Promoter Spencer Brown says the next fight that they want for IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia is a unification clash against WBC champion Badou Jack.
Unification Push Begins
They have to wait and see if Jack will get through his next fight on December 13th against challenger Norair Mikaeljan. Brown claims that the 42-year-old Badou (29-3-3, 17 KOs) has promised to face Opetaia next. He says he wants Jai to be the undisputed cruiserweight champion by the end of 2026.
For Opetaia to do that, he needs Jack and then the winner of the May 2nd fight between WBA and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez and David Benavidez.
Last Saturday, Opetaia (29-0, 23 KOs) knocked out Huseyin Cinkara (23-1, 19 KOs) in the eighth round in a fight that was tougher than expected at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Australia. Cinkara hurt Opetaia in the second round, staggering him with a right hand that caused him to hold.
Cinkara Fight Took a Toll
It was a punishing fight for Opetaia, as he was hit throughout the fight by the hard-punching Cinkara. Physically, Jai looked like the loser at the end, as his face was bruised around the eyes, and he had a cut under his right eye.
The performance showed that Opetaia can dish it out, but he’s not as good at taking it back. Mike Coppinger reports that Cinkara suffered a brain contusion during the fight.
“That’s the promised fight if he can get through what he has to get through. He’s got to fight this man, and he won’t be too keen on that,” said promoter Spencer Brown to the media about WBC cruiserweight champion Badou Jack potentially being next for Jai Opetaia if he successfully defends against Norair Mikaeljan on December 13th.
Style Flaws Showing for Jai
If Opetaia can’t get the fights he needs to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion in 2026, he needs to start thinking about giving up on his goal. He’s getting up there in age at 30, and he’s not fighting at the same level he did when he first fought Mairis Briedis in 2022. He has a Bivol-esque fighting style of holding his lead arm far out in front of him, and he gets nailed because the arm isn’t in a position to defend his head.
Bivol can fight like that because he grew up with it in the Soviet system. But Opetaia is like a duck out of water, trying to copy it, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He cannot go on fighting like that against lesser cruiserweights, but he’s getting hurt more and more.
“He’s promised the fight, and we want that fight. I think we need to get all the belts by the end of next year,” said Brown about Badou supposedly promising he’d fight Opetaia.
“That was a tough guy he fought tonight. Maybe he should have took more of his time. Maybe he’s a little disappointed in himself, but you don’t see many knockouts like that,” said Brown about Opetaia’s one-punch KO over 40-year-old Cinkara. “He set him up lovely, he came over, and the man was nearly decapitated. It was that strong.
“You’ve got to remember this guy wasn’t unbeaten for nothing,” said Brown about Cinkara. “He was tough, he came to fight, and he came to win.”
