Promoter Eddie Hearn wants his fighter, IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, to be the next opponent against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to defend his titles.
That would be 100% unfair to the top contenders in the heavyweight division if Opetaia were allowed to fight Usyk for his WBA, WBC, and WBO world titles without earning the shot by defeating the contenders. What a silly joke and so, so wrong for the sport.
From Hearn’s standpoint, it’s understandable why he would want his fighter Opetaia to be given a title shot against Usyk. It’s money. He doesn’t have anyone else in his Matchroom stable to fight Usyk after he twice whipped his flagship fighter, Anthony Joshua, causing him to go into a mental meltdown inside the ring after his second defeat.
Hearn would be laughed at if he made a play to have domestic-level heavyweight Johnny Fisher challenge Usyk for his three belts after the performance he turned in against Dave Allen last week. Other than cruiserweight Opetaia, Fisher is the only one Hearn has. He’s not going to let Joshua fight Usyk and have him ruin his plans for the ‘Battle of Britain’ money fight against Tyson Fury.
It’s a self-serving move on Hearn’s part to want Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) to move up and skip the line in front of the top contenders, Martin Bakole, Agit Kabayel, and Joseph Parker, without proving himself any of those guys to actually earn the title shot.
It’s a circus, and it fits in with Francis Ngannou getting a straight shot against Tyson Fury and journeyman Derek Chisora challenging for a world title after losing three out of his last four fights. Allowing Opetaia to jump in front of contenders at heavyweight to fight Usyk for his three world titles makes a mockery of the sport but shows what is important: money.
Opetaia, 29, looked hellishly bad in his narrow victory over Mairis Briedis on May 18th, running around the ring, looked frightened when the 39-year-old began putting heat on him. You got a glimpse of who Opetaia really was during the last four rounds of the fight. He’s someone who is fine when he’s got a passive fighter in front of him, but when he’s attacked relentlessly by a hard puncher, he turns into a frightened lamb.
“I think Opetaia’s style and it’s great fight. The only fight that I see, I mean, I love Opetaia against Usyk. I just think it’s such a good style match-up. But Jai’s got to earn his stripes as well for that fight. He’s got to win next week, and then he’s probably got to unify against [Gilberto] Ramirez,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about wanting Oleksandr Usyk to fight his fighter, IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.
“And then, when he steps up, he can compete weight-wise. It’s a great fight, but he’s got to continue to build his profile. But I don’t see a lot of fights that genuinely excite me for Usyk. He’s done it all. Who else is there for him to beat?: said Hearn about Opetaia.
If Hearn wants Opetaia to challenge Usyk for his world titles, he needs to have the Australian fight these four:
- Martin Bakole
- Daniel Dubois
- Bakhodir Jalalov
- Agit Kabayel
If Opetaia can make it through this mini-gauntlet victorious, then he will have earned his title shot against Usyk. Other than that, he needs to return from whence he came, back down to the ooze of the cruiserweight division, fighting lackluster, obscure fighters that the casual fans have never heard of and will never care about.
Opetaia will defend his IBF title against replacement opponent David Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) on January 8th at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. The fight will be shown live on DAZN. Nyika is a replacement for the injured Huseyin Cinkara.
2024-12-30 13:45:56
