Taylah Gentzen defeated by Shauna Browne in super lightweight division by points
Ireland’s Shauna Browne may only have four professional fights to her name, but the boxer has worked as chief sparring partner to perhaps the greatest female boxer ever Katie Taylor and showed relentless aggression to defeat Australia’s Taylah Gentzen by points.
It was a split decision which never should have been the case with scores of 95-94 to Gentzen, 97-92 to Browne and 96-95 to Browne. Given Browne’s utter domination of the fight that didn’t make a lot of sense.
Browne’s inside work was dangerous and didn’t allow the Newcastle-based Gentzen room to settle down into any kind of rhythm in the fight.
A tough loss for the talented Australian who came across a seriously tough challenge in just her seventh fight.
Gentzen was physically outmatched and was knocked down in the seventh round after she was stalked around the ring by the imposing Browne.
Both fighters started the night unbeaten and Gentzen will be forced to rebuild her career slowly.
It’s been an entertaining night on the Gold Coast so far.
Assuming victory, where does Opetaia go next?
If Jai Opetaia can get victory tonight against Nyika, he has the choice of two paths to walk down. He can try to unify the cruiserweight division or follow the lead of Oleksandr Usyk and Evander Holyfield and step up to take on and eventually conquer the giants of the heavyweight division.
Standing at 188cm, Opetaia isn’t a huge cruiserweight, making him smaller than Holyfield (189¢m) and Usyk (192¢m), but he possesses balletic movement that can make him a problem for many in the heavyweight division.
A more obvious route would be to unify the division in a superfight with Gilberto Ramírez, the Mexcan champion who holds the WBA and WBO belts. Ramirez signified that he was interested in clashing with the Sydney native after beating England’s Chris Billam-Smith in November. Ramirez brings large crowds and attention to a division so often ignored by the majority of boxing fans. It appears a Mexican stand-off is inevitable for Opetaia, but he has a large challenge in the shape of David Nyika tonight.
Jai Opetaia punches Mairis Briedis during the IBF World Cruiserweight title fight.Credit: Getty
The master of reverse psychology?
It’s likely to be a contrast of styles in the ring. Opetaia the southpaw stylist who can use his boxing skill and power to overwhelm opponents against Nyika, his former sparring partner who will look to use his height and reach advantage to out jab the world champion.
Out of the ring, Opetaia remains business-like and confessed that he was sick of the interviews and just wanted to fight.
Nyika in contrast has been a picture of geniality and generosity, speaking of his admiration for Opetaia and what an honour it is to take on the champion. Is he the master of reverse psychology? Or perhaps, he’s just a really nice guy?
David Nyika in action against Tommy Karpency in SeptemberCredit: Getty Images
How have the prelims gone so far
Arriving early at a boxing event is not dissimilar to arriving to see the early support acts at a concert before the main act arrives you’d paid to watch. Sometimes, in boxing as in music, the smaller acts can provide incredible entertainment as the crowds crawl in that nobody was expecting.
So far, we have had three wonderful bouts, middleweight Albert Tu’ua had a majority draw with Kodi Shallali after suffering a knock down in the third round and recovering to finish strong.
Chinese featherweight Runqi Zhou also showed great heart to overpower the Gold Coast’s Tony Ingram with a points decision.
We have also just seen former Commonwealth Games competitor Billy McAllister stopping Jordan Towns in an impressive performance at light heavyweight.
It’s been a good card so far on the Gold Coast.
Welcome to fight night
Welcome to a night at the fights, I am Jonathan Drennan and it’s a pleasure to be with you. It’s rainy outside in Sydney, it’s Wednesday and you are back at work after a Christmas break you didn’t want to return from. The perfect antidote? Jai Opetaia is in action defending his IBF and Ring Magazine titles against New Zealand’s Olympic bronze medallist David Nyika.
After two crushing successive defeats Tim Tszyu’s place at the top of the Australian boxing tree has been taken over by Opetaia. The cruiserweight is a 4th generation fighter who is supremely gifted in combining movement and knock out power.
Opetaia’s last appearance in Australia was two years ago when he beat Mairis Briedis to capture the IBF title in the Gold Coast, he’s now back in the same venue to take on the largely unknown Nyika.
Nyika is a replacement, after Opetaia’s mandatory challenger Huseyin Cinkara withdrew due to injury. Unlike Opetaia, Nyika didn’t grow up in a fighting family, instead initially focusing on music. The New Zealander could not have a tougher dance partner than Opetaia, a man he knows well as a former sparring partner.
Jai Opetaia of Australia (left) faces off with David Nyika of New Zealand during their weigh-inCredit: AAPIMAGE
