Jai Opetaia vs Jack Massey (12-10-2024) Full Fight
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SportsTranscript
00:00Okay, boys, have a cold break. You take a step back. You don't deliberately throw punches to the back of the head. You protect yourselves at all times. Touch gloves. Good luck, lads.
00:13Live scoring available on this one. Scan that QR code. Get yourself involved. Give your verdict. There's the live blog as well. Steve Gray, our referee. There's Jack Massey.
00:24Bouncing on the balls of his feet, boxing out of that blue corner. Oppenheiter comes out of the red corner in that gold and silver skirt-like design in the Southport stands.
00:38Massey orthodox. Massey won that European title against Isaac Chamberlain outdoors at Crystal Palace in the summer and didn't need asking twice when this fight was put in front of him.
00:54When we last saw Oppenheiter, it was in that rematch with Breedis. Oppenheiter just dipping his knees and sending that left hand into the body of Massey. And he was cruising through nine rounds.
01:05He was nine rounds up. He boxed nice and sensibly. He kept it long. He used his feet. He didn't allow Breedis to close the gap at 39 years old.
01:13Then in the 10th round, he had his nose broken by the head of Breedis. There was a lot of bleeding. It was all hitting the back of the throat. He was gulping down blood. He felt like he was drowning was the way he described it.
01:29And the wheels almost came off towards the end for that reason, but he managed to get through it. Good right hand there from Massey. He took his feet in and put some meat on that upper tyre again, just going down to the body. A little faint with the front foot.
01:43The upper tyre has already landed a couple of nice straight lefts, both to the head and the body. That's obviously a shot he's looking to land with regularity. You know, the southpaw against the orthodox, the backhand is usually coming to play nicely.
02:00Massey in a big body there, upright a little bit as well. Big target for upper tyre. Upper tyre let go with the right hook, then brought his left foot forward. So he was almost in an orthodox stance and looked like he really wanted to let his hands go, but he was just a little bit too close. There's that long raiding left into the body from upper tyre.
02:31Into the final minutes of round one. And when you look at upper tyre across the far side of the ring from us, Matt, then you get a look at his back. He is absolutely massive. He looks huge in there.
02:44Yeah, big back, but I don't think he's the biggest cruiserweight in the world. I think he makes it pretty comfortably. I think Massey will be coming down to make cruiser. I think upper tyre pretty much walked around. Good body shots going in there from upper tyre.
03:01Good right hand into the body there from Massey. He's just in terrifying shape, upper tyre. Short right hand there from Massey as well. He's a good, fundamentally sound fighter.
03:13That was good for Massey again. Led off with the left, through the right, stepped up to his right hand side, upper tyre. With a good, crisp, short left hand there. Maneuvering him back towards the corner. And then stepped orthodox and threw a right hand lead almost.
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04:14That's Dioffer Tyre's dad, Tapu, leading the corner there. He trained him as a kid. He trained him all the way through as a pro until the fight before he won that world title in Australia in his first fight with Maris Bredis. They had a falling out at that point, a separation.
04:38And now they are back together. Mark Wilson, one of his coaches when he boxed for Australia, stepped in in the intervening period. And as I understand it, they haven't completely decided whether they're going to stay together going forward. They'll decide how they felt things went for this camp and fight before making a longer term decision.
05:01There have been so many father-son combinations in boxing down the years. They can work very, very well, but they are rarely without their problems.
05:10Oppenheiter again, just dipping the knees and throwing that left into the body between rounds. Matt, you were saying to me that this is going to be an interesting round because they both landed enough in that first round to get a sense of what the other has got.
05:23Yeah, you see Oppenheiter here kind of stepping on Massie here, trying to bang the shots in. Look at the combination. So, you know, he's felt Massie's power in the first round, been caught with a few shots, took a few shots on the gloves, but already now he's really up in the pace here.
05:37That straight left hand into the body, that was a shot we've seen him throw on the pads again and again. That's a real favour of his. And also that pullback with the right hook that he just threw there a few moments ago.
