Promoter Eddie Hearn wants his fighter, IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, to be the next opponent against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to defend his titles.
It would be 100% unfair to the top contenders in the heavyweight division if Opetaia was allowed to fight Usyk for his WBA, WBC and WBO world titles without earning the shot by defeating the contenders. What a silly joke and so, so wrong for the sport.
From Hearn’s point of view, it’s understandable why he would want his fighter Opetaia to get a title shot against Usyk. It’s money. He has no one else in his Matchroom stable to fight Usyk after he twice knocked out his flagship fighter, Anthony Joshua, causing him to go into a mental breakdown in the ring following his second loss.
Hearn will be laughed at if he makes a play to have domestic heavyweight Johnny Fisher challenge Usyk for his three belts after his performance against Dave Allen last week. Other than cruiserweight Opetaia, Fisher is the only one Hearn has. He is not going to let Joshua fight Usyk and let him ruin his plans for the ‘Battle of Britain’ money fight against Tyson Fury.
It is a self serving move on Hearn’s part to want Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) to move up and jump the ropes ahead of top contenders Martin Bakole, Agit Kabayel and Joseph Parker without proving any of those guys are really the title earned. shot.
It’s a circus, and it fits with Francis Ngannou getting a straight shot at Tyson Fury and journeyman Derek Chisora ​​challenging for a world title after losing three of his last four fights. Allowing Opetaia to jump ahead of heavyweight contenders to fight Usyk for his three world titles makes a mockery of the sport, but shows what’s important: money.
Opetaia, 29, looked awful in his narrow win over Mairis Briedis on May 18, running around the ring looking scared as the 39-year-old began to put heat on him. You got a glimpse of who Opetaia really was during the last four rounds of the fight. He is someone who is fine when he has a passive fighter in front of him, but when he is relentlessly attacked by a hard punch, he turns into a scared lamb.
“I think Opetaia’s style and it’s a great fight. The only fight I see, I mean, I love Opetaia against Usyk. I just think it’s such a great style match-up. But Jai also has to earn his stripes for that fight. He has to win next week, and then he probably has to unify against (Gilberto) Ramirez,” said Eddie Hearn iFL TV about wanting Oleksandr Usyk to fight his fighter, IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.
“And then, when he steps up, he can compete weight-wise. It’s a big fight, but he needs to continue to build his profile. But I don’t see many fights that really get me excited for Usyk. He did it all. Who else is there for him to beat?: Hearn said of Opetaia.
If Hearn wants Opetaia to challenge Usyk for his world titles, he needs the Australian to fight these four:
- Martin Bakole
- Daniel Dubois
- Bakhodir Jalalov
- Agit Kabayel
If Opetaia can make it through this mini gauntlet victorious, he will have earned his title shot against Usyk. Other than that, he should return from where he came, back to the flow of the cruiserweight division, fighting lackluster, obscure fighters that the casual fans have never heard of and will never care about.
Opetaia will defend his IBF title against replacement opponent David Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) on January 8 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. The fight will be shown live on DAZN. Nyika is a replacement for the injured Huseyin Cinkara.
