Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\nOnly a year after signing on with Australia\u2019s newest fight promotion \u2013 the International Brawling Championship \u2013 30-year-old Hardman is suddenly eyeing off the same double champ boast that so famously turned fightin\u2019 Irishman Conor McGregor into a UFC megastar.<\/p>\n
This Wednesday night on the Gold Coast, Hardman first defends his IBC middleweight crown against Mikey Vaotuua \u2013 a cousin of Australia\u2019s cruiserweight king Jai Opetaia \u2013 before then challenging Camilleri for the vacant welterweight strap later this year.<\/p>\n
Despite having previously gone the distance with Tim Tszyu, and more recently chased showdowns with both younger brother Nikita and Australian boxing bad boy Michael Zerafa, \u2018Camo\u2019 is now switching sports, albeit temporarily, and promising to end Hardman\u2019s shock ascension.<\/p>\n
The Headsplitter, however, doesn\u2019t see it that way.<\/p>\n
With the popular Queenslander convinced he is beginning a run to \u2018Champ Champ\u2019 status against Vaotuua on Wednesday night — and on a card set to be aired live on Kayo Sports and Main Event.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo first, I go chin Mikey \u2013 boom,\u201d Hardman grinned. \u201cThen from there, I go sleep Camilleri for a second belt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I\u2019ll defend at welterweight, becoming the first IBC fighter to not only win two titles, but defend both.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Laughs] So forget McGregor, it\u2019s f***ing McHardman …\u201d<\/p>\n
IBC star Issac HardmanSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Camilleri, of course, is also no stranger to Australian fight fans.<\/p>\n
Apart from having gone the distance in 2019 with then rising star Tszyu \u2013 and for a time, having also worked out of the former world champion\u2019s Rockdale gym \u2013 the Melburnian has also more recently racked up a strong collection of wins.<\/p>\n
Yet after calling out \u2018The Butcher\u2019 and Zerafa without success, Camilleri now joins a growing list of Australian boxers and MMA fighters who have inked on with the IBC.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one wants to fight him, apparently,\u201d Hardman shrugged. \u201cSo that\u2019s why he\u2019s switching it up and coming across to what all these boxers are calling the mug\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I can tell you what, he\u2019s coming to the IBC to get paid. And get paid really f***ing well.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly though, I don\u2019t give a f*** about any of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cSame as I don\u2019t care who I defend titles against. So long as that cashola keeps arriving into my back pocket, I\u2019ll fight my brother if I need to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joel Camilleri punches in action against Tim Tszyu in 2019Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Asked about Wednesday night\u2019s rival being a cousin of Opetaia, and Hardman cackled: \u201cF*** me, if I was Samoan I\u2019d be saying I\u2019m related to Jai Opetaia too. That bloke is the best boxer in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlus all the Usos are cousins when one of them is famous as. My best mate is Samoan, and The Rock is his cousin.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut with Mikey and Jai, yeah, apparently the bloodlines are there. I\u2019ve seen he\u2019s posted photos of them together when they were young whipper snappers on the Central Coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I know Mikey also started camp for this fight with Jai and his father, Tap. And he\u2019s back there now too. So the guy is definitely surrounding himself with high level athletes, mindsets and coaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s willing too, that\u2019s his best asset. And that\u2019s also dangerous thing when you\u2019re wearing four ounce gloves.\u201d<\/p>\n
IBC 04: Hardman v Vaotuua | Wednesday July 15 from 7pm AEST | Issac Hardman returns to the ring in his hometown, taking on \u201cThe Samoan Warrior\u201d Mikey Vaotuua in the headline event of another must-watch card. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\nSo as for combating that?<\/p>\n
\u201cMy plan is simple,\u201d Hardman shrugged, \u201cf***ing chin him.\u201d<\/p>\n
While happy to win, and defend, two IBC straps this year, Hardman also stressed the rapid growth of the IBC Down Under \u2013 and the type of names expressing interest in fights \u2013 means he will likely campaign only at his most natural division, welterweight, moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the way the IBC keeps growing, mate, it won\u2019t be a sport for wannabe streetfighters,\u201d he insists.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuys are already being paid good money.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you just know that means every division will soon be chock full of professional boxers and even UFC-type guys who are far more suited to the striking than wrestling.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo eventually among IBC middleweights, you\u2019re going to have elite level guys who walk around at 92kg. Fighters who cut the eight kilos to make weight, then rehydrate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd obviously I can\u2019t be f***ing with elite level strikers who are able to do that. So I\u2019ll stay and welterweight and keep winning there as the other boys keep signing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ask Issac Hardman how he plans to become Australia\u2019s newest fighting \u2018Champ Champ\u2019 and the popular slugger doesn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":798751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-798750","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\/798750","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=798750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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