05:47So, yeah, very positive start here to the second round from Oppenheiter. Massie just trying to stay tight, stay compact, stepped in there.
05:58Through the combination, Oppenheiter, he always keeps those hands pretty high. That lead hand, he'll tend to wave out in front of him a little bit as a distraction almost. He does leave the body quite exposed, but he never seems too worried about that.
06:13Massie with the one-two. The right hand didn't quite land, but it left him in a good position to throw the left to the body.
06:28Also, Massie said earlier in the week that he always finishes strong, always finishes the fights, and he's noticed that. Oppenheiter, particularly in the both fights with Breedis, which sent the twelve rounds, he faded as the end.
06:51Yeah, we know there were reasons with the broken jaw and the nose, but nonetheless, from Massie's point of view, he thinks maybe that's where I need to take him.
07:21Massie found himself a bit square.
07:24Body head, body head.
07:27Go, go, go.
07:29Go, go, go.
07:59Exactly the same thing about Dimitri Bivol. They are pure prize fighters. They do not have emotion. They are emotional vacuums when it comes to their opponents. No malice or ill will towards each other whatsoever.
08:19But when they shape up in there in a few hours' time, Matt, there will be absolutely no mercy.
08:25Absolutely zero.
08:30So into the third. I had a little look around their dressing rooms two, three hours ago. They are absolutely huge. I've never seen anything quite like it.
08:43But that won't matter to them. One jock we saw better be a train earlier in the week and go about his business. No music, just trained in silence, working the same drills he's been working his entire life.
08:57Good start to the round here.
09:00Opertair just moving Massie back to the corner. Massie's doing quite well there, though, stepped off to his right, threw a right hand and managed to get out of the corner.
09:08You get the feeling, Matt, that Opertair is trying to ramp this up a bit round by round, just increase the temperature and see if Massie can handle it.
09:15Yeah, he is definitely and he's a straight left to the body. OK, blocked it that one, Massie, but he doesn't want to keep eating them all night.
09:22You know, they're going to really take the wind out of his sails as they get down the stretch.
09:26So, you know, it's clever from Opertair to keep targeting the body, but Massie's got to try and, you know, fire back, maybe catch the shot in the elbows and fire straight back with the right hand.
09:36It was a good right knee to the body from Massie about 10, 15 seconds ago. Opertair trying to lead off with the right uppercut.
09:44Didn't manage to land it.
09:56Good looking left off the back of the right there from Opertair. I think it was half blocked by Massie.
10:01Yeah, partially, partially blocked, partially got through.
10:06There are similarities in the boxing journey of these two, Opertair talking in the build up about how at 17, 18 and 0 they wondered, him and his dad, whether they could keep doing this because it just wasn't making any money for them.
10:20Good right hand there from Massie. Massie himself almost quit a couple of years ago.
10:27His career had hit the doldrums after losing a tight one to Richard Reactpour for the British title.
10:34He just couldn't get anything going, was working on the scaffolds and then he got the opportunity to fight Joseph Parker, which was a massive gamble at heavyweight.
10:45And he took it when the 10 rounds won some rounds, a performance that has aged really well.
10:51Then he had to wait for the opportunity against Chamberlain.
10:54And when it mattered, he came through.
10:57They both know the vagaries of this that you just have to hang in there because you don't know what is around the corner.
11:04Yeah, sometimes you've got to hang in there in a fight as well when you're maybe not really having much success on the attack, but he's not really getting beaten up on there.
11:29He's looking after himself pretty well in there, Massie, not really taking too much clean.
11:37So earlier on, Team Pivot got the tape measure out to give this ring the once over 20 feet inside the ropes is what it will have been.
11:55And if they took any kind of issue with the exact measurements, then they would have had a certain gentleman from Worcestershire chasing them around the ring.
12:05Mike Goodall, who puts up all these rings is an exacting man, so I don't think he would have taken too many queries.
12:14He rarely does, but that's the attention to detail that teams always pay.
12:17They want to know exactly what it is that their fighter is getting involved in because that contest we see later on, it is a contest of fractions already.
12:27And Bivol is that kind of operator.
