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For an Aussie fighter who made her pro debut at Revesby Workers\u2019 Club just four years ago in front of a few hundred fans, the scale of the occasion is almost impossible to comprehend.<\/p>\n
The event beneath the Pyramids of Giza is expected to draw millions of viewers worldwide, with plenty of celebrities and sporting stars also set to attend. <\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of high-profile athletes and celebrities will be flying in,\u201d Soliman told Fox Sports Australia this week from Cairo.<\/p>\n
\u201cJason Statham will be here. Canelo Alvarez. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if Cristiano Ronaldo flies in too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old was born in Egypt before moving to Australia as a child, and says returning to fight on such a massive stage has felt surreal. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou ask fighters where their dream place to fight is and they\u2019ll probably say Madison Square Garden,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut for me, this is bigger than Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously you\u2019ve got the UFC talking about fighting at the White House later this year, and with all due respect, this is way bigger than the White House card.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not taking anything away from the UFC or the White House card, but it doesn\u2019t compare. It doesn\u2019t compare at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aussie boxing star Mai SolimanSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
Soliman has now been in Egypt for several days and says she already feels completely at ease.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a second home to me,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI almost feel like I\u2019m back home fighting in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Australian has even already had an awkward run-in with her opponent, Hiruta, with most fighters staying at the same hotel in Cairo during fight week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see her for the first two days,\u201d Soliman explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen yesterday I was waving a van down to jump in. I thought no one was in it, and then realised she was pulling up to the hotel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even realise until someone pointed out it was her team. By the time they realised it was me, I was already in the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll definitely be seeing more of each other during fight week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the looming world title showdown, Soliman insisted there is no bad blood between the pair — only the natural tension that comes with two fighters chasing the same prize.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think all the pressure is on her,\u201d Soliman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously she wants to keep those belts and I want to take them from her.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut outside of that, there\u2019s nothing between us except respect.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I didn\u2019t fly all this way to walk away empty handed. I\u2019m here to dominate and get the WBO and Ring Magazine titles.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Soliman has already bumped into several fighters around Cairo, she is still waiting for a sighting of heavyweight superstar Usyk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t seen him yet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s staying at a different hotel, but not too far away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be cool to see him in person. He seems very interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu previews mega-clash with Spence Jr | 14:08<\/p>\n
Soliman told Fox Sports Australia last month she once dreamed of fighting <\/a>in front of the pyramids, and admitted arriving in Egypt this week has felt strangely familiar.<\/p>\n\u201cI haven\u2019t had any more dreams, but this does feel like deja vu,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been here before and had this fight already\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I definitely see my hand being raised this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve manifested this from start to finish \u2013 this whole moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd by Sunday morning, Australia time, it\u2019ll be: \u2018And the new\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m grateful for the opportunity. This is huge \u2013 not just as an Egyptian, but as an Australian boxer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud to represent Australia on such a global stage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aussie Mai Soliman say this weekend\u2019s world title fight beneath Egypt\u2019s pyramids will outshine fighting at the iconic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-682001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}