It has been an interesting few months for boxing in the Land of Smiles. With Tyson Fury recently bringing his own fight week to Pattaya, Thailand’s boxing scene has felt particularly alive.
A little over two weeks ago, my good friend John Hutchinson, a Donegal-born boxing trainer who has called Phuket home for the best part of a decade, gave me a call.
“Wasim, my new gym is opening soon — but guess who’s coming over for camp? Jai Opetaia.”
My ticket to Phuket was booked soon after.
For the next week, I would spend time around Team Opetaia as one of the world’s leading cruiserweights prepared for his next assignment in the heat of southern Thailand.
The 31-year-old Australian is no stranger to the biggest stage. Opetaia represented his country at the 2012 London Olympics before turning professional in 2015 and becoming world champion with victory over Mairis Briedis in 2022.
He arrived in Phuket undefeated in 30 professional fights, having recently joined Zuffa Boxing and entered another significant chapter of his career.
But this wasn’t a week about belts or boxing politics. In Phuket, the task was much simpler: work.
On my first day with the team, Opetaia had already completed his morning run before arriving at the gym in Chalong for a gruelling heavy-bag session.
It was 11am, an unforgiving time to train in Phuket, where many prefer the relative relief of the early morning or late afternoon.
At the head of the camp is Opetaia’s father and trainer, Tapu “Tap” Opetaia. Away from training, Tap is friendly and relaxed. Once the work begins, however, the mood changes. Instructions are direct and the camp is focused on the task ahead.
Mark Mathie oversees the strength and conditioning side of the camp. When I asked whether Phuket’s heat added another element to Opetaia’s conditioning, his answer was simple.
“Mentally, it helps,” Mathie said. “At this level, everything is mental. We push him.”
That made me curious about why Team Opetaia had chosen Thailand in the first place.
“Why Thailand? Mate, we’d heard so much about it,” Tap told me. “Everyone has been coming here for years. We didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon, but once we came over, it’s brilliant here. It’s a game changer.
“Everything is accessible for what you want to do. If you want to become a champion, this is the perfect place to be.
“The weather is hot, you get uncomfortable here, they’ve got all the facilities that you need, and the people around you — you can tell they’re here on the same journey. They’re trying to better themselves, whether that’s in life or in sport.”
The following day offered a good example. After warming up and shadowboxing, Opetaia went through 12 rounds of pads, rotating between three pad holders for four rounds each.
By the end of the session, the gym floor was covered in sweat.
It was part of a demanding week for the Australian, with conditioning, sparring and pad sessions making up a schedule that could include as many as three training sessions a day.
The next task for Opetaia comes against Noel Mikaelian on Sept 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, on the Ryan Garcia-Conor Benn card.
Mikaelian currently holds the WBC cruiserweight title, although the situation surrounding the belt remains unclear after he was ordered to face David Benavidez.
Had Opetaia retained his IBF title, the meeting with Mikaelian could have been a unification bout between the IBF and WBC champions. Instead, sanctioning-body politics have complicated matters, with the Australian stripped of his IBF belt earlier this year without losing it in the ring.
Whether Mikaelian’s WBC title will be at stake remains to be seen, but Opetaia’s Ring Magazine cruiserweight championship will be on the line.
For now, the focus in Phuket remains firmly on Sept 12.
Opetaia still has work to do before heading to Las Vegas, but his first camp in Thailand has provided the team with the preparation they were looking for.
The work in Phuket is nearly done. Next stop, Las Vegas.