12:29He's that precise.
12:30He will want to know down to the inch how much room he's got.
12:33Yeah, exactly.
12:34See, again, that body keeps targeting that body.
12:40You know, they're not going to score a knockdown or stop you or wind you, but they just take wind of you bit by bit.
12:48That's a good short right hand from Massie about 10 seconds ago.
12:52Took up a tire a bit by surprise, got through the guard, just knocked him nicely back onto his heels.
12:58That's the kind of thing that will give Massie encouragement.
13:01Left into the body again there from Opetire.
13:02He's looking to chop down the tree, isn't he?
13:05Yeah, and he's losing these rounds, Massie, but he is having successes as well.
13:09He is firing back and defensively, you know, he's pretty good.
13:13He's pretty tight there.
13:15Yeah, he's getting maneuvered into corners and a bit where Opetire wants him, but he's able to recoup there on the head.
13:23Well, there's a blood coming from somewhere.
13:26It looks like it's Massie, the inside of the nose, maybe towards the eye or just below the eye.
13:34We'll get a better look at it when he comes over to our side of the ring.
13:37Opetire trying to let those hands go.
13:39Massie again, though, strong enough there.
13:42He's not being pushed around or bullied by Opetire.
13:45As you say, Matt, Opetire is winning these rounds.
13:47That was a good combination there for Massie.
13:49Yeah, exactly. He's firing back.
13:51He's answering him back. He's not getting overwhelmed.
13:54Boy, Opetire, even there you see, yeah, Opetire has backed him up to the ropes.
13:57He's let his hands go, but Massie has caught them on the gloves.
14:04Massie just saying to Steve Gray that he feels he was caught with an elbow at some point there.
14:09I think that's what he said, at least anyway.
14:15That long left works really well for Opetire.
14:17He just dips his knees and sends it in there.
14:20He's got a big wingspan there.
14:22Straight left hand from Opetire.
14:24But again, back comes Massie. Good jab.
14:26He catches the left himself.
14:29Yeah, that was better from Massie.
14:31You know, rather than just reacting with single shots, he put some combinations together.
14:39Yeah, that was a good combination.
14:41Yeah, that was a good combination.
14:43Yeah, that was a good combination.
14:45Yeah, that was a good combination.
14:47Yeah, that was a good combination.
14:48Yeah, that was a good combination.
14:59Right hand got through, and Massie, you can see, with a rueful grin there almost,
15:03he knew he needed to keep that left up, and when he didn't, he got punished for it.
15:09Opetire just dipping to his right, finding the uppercut, followed by the left.
15:15And then again goes down to work the body.
15:18This is methodical from Opetire. It's consistent.
15:30Counter right hand there from Opetire.
15:40Fight night brought to you by That Prize Guy.
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16:12The Warrens in the middle there.
16:13Frank and George Neymar on the left-hand side.
16:16Turki Alashaikh on the right.
16:18His Excellency has been present at numerous Fight Week events this week.
16:24The driving force behind Riyadh season, which is delivering so many good fights.
16:29And the top of the bill tonight is, for me, it's the crowning glory in a way.
16:35Fyodor Yusuf, absolutely fantastic, of course.
16:38Joshua Dubois at Wembley three weeks ago.
16:41Sensational to watch.
16:43He's going to be there.
16:45But this fight between Beto Villevre and Vivo, without this set-up,
16:48it wouldn't have happened.
16:50Because they're not huge names outside of boxing.
16:54It just wouldn't have been able to pay for itself, basically.
16:58So I don't think we would have seen it.
17:01And it is just a fight of the very, very highest quality.
17:06That'll be along later on.
17:09Fabio Wardy and Fraser Clark in their rematch.
17:10Up next for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles.
17:15We're into the fifth here between Jai Appatia,
17:17who's defending his IBF cruiserweight title against Jack Massey.
17:22Yeah, I'm guessing Massey's probably lost all four rounds.
17:26So he's got to be careful.
17:28Doesn't want to give himself an absolute mountain to climb
17:30going into the second half.
