By James Hicken
OVER the last few years, Jai Opetaia has proven himself to be one of the best fighters in the world and the de facto king of the cruiserweight division. Since the departure of Oleksandr Usyk, there has been a scramble for the scattered world titles he left behind. Although Opetaia has only been able to claim the IBF title twice in that time, defeating another of the best cruiserweights of the time, Mairis Briedis, his devasting power and precise skills have placed him at the top of his division.
After successfully defending his IBF title against Jack Massey on October 12th, the question remains: What is next for this emerging phenom, and what paths lay open for him to explore?
Unification
Opetaia’s clearest option, and the one he has expressed as his current priority, is cleaning up the cruiserweight division and becoming the undisputed champion.
To be able to solidify himself as the best cruiserweight on the planet, Opetaia would have to fight at least three more times at his current weight. Since beating Massey, the IBF has insisted that Opetaia defends against his mandatory challenger, Huseyin Cinkara, or he will be stripped of his title again, having suffered the same punishment for choosing to fight Ellis Zorro in Saudi Arabia last year.
He will, therefore, have to remain patient to unify the division whilst battling against the IBF.
“I’m just pursuing unification of belts”, Opetaia explained. “So I’m really chasing those progress fights.”
November 16th, Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez and Chris Billam-Smith will have a unification bout for the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles. This fight seems like the perfect next step for the Australian as he will be able to defend against his mandatory and then take on the winner of Ramirez vs Billam-Smith to become the unified champ, leaving only one belt to collect.
In a perfect world, Opetaia could become the undisputed cruiserweight champion by the end of next year if the promoters can line up schedules and fighters stay healthy. His final hurdle to this would be the WBC champion Norair Mikaelian, who has been inactive for more than a year after winning his green and gold strap.
It is hard to find a reason to believe that Opetaia doesn’t comfortably beat the other champions in the division at a time when the pool of cruiserweight talent is in a minor lull. I would expect to see Opetaia make these his first steps to greatness.
Heavyweight
A look further down the line, perhaps at a move to heavyweight for the Australian. It has been a question that he has been asked more and more frequently as he dispatches his cruiserweight opposition with ease.
Standing at six feet and two inches, should Opetaia decide to venture up to heavyweight then he would be a touch undersized in this modern heavyweight era, he has also stated he comfortably makes the cruiserweight limit, bringing into question whether or not he could put on enough size to compete and compensate for his lacking height.
This is not to put limitations on a fighter based purely on their size as this has been proven a fallacy many times, one merely has to look at the likes of David Haye and Oleksandr Usyk in this modern era of heavyweights. Both of these fighters stand only one inch taller than Opetaia and both claimed heavyweight gold after a move from Cruiserweight.
Opetaia has also been in the ring with heavyweights before, most famously he was called into Tyson Fury’s training camp for his fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
The rumour mill then began to circulate as Opetaia was sent home very quickly after their first sparring session. Some speculated this was because Opetaia dropped Fury, and others have said that Fury wanted more orthodox sparring. However you read into it, Opetaia certainly seems as though he has what it takes to compete with much larger opponents.
It does seem that this is not an urgent matter for the 29-year-old as he is laser-focused on the challenges of his current division.
“I definitely see myself heading down that direction,” Opetaia revealed. “But like I said, without winning these fights, that’s just talk.”
He also said: “once I go up I don’t want to come back down in weight”.
This probably tells us it will be a move he makes at a later stage of his career, and he feels no pressure to pack on the pounds just yet.
Moving up to heavyweight is a very real option for a man of Opetaia’s skill and power and will remain an open option to him for the rest of his career, so there is no need to rush out of the cruiserweight division when there is still work to do.
Jai Opetaia attacks Jordan Thompson during their cruiserweight fight at Wembley Arena on September 30, 2023 (Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)
Artur Beterbiev
The newly crowned undisputed light-heavyweight champion, Artur Beterbiev, could be an interesting proposition for a fight with the IBF cruiserweight champ. Though this fight is a touch more imaginative than the other presented options, Beterbiev has expressed an interest in moving up to cruiserweight.
Speaking before his unification bout with Dmitry Bivol, he said: “We’ll see after. Challenges may be in different categories. Go up [in weight]. I’m not focused on these things”
The biggest fight on offer for him would be the fight with Opetaia and the Australian has also expressed an interest in this fight.
Speaking on Beterbiev, he said: “Yeah, for sure. He’s a great champion, and I’m always willing to test myself to be great”
Despite feeling slightly outside the realms of possibility, this fight would be an exciting prospect and would be great for the careers of both fighters. Beterbiev’s advancing age as a boxer, unfortunately, has to come into the conversation as he will have to fight Dmitry Bivol again, and Opetaia will want to unify before looking at prize fights, so it’s questionable that the timing will ever be right for both.
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – OCTOBER 12: Artur Beterbiev punches Dmitrii Bivol during the IBF, IBO, WBC and WBO World Light Heavyweight titles’ fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitrii Bivol as part of the Riyadh Season – IV Crown Showdown card at Kingdom Arena on October 12, 2024 in Riyadh. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Oleksandr Usyk
A fight that certainly makes sense and is currently looking more feasible than ever, is for Opetaia to fight the current unified heavyweight champion and former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, to attempt to write his name in the history books among the best cruiserweights of all time.
A fight between these two would be monumental for boxing and even more so for the cruiserweight division, which may have never seen a fight of this potential magnitude.
Opetaia has been an admirer of Usyk for his whole career and feels like he has been waiting in the wings for this opportunity to prove himself.
“I would love to fight Usyk one day,” Opetaia told Sky Sports before his fight with Jack Massey. “It’s a fight that I’ll definitely be chasing. I’ve been around Usyk for a long time. We were both at the same Olympic Games.
“I’ve always been close. I’ve always been in the shadows. I feel like my opportunity’s getting closer and closer to being in there against him.
Now at 37 years old, many would have expected the Ukrainian to retire as a heavyweight, but Usyk made a surprising statement earlier this year shortly after his first fight with Tyson Fury.
“I think maybe after the rematch, I am going to go down in weight to cruiserweight I want more [fights at] cruiserweight” Usyk told the ‘3 Knockdown Rule’ podcast in June.
“Maybe I can be undisputed for a second time in the cruiserweight division, it’s my plan. When I start to prepare for my training camp [as a heavyweight], I have to eat all the time. For me it’s hard, I don’t like it.”
Should Usyk actually make this unusual move back down in weight, one would expect the perfect opponent for him to see if he can become undisputed cruiserweight champion again to be Jai Opetaia.
Perhaps Opetaia will be the undisputed champion by the time the fight can be made. Whichever way it shakes out, it is undeniable that this would be an enormous opportunity for Opetaia and a fight that it would be hard to write him out of.
Oleksandr Usyk lands a left hand on Tyson Fury during their heavyweight fight at Kingdom Arena on May 18, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
