Keri Fiu, the trainer of Australia’s Justis Huni, has died, casting doubt over the heavyweight’s date with Kiki Toa Leutele on December 6.
Fiu had been helping the 26-year-old Huni to prepare for his rematch with Leutele – on the undercard of Jai Opetaia-Huseyin Cinkara at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Gold Coast, Australia – when he stepped off his training bike and collapsed.
Huni and his strength and conditioning coach succeeded in reviving him, but after being put into an induced coma and entering intensive care Fiu has died.
“I can’t find the words to describe how much this hurts and it doesn’t feel real,” Huni posted on social media.
“I love you, Kez, and everything I do from here will always be for you. Until we meet again, big buddy.”
Fiu had previously also worked with Opetaia, the IBF cruiserweight champion, who wrote: “We love you and we are gonna miss you Kezza, aka The Glue. So many laughs and great memories. ‘Till we meet again. I love you, man.”
Huni had promoted Fiu to the status of his head trainer in the aftermath of his first defeat, in June via stoppage by England’s Fabio Wardley.
“He was laying on the ground, he was like out of it,” he had said on Thursday of Flu’s collapse, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. “He was foaming at the mouth; blood was coming out of his eyes; he was gone.”
Little under a month until fight night, it remains unclear whether the contest between Huni and New Zealand’s Leutele, 31, will proceed.
