Jai Opetaia’s co-promoters have put out a statement to deny that he floored Tyson Fury in sparring.
Australia’s Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion is set to fight Mairis Briedis to regain his IBF world title on the undercard of Fury’s undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk on February 17.
As a result, he was recruited to join the Gypsy King’s camp in Saudi Arabia with many fans excited by the prospect.
Opetaia is widely regarded as the world’s best and most destructive cruiserweight today, and the southpaw remains unbeaten despite being controversially stripped of his IBF belt late last year.
Due to the fact Usyk is a former undisputed cruiserweight king, and also a southpaw, the Australian was viewed as the perfect sparring partner to prepare Fury for the Ukrainian.
However, the pairing hasn’t worked out as Opetaia has left the camp already.
It’s reported that he did just five rounds with Fury before heading back home.
According to Australian journalist and commentator Ben Damon of Fox Sports Australia and Main Event TV, this was due to ‘a lack of orthodox sparring in Fury’s camp’.
Rumours have been rife on social media in response, with some claiming to have heard that Opetaia knocked Fury down and that this is the true reason he has left the camp.
However, on Monday, his Australian co-promoters Tasman Fighters put out a statement to deny this.
It read: “Jai Opetaia has recently returned from Saudi Arabia where he sparred and trained with Tyson Fury.
“They were fantastic, competitive rounds and an incredible experience for Jai.
“However any talk of either boxer being dropped is not true.
“Jai is now back in Australia finalising his preparation to defend his [Ring] title and cannot wait to do so in Saudi Arabia.”
