stage for us and for boxing in Australia.
Speaker 1: We have a great boxing scene here, but you're by
Speaker 1: far the leader in Australia right now. And I think
Speaker 1: that what I would like to say to you, as
Speaker 1: a you know, as much older person, is to say
Speaker 1: that it's really refreshing to talk to someone with such
Speaker 1: humility and humpfulness but at the same time very self assured,
Speaker 1: knows exactly what his deal is and what he's got
Speaker 1: to do, what his job is. So Jai Battia, thank
Speaker 1: you very much for coming in and mate, I wish
Speaker 1: you all the very best and I can't wait to
Speaker 1: see you up there against musick you