Just nowSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:32am
‘I’m not here to play nice — I’m here to take the belts’
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Hüseyin Cinkara has been the model guest this week ahead of today’s main event.
But when he landed on Australian soil last week, he was far more bullish.
“I’ve got respect for Opetaia, he’s earned his place,” Cinkara said.
“But respect don’t win fights. Power does, and I’m the harder puncher between us.
“If he wants to dance, I won’t be surprised. I don’t think he wants to trade with me. I hit harder, I hit faster.”
He also said he was going to “knock Opetaia senseless”.
That’s less acceptable for a house guest.
2m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:30am
Hüseyin Cinkara’s first trip outside Europe
Any world title fight is a big deal – for both challenger and champion.
But this is bigger than most for 40-year-old, Germany born, Türkiye-based fighter Hüseyin Cinkara.
This is the veteran cruiserweight’s first professional fight outside of Europe – most of his contests have taken place in Germany or Türkiye.
He has won all of those fights – knocking out an impressive number of them – but the calibre of those opponents does leave a bit to be desired.
But the man who wears the hat of ancient Turkish warriors in all his pre-fight commitments is unphased by the difficulty of the task ahead of him.
“[I’ve] worked very hard for this fight,” Cinkara said through an interpreter on Thursday.
“[We’ve] covered all bases. [We’re] ready to go. There’s nothing [I] believe [we’ve] forgotten.
“[I’m] ready to fight. [I’m] bringing the game.”
4m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:27am
Jai Opetaia can’t be complacent
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Everything suggests that Jai Opetaia should be able to win this fight comfortably.
That, in itself, could be dangerous.
The cruiserweight king in all but name, Opetaia is the best man at 90kg on the planet and should be fighting unification fights.
The boxing world knows it. The other fighters know it. And most of all, he knows it.
But he just has to be careful.
Complacency is the curse of the champion and any slacking off could allow this big-hitting man with 19 KOs to his name to make it a round 20.
That would be catastrophic to Opetaia’s hopes of unification.
5m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:27am
Time for Jai Opetaia…
That’s right, it’s main event time.
6m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:25am
I was trying to forget about that…
G’day Simon, this will be a welcome distraction from the shanigans at the Gabba…
– Mike
6m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:25am
‘I love being in the firing range’: McIntyre
Max McIntyre is speaking.
“Exactly what I expected, had to go through the gears. He’s never been knocked out before,” he says.
“I love being in the firing range, I feel comfy in there.”
Mick Francis is speaking now.
“This is all about progression. He’s 9-0 now, 8 knock outs,” the Tasman Fighters head honcho says.
“Make no mistake, this is a tough kid and Max made it look very easy.
“Australia needs to get behind this kid but this is the next big thing in Australian boxing.”
12m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:19am
Max McIntyre with the TKO win!
Thrilling from McIntyre!
He was patient. He was poised.
And then, when the acceleration came, it came with such ferocity that there was nothing Morris could do but stagger backwards and end up on his back.
A brutal upper cut, followed by a clubbing right, and the red corner said Morris had enough.
Incredible shot from McIntyre to end it, just sheer power and timing.
He’s astonishing.
14m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:17am
McIntyre vs Morris, Round 4
McIntyre misses with a wild overhand right.
He misses with a straighter right that time too and Morris clinches. McIntyre is warned by the referee there for use of the head.
Good shot from McIntyre as they come together.
Morris lands but then McIntyre goes back to his distance and it’s a couple of jabs that land.
McIntyre goes to the body as they clinch – the referee lets them work and Morris lands a couple
He’s caught there by a big upper cut though. McIntyre is landing hard again.
Good shot from McIntyre. AND ANOTHER!
MORRIS IS DOWN!
A MASSIVE RIGHT FROM McINTYRE!
AND IT’S OVER!
IN COMES THE TOWEL!
19m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:13am
McIntyre vs Morris, Round 3
McIntyre has been landing the cleaner shots so far, with Morris desperate to make it untidy and uncomfortable for the young upstart.
Great shot from McIntyre, so patient as he waited for Morris to come in and he landed hard on the side of his head.
