IBF and Ring Cruiserweight Champion Jai Opetaia will fight replacement opponent #10 IBF ranked David Nyika in a Matchroom promoted card at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, in Broadbeach on January 8th. Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that Nyika will be Opetaia’s opponent.
2020 Olympic bronze medalist Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) will replace #1 IBF Huseyin Cinkara on short notice. Cinkra pulled out of the January 8 fight against Opetaia due to an ankle injury.
Opetaia can be broken
Niyika must follow Mairis Briedis’ blueprint to give Opetaia nightmares with non-stop pressure. In their second fight, we saw that Opetaia hates being pressured and comes loose when he starts taking facial damage. Briedis exposed Opetaia in a losing effort.
Three-year pro Niyika, 29, works even better because he is from New Zealand, which makes it more interesting for Opetaia’s Australian fans, as the two countries are close. The battle will play out well with Aussies and New Zealanders.
“I trained hard for this card, and when the opportunity came to face Jai, I jumped at it,” said Nyika. Stuff.co.nz. “This is the moment every fighter dreams of and I have the whole nation of New Zealand behind me.
“I know how tough Jai is, but I’m ready for this challenge. This is my chance to change my life, and I’m leaving it all in the ring.”
Bivol-like challenge
It will be interesting to see how Niyika Jai handles Opetaia’s strength, speed and buffalo-like skills. Since turning pro in 2021, he’s been fighting rudimentary opposition. In the 2020 Olympics, Niyika was beaten by Russia’s Muslim Gadzhimagomedov by a score of 4-1. It wasn’t close.
Most recently, Niyika beat 38-year-old journeyman Tommy Karpency with a third-round knockout on September 15. It is unclear why Niyika’s management did not move him more quickly, given his extensive amateur experience. It’s a waste of time to slow down a former amateur star like Niyika. He should have already fought the killers.
In the three years he has been in the game, he has achieved nothing but a top-10 ranking in the IBF and a title shot as an alternate opponent. Without these, it is possible that Niyika would be spinning its wheels, toiling in obscurity for the next three to five years, just aging.
There are no real big names in the weight class apart from Jai Opetaia, but he is not a household name in most of the world. The division needs bigger names and fighters that can sell. Anyway, Opetaia vs. Niyika will do well in their countries.
What a battle – Australia v New Zealand locked in!!!! Great respect for @DavidNyika for walking up and you know what @jaiopetaia1 everything is over! See you on the Gold Coast January 8! @daznboxing #OpetaiaNyika @tasmanfighters 🇦🇺 🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/oF356wY2Zo
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) December 18, 2024
January 8 DAZN card
Jai Opetaia vs. David Nyika
Judge Huni Vs. Shaun Potgeiter
Ben Mahoney vs. Fan Zhang
Austin Aokuso vs. Habib Ahmed
Max McIntyre vs. Abdulsalam Saman
Billy McAllister vs. Jordan Towns
