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Hoppa says Mirovic will go down
August 28, 2008
CONTROVERSIAL figure John Hopoate says winning the Australian heavyweight boxing title off Bob Mirovic would mean everything to him after claiming he was run out of rugby league.
Former NSW and Australian winger Hopoate switched to boxing in 2006 after incurring a series of disciplinary blemishes in rugby league.
Now 33, Hopoate will fight for his first major professional boxing title on September 10, when he challenges 42-year-old veteran Mirovic at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.
The champion and challenger exchanged plenty of verbal barbs at Thursday’s Sydney press conference and also engaged in a little bit of shoving when they got up to pose for the photographers.
Hopoate vowed to retire Mirovic, who responded by saying he would break the challenger's jaw and also issued a challenge to his opponent to do a nudie run in Sydney if he lost.
Hopoate, who boasts a 9-2 boxing record with all of his victories coming by KO, has never fought beyond six rounds in the ring.
Conversely, Mirovic (29-19-2, 8 KOs) has gone the full 12 round distance 10 times and has boxed almost 300 more professional rounds than his challenger.
“I think if it goes past five rounds Hoppa will just blow up,” said former world title contender and Australian champion Joe Bugner,” who defeated Mirovic on points back in 1998.
Asked where winning the title would rank among his sporting achievements, Hopoate said: “It would mean everything, especially with what happened in my rugby league career, getting run out of the game.
“Taking this (boxing) up, it would mean everything to me to get a title around my waist. I want to go as far as I can.
“This is a stepping stone, getting an Australian title and fighting overseas. You've got to fight the best if you want to be the best.”
Mirovic, who will enjoy a height advantage of close to 11 centimetres over Hopoate, revealed his intentions to score a hat trick of victories over footballers.
After disposing of Hopoate, Mirovic declared he wanted to defeat the former Manly league star's team mate Solomon Haumono.
Mirovic said he would then like to smash another footballer, Sydney AFL star Barry Hall, who is yet to switch to boxing, despite expressing his passion for the sport.
“I am going to stop the story of the footballers taking over boxing,” Mirovic said.
“I don't begrudge them coming into the sport if they want to work hard and do all the right things.”
Hopoate last night watched Haumono improve his professional record to 15-0 (14 KOs), with a unanimous points win over American Cliff Couser.
He ruled out any possibility of ever fighting him though.
“We are like brothers, the only time you fight brothers is at Christmas when you've had too much to drink,” Hopoate said.
Mirovic's new trainer Jeff Fenech said the fight would be “a walk in the park” for his charge if he fought as he had done in recent times.
Hopoate said he would need to keep punching to prevent Mirovic from employing spoiling tactics such as leaning on him and tying him up
August 28, 2008
CONTROVERSIAL figure John Hopoate says winning the Australian heavyweight boxing title off Bob Mirovic would mean everything to him after claiming he was run out of rugby league.
Former NSW and Australian winger Hopoate switched to boxing in 2006 after incurring a series of disciplinary blemishes in rugby league.
Now 33, Hopoate will fight for his first major professional boxing title on September 10, when he challenges 42-year-old veteran Mirovic at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.
The champion and challenger exchanged plenty of verbal barbs at Thursday’s Sydney press conference and also engaged in a little bit of shoving when they got up to pose for the photographers.
Hopoate vowed to retire Mirovic, who responded by saying he would break the challenger's jaw and also issued a challenge to his opponent to do a nudie run in Sydney if he lost.
Hopoate, who boasts a 9-2 boxing record with all of his victories coming by KO, has never fought beyond six rounds in the ring.
Conversely, Mirovic (29-19-2, 8 KOs) has gone the full 12 round distance 10 times and has boxed almost 300 more professional rounds than his challenger.
“I think if it goes past five rounds Hoppa will just blow up,” said former world title contender and Australian champion Joe Bugner,” who defeated Mirovic on points back in 1998.
Asked where winning the title would rank among his sporting achievements, Hopoate said: “It would mean everything, especially with what happened in my rugby league career, getting run out of the game.
“Taking this (boxing) up, it would mean everything to me to get a title around my waist. I want to go as far as I can.
“This is a stepping stone, getting an Australian title and fighting overseas. You've got to fight the best if you want to be the best.”
Mirovic, who will enjoy a height advantage of close to 11 centimetres over Hopoate, revealed his intentions to score a hat trick of victories over footballers.
After disposing of Hopoate, Mirovic declared he wanted to defeat the former Manly league star's team mate Solomon Haumono.
Mirovic said he would then like to smash another footballer, Sydney AFL star Barry Hall, who is yet to switch to boxing, despite expressing his passion for the sport.
“I am going to stop the story of the footballers taking over boxing,” Mirovic said.
“I don't begrudge them coming into the sport if they want to work hard and do all the right things.”
Hopoate last night watched Haumono improve his professional record to 15-0 (14 KOs), with a unanimous points win over American Cliff Couser.
He ruled out any possibility of ever fighting him though.
“We are like brothers, the only time you fight brothers is at Christmas when you've had too much to drink,” Hopoate said.
Mirovic's new trainer Jeff Fenech said the fight would be “a walk in the park” for his charge if he fought as he had done in recent times.
Hopoate said he would need to keep punching to prevent Mirovic from employing spoiling tactics such as leaning on him and tying him up
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