Cook Islander Teremoana Junior Teremoana made his professional return on Saturday, December 14, with a first-round technical knockout win over Ukrainian boxer Volodymyr Katsuk.

The 26-year-old Australian-based boxer, who has lineage to the islands of Atiu and Pukapuka (Wale) through his father, Teremoana Tangauru, who was raised in Pue, Rarotonga, fought Katsuk, 36, over six rounds at Salle Des Étoiles at Sporting Monte-Carlo, Monaco.

Teremoana recently signed with global boxing powerhouse Matchroom, joining the likes of Jai Opetaia, Liam Paro, Skye Nicolson and George Kambosos in the promoter’s stable.

The fight on Saturday was his first under Matchroom. He put on a sensational performance to stop Katsuk in the opening round, finishing the fight in just two minutes.

Following the win, Teremoana performed a traditional Cook Islands dance, a post-match ritual, to acknowledge his ancestral roots.

The promising heavyweight fighter Teremoana, who impressed everyone at the Paris Olympics after losing in the quarterfinals against the eventual gold medal winner Bakhodir Jalolov, holds a record of 5-0 and featured in his last professional bout more than two years ago in September 2022.

Ahead of his professional return over the weekend, Teremoana boldly predicted he will prove the “greatest heavyweight of my generation”.

“I know what I have to be now to beat the best,” Teremoana said. “Now I’ve just got to take this opportunity with both hands and smash everyone in the pros. I believe I’m going to be the greatest heavyweight of this generation. That’s what I believe. Give me some time to prove it. Let me earn my stripes, and then we’ll go from there.”

“It was great to get a date locked in so soon after signing with Matchroom. That’s what I want to do. I just want to fight. When I go overseas for any type of fight, I just embrace the moment. My family, we haven’t done this type of stuff. I’ve just been soaking it all in.

“I’m here to do my job of course. I’m not mucking around. I’m here to sort out the business. I’m a very entertaining fighter. I enjoy getting in the ring and punching on. At the end of the day, I think everyone just likes to see people get knocked out. So, if you want to watch heavyweight boxing and see people get knocked out – tune in.”

Cook Islander Teremoana Junior Teremoana with Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn, left, and his team. Australian Boxing Central/24121624

Teremoana’s career has also been guided by Tasman Fighters.

“I was born and raised in Australia,” he continued. “My dad is a Cook Islander and my mum is Australian-Scottish. For me to get into boxing, I used to play rugby from the ages six to 12 and then after that my dad put me into boxing. I’ve never really enjoyed boxing to be honest. I gave it away at the age of 19 and then pretty much I turned 21 and on my 21st birthday I decided to take on my first name which is Teremoana – since then that gave me a spark.

“I wanted to let the whole world know my grandfather’s name, because that’s who I’m named after. Three days after my 21st birthday I made the decision that I wanted to become a world champion just to cement his name into history, and that’s pretty much when it started. Four years later I qualified for the Olympics and now we’ve signed with Matchroom.

“I believe Matchroom is one of the best promoters in the world. They have promotions all over the world. They’re starting to branch out to Australia which has also brought a lot of eyes to Australian boxing. This is the best Australian boxing has ever been. I would say to have Jai Opetaia as world champion, Skye Nicolson as world champion, Liam Paro as a recent world champion – so many Aussies out there paving the path for us and inspiring the younger generation as well.”

• Additional reporting from Boxing Scene