McIntyre lands again. Good shot. The timing is there and the confidence to know when to throw those shots is impressive for someone so young – he’s only 21, remember.
Morris comes in and they clinch.
McIntyre jabs.
Good solid shot from McIntyre lands.
Big shot from McIntyre that time, right onto the body of Morris.
“Take it to him Jed,” is called from the supporters.
He’s not taking him anywhere at the moment.
McIntyre lands to the head but cops one for his troubles this time as well to end the round.
21m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:10am
McIntyre vs Morris, Round 2
McIntyre looks a very confident young man in the ring – he’s grown in stature a lot since I first saw him a couple of years ago.
But he is rabbit punched a couple of times there and the referee must have missed it. That might dent him a bit.
The referee now calls the pair together to stop using their heads on each other.
Good shot from Morris lands – and then the pair clinch untidily again.
Morris lands a jab. Not McIntyre does so as well.
McIntyre looks slock and always on the cusp of springing forwards.
They come together again and it’s untidy in close again.
Good body shot from McIntyre gets through.
Morris swings and misses after being beaten to the punch by McIntyre.
McIntyre tries to uppercut his way out of a clinch and lands a couple of shots.
McIntyre lands a shot right on the bell to end the round.
27m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:04am
McIntyre vs Morris, Round 1
McIntyre works the jab early.
He backs away, letting the jab of Morris miss his nose by a hair, so tight is his judge of distance.
McIntyre looks to hook and then throws a sneaky uppercut, incredibly skillful shot to play.
McIntyre has his jab working very well early.
He looks for that upper cut again there, but misses again.
Good jab from Morris gets through the guard.
Morris comes in and McIntyre throws a left at him.
Good body shot from McIntyre. He is liking that upper cut feint at the moment and looks for it again.
Good body shot again, as Morris cops it and then gets a bit rough in the clinch.
Good first round, not explosive but some good stuff in there.
28m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 11:04am
McIntyre vs Morris
There was a bit of push and shove at the weigh in between this pair, so expect a full-blooded encounter tonight.
Both men walk to the ring with plenty of fanfare.
Morris comes in relatively quickly, bad to the bone blaring over the speakers.
McIntyre, meanwhile, takes his sweet time, a heavily produced package of highlights playing on the screens behind and around the arena.
There are plenty of those highlights too, to be fair.
Morris, the former Australian champion, came in at 76.20kg and has plenty of support in the crowd.
McIntyre, who came in at 76.06kg, has far less support but he will earn that support if he performs her as well as he can.
42m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:49am
You cannot take your eyes off Max McIntyre
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Max McIntyre (8-0) has been called the most exciting prospect in Australian boxing.
If you’ve ever seen him fight, you’ll know why.
All the charisma that a marketer could hope for, hands with speed to spare and, most importantly, the sort of punch power that makes opponents weak at the knees.
He is a super exciting fighter and he’s up against Jed Morris (8-2) for the WBC Australasian super middleweight title today.
49m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:43am
‘He ran all night’: Wyllie, crowd upset with draw
Here are the three scorecards.
- 97-93 in favour of Fleming.
- 100-90 in favour of Wyllie.
- 95-95 a draw!
A horrible one to score for sure.
Perhaps a draw is fair?
I still think Wyllie did the better work but we said this would be hard so maybe this is the right call.
“We’re fighters, we fight,” says a clearly unhappy Wyllie in the post-fight.
“He ran all night.”
He really did. Those last few rounds were remarkable. The evasion was amazing, but very frustrating for Wyllie and the crowd.
Meanwhile, Fleming is also unhappy.
“Were you guys watching?” Fleming says on the microphone as boos rain down on him.
“Look at his face. He knows he lost that fight,” he adds to ever more boos, stoking the fires of frustration in the support.
“Youse all seen it. I got ripped.”
The crowd disagrees, clearly.
50m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:41am
A tough one for the judges
This is going to be unpopular with one set of supporters.
The crowd did not warm to Fleming when he got up on the ropes and, although he was impressive with his elusive powers, he didn’t land enough for me. This is boxing, not hide and seek.
