Olympic coach wants teen boxer in camp

Australia's Olympic boxing coach Don Abnett has called on schoolboy heavyweight Jai Opetaia to put an end to their feud and join the team's pre-Games camp. Opetaia has still not entered the camp a week after the other nine fighters came together at the AIS in Canberra to prepare for the London Games which start in a little over seven weeks. He said he was shattered by Abnett's comments last week that the 16-year-old will struggle at the Olympics and would be out of his depth. But Abnett says if the teen has the right preparation he could be competitive in London. "Hopefully we're going to get together again and talk and things will improve," Abnett said. "At the end of the day it's about the boy. He's preparing for probably one of the biggest events of his life. "He's a very, very talented boy with a big future. I believe that if he had the right preparation and put his head down and really prepared himself he would be competitive at the Olympics." But Abnett says he hasn't spoke to Jai or his father and trainer Martin, so doesn't know what sort of preparation he's having, although he does know he's a very committed trainer. They have not spoken since Opetaia was banned from the team's seven-week European tour for missing 19 training sessions before the Oceania championships in March after attending a family funeral. Opetaia has said he would find it hard to work with Abnett if he doesn't believe in him, but the coach says he's "100 per cent" willing to train him and sit in his corner. "And all of the boys are as well," Abnett said. "All of the boys are missing him and wish they could put this behind us and work towards what needs to be done to prepare for the Olympic Games and hopefully be successful there." Boxing Australia chief executive Kable Kelleway has spoken with Opetaia's management and hopes to have talks with the boxer and his father within a week to discuss their relationship with Abnett. "We need to work on Don and Jai having a working relationship and how we get the best out of that so we get the best result we can get out of Jai as possible," Kelleway said. Opetaia, who turns 17 this month, is the youngest Olympic boxer ever selected for Australia.