Jai Opetaia’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, says he needs to make the unification struggle with WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez after Jai defends in opposition to his IBF necessary Huseyin Cinkara subsequent yr on January eighth.
The Matchroom boss Hearn claims Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) will “do a quantity” on ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs), and when he does, he’s going to brag and rub it within the face of Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya to get the final snort.
Ought to De La Hoya Threat or To not Threat Ramirez?
De La Hoya hasn’t mentioned whether or not he’ll give the inexperienced mild to Ramirez, 33, to take the struggle with Opetaia as a result of it’s received to as a result of he may need different concepts for fascinating matchups for the favored Mexican star. Why restrict himself by going through Opetaia, who has a Shakur Stevenson fashion?
Hearn appears to be in a rush to make the Opetaia-Ramirez struggle, and he would solely be that approach if he was completely 100% sure that Opetaia goes to win. The British promoter hasn’t taken that very same strategy to match his fighter Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis with Vergil Ortiz Jr., who De La Hoya promotes.
So, in case you’re Oscar, he shouldn’t give Hearn what he needs by making the match between Zurdo and Opetaia except he’s keen to do the identical with Boots preventing Vergil.
“By way of Zurdo [Ramirez] in opposition to Jai [Opetaia], completely! Jai has a compulsory that we have now to maintain in [Huseyin] Cinkara. That might are available in early January [8th] in 2025, after which all we wish are unifcations for Jai,” mentioned Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing. Billiam-Smith, he took the fitting choice to take the better struggle in opposition to Zurdo. No disrespect, however you’ll see a giant, large, skillful heavyweight in Opetaia do a quantity in Zurdo, and that is music to my ears as a result of we wish to make these fights with Oscar De La Hoya.
“It’s all very nicely boasting a couple of report while you’re not in aggressive fights. Put Zurdo in with Opetaia. Put Zepeda in with Shakur. Put Barboza with Catterall. The record is limitless and we win all these fights with Golden Boy. After we do there’s nothing else to say, and once we do however simply to take a look at the good Oscar De La Hoya and simply go [clap-clap-clap-clap],” mentioned Hearn.
Opetaia will defend in opposition to #1 Cinkara (22-0, 18 KOs) on January eighth on the Gold Coast Conference Centre, in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. That ought to be a straightforward win for Ramirez as a result of the 39-year-old Cinkara has by no means fought any notable opposition throughout his skilled profession.
“It’s nothing private. I feel he’s really fairly amusing. When the ‘Clap Again’ first began, I believed it was so cringe,” mentioned Hearn about De La Hoya.
“I feel it’s good enjoyable. With me and Oscar, there’s all the time been just a little little bit of needle between me and him. That’s what you need within the build-up. I don’t see us shedding in opposition to Golden Boy in any respect. Not simply shedding the entire thing. Shedding one. So, convey it on.”
The rationale Hearn will be so cavalier about De La Hoya’s Clap Again state of affairs now’s as a result of he feels assured that Opetaia, 29, will beat him simply. But when this have been a state of affairs the place Oscar had the higher hand, you possibly can wager that Hearn could be aggravated at him, taunting him, and pressuring him to make the struggle.
Jai’s Weak point: He Can’t Deal with Stress
Opetaia isn’t that good of a fighter, as we noticed in his rematch with former IBF cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis on Could 18th.
When Opetaia began taking injury from the laborious pictures from a motivated Briedis, he appeared completely scared and reworked into an even bigger model of Shakur. It was like watching a bully get uncovered. That efficiency by Opetaia confirmed that he’s not the daring fighter that he betrays himself with throughout his interviews.
The Aussie Opetaia is coming off a profitable protection of his IBF cruiserweight title in opposition to Jack Massey (22-3, 12 KOs) on October twelfth in Riyadh. It was a straightforward win for Opetaia, stopping the light-hitting Massey within the sixth spherical of a one-sided mismatch.
Opetaia vs. Massey Punch Stats
– Jai Opetaia: 87 of 205 pictures for a 42.4% join charge
– Jack Massey: 41 of 143 punches for 28.7%