The crowd think Wyllie should get it and I agree.
Lots of tight rounds, but I scored it 97-93 in Wyllie’s favour.
51m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:40am
Wyllie vs Fleming, Round 10
Final round. What will we get.
Fleming lands.
Now Wyllie does, not with the same impact but a solid shot regardless.
Wyllie gets Fleming on the ropes, who is ducking more than an English tale ender against Mitch Starc, but somehow evading every shot as if he is Neo in the Matrix.
That’s an upper cut that lands though from Wyllie.
Good shots from Wyllie as Fleming is on the ropes and bent over to try and make himself a smaller target.
He stands up as if to say this isn’t bothering me, and is clipped so goes down again.
This is good pressure from Wyllie – not pretty but essential.
Good left from Wyllie, more evasion from Fleming, who holds up his hands as he mocks Wyllie for not being able to hit him.
That enrages Wyllie who chases him around the ring and lands a couple of shots.
Both men celebrate at the finish, both just before the bell.
58m agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:33am
Wyllie vs Fleming, Round 9
Penultimate round.
Good shots from Wyllie on the ropes, working the body with a three punch combo.
Good jab as Fleming tries to punch his way off the ropes again, but Wyllie does well.
Oh, a short delay here as Fleming has an issue with something – his corner sorts it quickly.
Wyllie is working Fleming to the ropes again, Fleming spins him, then they spin back.
Brilliant pop shot from Fleming as Wyllie comes in. Right on the nose.
Good lead right from Wyllie catches Fleming. Then they tangle and Wyllie hammers his fist against his opponents ribs.
Wyllie is now having to anticipate the counter and countering as such, so there’s a counter to the counter that he is initiating. It’s 3D boxing chess out there.
An untidy round, hard to score.
The cards could either be incredibly wide one way that will infuriate one camp, wildly in favour of the other, or be a complete mix for me.
1h agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:28am
Wyllie vs Fleming, Round 8
This has been a tremendous contest.
Wyllie is working Fleming to the corner and the ropes, and Fleming, when he gets there, is countering superbly to get out of it. Rinse and repeat.
Fleming is like a ghost in there, impossible to pin down.
Both men land some superb shots, Wyllie with superb unconventional timing, Fleming with all the counter striking power of a cobra.
What a battle.
Fleming swings so hard he almost swings himself off his feet as he escapes the ropes embrace there.
Another brilliant round that’s almost impossible to score.
It’s anyone’s guess as to which way this one will go.
1h agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:27am
Wyllie vs Fleming, Round 7
Both men swing and hit but only with their forearms.
BIG SHOT FROM FLEMING! AND WYLLIE LANDS TOO!
That’s impressive stuff from both men – who are both trying to counter punch off each other.
Wyllie is being the more aggressive so far, but the speed at which Fleming lands those counter shots is just remarkable.
Good aggression from Wyllie and he pins Fleming in the corner.
Fleming ducks out the way and gets a shot off as well.
He tries again this time but Wyllie is alert to the counter.
They get in close and work in the phonebox of the red corner.
Fleming swings out an arm but doesn’t connect.
Solid body shot from Wyllie – but it’s all singles at the moment.
Wyllie opens up there though – that’s good, a good body shot and they’re in the neutral corner and tied up again!
Wyllie sticks out his tongue at Fleming and when the bell goes they both smile.
Great contest.
1h agoSat 6 Dec 2025 at 10:21am
Wyllie vs Fleming, Round 6
Fleming turns his back as they get tied up. That’s happened a couple of times of late.
Wyllie is feeling a lot better about this fight at the moment but Fleming is so elusive, ducking under a swinging arm like he’s in a cartoon. Incredible reflexes.
Brilliant from Fleming! He ducks under one shot, turns and lands one of his own to the ribs, then turns and plants a couple more on the off-balance Wyllie. Wonderful.
Wyllie smiles as a shot lands with real venom. The crowd groan with excitement.
Fleming winds up hie left arm, and then springs forward and lands brilliantly! Both men smile at the audacity!
I think they’re enjoying this as much as the crowd are – and they are enjoying it a lot.
