UNDEFEATED cruiserweight king Jai Opetaia has lifted the lid on boozy three-day benders ahead of his title clash against Jack Massey.
But the Aussie bruiser insists “I earn my fun” as he looks to put on a show in Saudi Arabia.
Opetaia and Massey clash on the undercard of Dimitri Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev this weekend.
IBF champ Opetaia has won all 35 of his pro fights, with his latest victory coming against Mairis Briedis in May.
Massey will be his most formidable opponent yet, with the Brit previously holding the IBO belt.
Yet Opetaia is already dreaming about the party he plans to enjoy after defending his IBF crown.
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Speaking exclusively to SunSport, Opetaia revealed he regularly enjoys booze-fuelled sessions with mates spanning an entire weekend.
The lad from Down Under reckons going off the rails in his younger days has helped him to become one of the most exciting names in boxing.
But Opetaia insists he will “earn” his right to party after putting in the hard graft ahead of Saturday’s battle with Massey.
Opetaia, who is engaged to partner Kanesha Murray, told SunSport: “I’m from the central coast, New South Wales. Not many clean athletes coming out of there!
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“F**k man, I ring my mate for lunch on a Friday, next thing I know my phone’s off and I’m missing for two or three days.
“Waking up thinking, ‘Oh no, what have I done?’ But we’ve all been there, it’s all progress.
“I feel like without those lessons in life and without doing those things, going off the rails, I wouldn’t be here where I am today, have the drive I have today.
“But you’ve got to enjoy it. I train hard and work hard and when it’s time in my head I’ll party hard too.
“But we earn our fun and that’s why we get toe enjoy those parties and victories more because of how hard we’ve earned them.”
Opetaia hit headlines earlier this month when he swore live on Sky Sports before getting told off by a presenter.
Opetaia first said: “I used to think that mindset, once I win a world title it’s going to fix all my problems.
“But unfortunately I’ve had a few run-ins with some dirty promoters and things haven’t always worked to plan.
“I won a world title and the next day I woke up the same. You can’t eat f*****g gold belts.”
The Sky Sports presenter quickly interjected, saying: “The broadcasting rules are slightly different here, you can’t swear. Apologies.”
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But Opetaia continued: “It means something to me, I get pumped up. We’ve made a lot of pain and sacrifice for this stuff.
“The belts are just bonuses now, I used to chase them but winning these fights is all I think about.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
