IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (27-0, 21 KOs) says he desires a unification combat towards WBA/WBO champ Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez subsequent following his fourth-round blowout of challenger David Nyika (10-1, 9 KOs) on Wednesday evening in Australia.
Inside Sport Considerations
Opetaia, 29, must combat lots higher towards Zurdo Ramirez for him to defeat the unified champion. The deficiency that Jai confirmed on the within towards Nyika tonight can be taken benefit of by Zurdo, who’s an excellent fighter in shut. That’s the most effective a part of his recreation. He would beat up Opetaia in a combat on the within and overwhelm him with punches.
We noticed tonight that Jai is a one-armed fighter, solely able to touchdown his left with authority and needing to be on the skin to generate energy. He was common on the within when Nyika pressured him into that combat by closing the area, wrestling, and punching. If this had been Ramirez, Jai would have been out of his league and sure been knocked out.
In keeping with Jake Donovan, Mick Francis the pinnacle of Tasman Fighters, Might third is a possible date for a unification conflict between Opetaia and Zurdo Ramirez. Now, the difficult occasion is attempting to get the match negotiated. That’s not going to be straightforward.
Opetaia is an effective fighter within the Bivol mould, however he has zero inside recreation, and isn’t constructed for a fighter like Gilberto Ramirez, Oleksandr Usyk, and even Artur Beterbiev. He’s too one-dimensional and extra of a potshot kind.
Nyika’s Dogfight Techniques
“I need these unification fights. I need all these belts round my waist,” mentioned Opetaia to the media on the post-fight press convention after his win over Nyika. “I’m chasing unification fights, but when they put another person in entrance of me, I can’t assist that.
“I used to be form of in shock on how he got here out,” mentioned Opetaia about Nyika’s aggression. “My outdated man mentioned to me, ‘He desires to have a canine combat.’ ‘If he desires to have a canine combat, let’s have a canine combat.’”
Nyika was preventing Opetaia on even phrases, brawling and mauling him inside. His techniques of turning the combat right into a dogfight have been fairly efficient. Jai ended the combat within the fourth spherical when he received on the skin, damage Nyika with a left hand, after which overwhelmed him with mixtures.