17:32Needs to get on the scoreboard here a little bit.
17:34And also just to try and break the flow of the fight.
17:36Because Appatia, even though Massey's been competitive
17:38and has landed shots, he's losing the rounds.
17:41And even it's Appatia who's dictating all the turns,
17:44the pace, the range, everything.
17:49You're spot on.
17:51It's got to that point, or it's very nearly at that point
17:53if we're not quite there yet, where Massey has to make a decision.
17:57Is he actively going to really try and up it?
17:59As you say, get on the scoreboard,
18:01try and put a dent in Appatia and really turn this around.
18:04In which case, he may leave openings for the Australians
18:08or is he going to keep going as he is?
18:11And not quite just hope that Appatia will tyre,
18:15but maybe put a bit too much faith in that.
18:17Yeah, well, Appatia's not going to tyre at this pace
18:20because he's the one controlling it.
18:22And there's some damage to that left eye.
18:24We picked it up in the earlier round.
18:26There was a cut, I think, on the inside of the bridge of the nose.
18:29Good right hand there from Appatia.
18:31That's hurt Massey, I think.
18:33He's looking to cover up a little bit there.
18:35But Appatia is putting the hammer down a bit in this round.
18:39Massey is firing back as much as he can,
18:41but he's having to fight really hard to stay in this
18:44and keep Appatia off him.
18:50Massey does the right thing there,
18:52just leans in, looks to grab hold.
18:54Appatia isn't having any of it.
18:56You can see the damage to that left eye.
18:58Massey, though, giving credit, shrugs Appatia off
19:00and says to him, I'm more than happy to trade.
19:06But it's getting very hard in there for him.
19:09If Appatia's looking to plant his feet
19:11and really bang some hard single shots in here,
19:13this is where Massey might be able to try and time it
19:15and fire back and punch with him.
19:17He might well get a clean opening.
19:23Final stage of the round five.
19:30BELL RINGS
19:48That's a setback corner now led by his father, Tapu.
19:57That was a good right hook for Massey.
20:00He took it well, but it definitely shocked him a little bit.
20:02You can see he went...
20:04I mean, it was a good shot.
20:06He was trying to land his own left hook
20:08and then he tries to tuck up then.
20:10Appatia switching his tack to the body
20:13and then trying to chuck him up and down,
20:15but Massey got underneath it.
20:17But I think he was definitely buzzed by that.
20:19Like I say, it's getting to the point in the fight now
20:21where, you know, as Appatia tries to load up
20:24and bang in these hard singles,
20:26that's where Massey, if he times it right,
20:28can punch with him and get the clean opening.
20:31BELL RINGS
20:33Because, you know, he's way behind on the cards here.
20:35Eyes starting to close as well.
20:38And he looks good and fresh, Appatia,
20:40as he comes out from that red corner.
20:43And I think he is capable again
20:45of just clicking through the gears here
20:47and just raising that temperature degree by degree
20:50as we click through these rounds.
20:52And Massey is doing absolutely everything he can
20:55to stay with him, and he is staying with him.
20:56It is a competitive fight, but as you say,
20:59Appatia is winning these rounds,
21:01and he's turning a screw.
21:05Yeah, and those body shots
21:07that he's been consistently sticking with,
21:09putting them in,
21:11they'll be taking their toll now.
21:13They'll be taking the wind out of the sails.
21:15The legs will be not quite what they were.
21:19But Massey, you know, those body shots,
21:21they do take their toll.
21:27Massey just trying to step forward
21:29and climb into a right hand there.
21:32Shut down his own space slightly.
21:34Nice combination there for Massey,
21:36but Appatia counters with a strong-looking right hook.
21:40But this is better for Massey.
21:42He's opening up.
21:44He's punching with Appatia.
21:49There's that southpaw left hand, though.
21:51Just goes juddering through the guard.
21:53Appatia gets on top of him.
21:54Massey just trying to push him off,
21:56tucking up on the ropes,
21:58and you can see the damage to the face.
22:00Straight left hand,
22:02then turned it into an uppercut.
