December 5, 2020: Champion Australian Boxer Justis Huni who is of Samoan descent defended his heavyweight title against Arsene Fosso in a highly anticipated heavyweight fight debut in Brisbane, Australia on Thursday night.
As the main event, 21 year old Huni(2-0) who is Australia’s youngest national heavyweight champion in more than a century gave a stunning performance in just his second pro-fight going on to secure a fourth round stoppage win over Arsene Fosso (3-1)
Although Huni suffered a bloodied nose early in the fight, there was little doubt that that Brisbane- native could handle the pressure of the main event. He remained in control showcasing his exceptional boxing skills, landing clean uppercuts and savage body shots before referee Phil Austin halted the contest.
An additional highlight of the event featured another proud Samoan on the undercard, the highly rated welterweight and New Zealand born Samoan, Andrew Hunt who earned a TKO win in the third round against Luke Woods.
While images of Huni’s savage take down of 37 year old Fosso and of Hunt proudly waving the Samoa national flag in the ring were beamed across Australia; so too was the image of the ‘Beautiful Samoa’ logo branded on the centre of the canvas which served as a reminder of the enduring partnership between Samoa Tourism and Australian based promoters, Tasman Fighters.
Despite the absence of Samoa backed Jai Opetaia on the fight card, Tasman Fighters decided to include the Samoa Tourism brand on the canvas as a sign of good faith and continued commitment to the destination marketing of Samoa.
“Tasman Fighters see their partnership with Samoa as ongoing and would like to create opportunities for other young rising stars in Samoa to appear on the card at a Tasman Fighters event.” said Samoan Liaison for Tasman Fighters, Leisa Francis
She added “Given that it is a televised Event, as a sign of good faith Tasman Fighters decided to include the Beautiful Samoa logo on the canvas and on media boards. Additionally, we also included the Samoa Airways logo on some of the media boards therefore they will have substantial branding opportunities.”
Meanwhile boxing sensation, Jai Opetaia, has maintained his undefeated record after taking out former Australian champion, Ben Kelleher, at the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Global and International Boxing Federation (IBF) Intercontinental Cruiserweight Titles.
Despite the frustration over Covid-19 hitting the pause button on Opetaia’s world title ambitions, Leisa says that the southpaw will continue training towards the world title eliminator fight and is looking forward to returning to Samoa when borders re-open.
“Jai Opetaia’s next bout will be a world title eliminator fight and this is expected to be in 2021. It is hard to pinpoint the date as yet given the international border restrictions still in place. Tasman Fighters is committed and very fond of their partnership with Samoa.” said Leisa “As soon as the international borders open and we can travel back to Samoa, Jai Opetaia will return to Samoa for a training camp. Jai loves returning to Samoa and training in Samoa given the climate and great training facilities in Samoa.
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