Promoter Eddie Hearn wants unified WBA & WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez to fight his fighter, IBF champion Jai Opetaia, in a three-belt championship match next.
Hearn NEEDS Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) and his promoters at Golden Boy to agree to the unification because the IBF has ordered Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) to defend against his mandatory next, Huseyin Cinkara (22 -0, 18 KOs).
This fight will attract little interest on DAZN. Opetaia’s Australian fans won’t mind him defending against the 39-year-old Cinkara, but the rest of the world won’t be excited about the fight.
What can De La Hoya win?
Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya probably wouldn’t want to do Hearn any favors by setting up a fight between his guy, Zurdo Ramirez, and Opetaia, as he would be the underdog in that bout. De La Hoya and Golden Boy should turn their noses at Hearn and focus on keeping Ramirez going against guys they know he can beat.
De La Hoya once made the mistake of having Zurdo fight Hearn’s fight Dmitry Bivol in 2022, and he was beaten by a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision for the first time in his career. Oscar probably isn’t going to want to help Hearn again by matching Ramirez against Opetaia and seeing him compete through the IBF champion.
If you’re De la Hoya, you want to continue to put Ramirez in with fighters like Chris Billiam-Smith and Arsen Goulamirian to try and make him a star. I don’t think it’s possible to turn the 33-year-old Ramirez into a star at this point, but that won’t stop De La Hoya from trying.
Ramirez is a good fighter, but he’s easy to hit, as we saw in his fight against Billiam-Smith. It would be a disaster for De La Hoya to beat him against Opetaia, who can really hit.
“It’s the best fight in the division, and it’s a must-make fight. As good as Zurdo is, Opetaia is a different animal,” Hearn told @DAZNBoxing .
Cinkara vs. Opetaia: A mandatory but less enticing battle
Cinkara stopped Armend Xhoxha in the second round on April 27 in an IBF eliminator to become the mandatory for Opetaia’s belt.
It’s not a big deal for Opetaia to face Cinkara next, as most of the guys he’s fought during his nine-year career in Australia have been little-known opposition.
The only famous guy that Opetaia fought was Mairis Briedis, and he gave him all kinds of problems in their rematch. In that fight, Opetaia looked scared when he started taking punishment and fought a lot like a bigger version of Shakur Stevenson, driving around the ring trying not to get hit.