22:04That's high-quality stuff from Appatia.
22:07Damaging stuff as well.
22:19And I think if Appatia
22:21puts the hammer down in this final minute
22:22of the sixth, he could get somewhere here.
22:24Yeah, he's nearly there now for the taking,
22:26I think, Massey.
22:28If not this round, maybe the next one.
22:30Joe Galligan's stopped the apron.
22:32He's thrown in the towel
22:34and stopped the fight.
22:36Jack Massey's not really aware just yet.
22:38He looks at his trainer in disappointment,
22:40but that is a good stoppage
22:42because Appatia did exactly what we've been describing.
22:44He clicked through those gears.
22:46He raised it round by round by round.
22:48He was bringing serious heat,
22:50accuracy, variety,
22:52punch power.
22:54It was a good,
22:56as I described it earlier,
22:58consistent, methodical performance.
23:00He had a plan,
23:02and bit by bit,
23:04he just broke his man down.
23:06It was heading one way.
23:08Massey was never going to do anything
23:10other than continue there
23:12because that's the kind of fighter he is.
23:14But sometimes you need saving from yourself,
23:16and that's exactly what the trainer did.
23:18Perfect stoppage, perfect timing.
23:20The right was on the wall.
23:22He was keeping him in there.
23:24Appatia could smell it,
23:26was putting his foot on the gas,
23:28was going to go through the gears.
23:30So Gallagher sensed that
23:32and said, no, that'll do you now.
23:34And I think the towel came in at the right time.
23:36Saved Massey from an unnecessary beat
23:38for another round or two.
23:40Or maybe he wouldn't even have got through that round
23:42if Appatia had really put the foot to the floor.
23:44But yeah, good stoppage
23:46because the tide had turned dramatically.
23:49And not even turning,
23:50he was always going up Appatia's way,
23:53but he was starting to move a lot faster.
23:55It was.
23:57And nothing had happened
23:59to suggest that he was going to be capable
24:02of turning that tide.
24:04And when that's the case,
24:06you have to go on the evidence of your own eyes
24:08and what is actually happening
24:10rather than what you would like to be happening
24:12or what you might like to happen in the next few rounds.
24:14There was no turning that around.
24:16Joe Gallagher's an experienced guy.
24:18He knew it, so he called it.
24:20You know, a good performance from Appatia.
24:22You know, a stubborn performance from Massey.
24:24He tried, he stayed in, he tried to come in,
24:27come back at him.
24:29It wasn't for the want of trying,
24:31but the reality was he was beat by a better man tonight.
24:34Appatia, too slick, too fast, too good.
24:39It's as simple as that.
24:41It happens, doesn't it?
24:43And there's no shame in it.
24:45He prepared as best he could, Massey.
24:47He gave everything that he had in the ring,
24:48and now he's got a level above him.
24:50And Appatia puts to the sword another British fighter.
24:54It's becoming a bit of a habit,
24:56and he will be watching on with great interest
24:58when Chris Billum-Smith boxes Udo Ramirez in a few weeks' time.
25:02If Billum-Smith can do the business there,
25:05then maybe we'll see Appatia tangle with another Brit.
25:09But that was a cold, clinical,
25:11very effective performance
25:15from a really good fighter.
25:18We'll see what happens.
25:48Udo Ramirez, too, just being called to the center.
25:50Massey just going over to join Appatia.
26:14Ladies and gentlemen, here is the official time
26:18for the two minutes of round number six.
26:21The Blue Corner retires their fighter,
26:24and referee Steve Bray accepts their retirement.
26:28Therefore, your winner by way of technical knockout,
26:32still undefeated,
26:34and still IBF cruiserweight champion of the world
26:40and Ring Magazine champion,
26:43Jai Appatia!
26:48Jai Appatia keeps hold of that red IBF belt
26:52and also the Ring Magazine belt in the background there.
26:55A successful reunification, if you like,
26:59with his dad, Tapu, leading the corner.
27:05And they're just offering their congratulations
27:08to Jack Massey.
27:10Chris Mannix hovering microphone in hand.