Sky Sports apologises and gives boxer telling off live on TV – ‘Rules are different here’

Jai Opetaia has conquered all before him in his 25 professional boxing fights so far, but he had to deal with a knockout blow on his latest appearance on Sky Sports. The 29-year-old, who currently holds the Ring Magazine and lIBF ineal cruiserweight titles, is preparing to take on Jack Massey in his latest title defence.

The pair will face off on the undercard of the Dimitri Bivol v Artur Beterbiev main event in Saudi Arabia on October 13.

Opetaia’s defence against the European and Commonwealth cruiserweight champion will be his third consecutive fight in the middle east, and his being billed as his toughest test yet.

And the Australian seems to be approaching it aggressively if his latest television interview is anything to go by. Ahead of his first bout since beating Mairis Briedis in May, he didn’t hold back when talking about his career on Sky this week.

“I used to think that mindset, once I win a world title it’s going to fix all my problems,” he said. “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***ing gold belts.”

That comment was deemed unsuitable for the live feed, and he was promptly interrupted by the presenter. “The broadcasting rules are slightly different here, you can’t swear,” he said. “ Apologies.”

Not that the Sydney-based star was too perturbed. After accepting his brief ticking off, he 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. We want to be the undisputed cruiserweight champion. We want to collect the belts and then we want to move up and collect more belts either the bridgerweight or the heavyweight.”

Opetaia was again warned “the broadcast rules are slightly different” on Sky, but not before he emphasised his desire to contuse his perfect professional record. His clash with Massey will form part of a star-studded card in Riyadh, that also includes Chris Eubank Jr vs Kamil Szeremeta and Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke.

“A three-division world champion sounds good. I am the best cruiserweight in the world,” he added. “It’s easy to say that stuff. I’ve just got to keep proving it. I’ve got to prove it again on the 12th and prove it my next fight and keep collecting these belts.”

Opetaia, who represented Australia at the London and 2014 Commonwealth Games, is ranked the world’s best active cruiserweight by The Ring magazine. But he’s not the only boxer to have fallen foul of Sky’s on-screen policy, with the likes of David Haye and previously warned for their language on air.