Jai Opetaia today expressed his frustration in an interview about his inability to secure unification fights against the champions of crossweight Gilberto Ramirez and Badou Jack.
A mentality that Opetaia cannot understand
IBF and WBO champion Opetaia (28-0, 22 COs) says he doesn’t understand how these belt holders ‘To be like that.’ Their mindset is strange to Opetaia, and he can’t know how they would be or think as they do to avoid.
Jai, 30, wants to collect the remaining two belts he needs to become the undisputed championship champion and then go to heavyweight to follow the world titles in that section. He can’t do this with Jack and Zurdo Ramirez who choose not to fight against him.
“I can’t believe it. We are boxers. It doesn’t make sense to me that another fighter should be like that, to think so, ‘Jai Opetaia said Talksport Boxing about the other cross weights that do not want to fight against him. “These boys are world champions. They chase greatness. ‘
Milk opponents their belts?
It is clear why Zurdo Ramirez and the 41-year-old Badou do not show interest in the fight against Opetaia. Unless the money they would receive to fight him enormous, it is better to milk their world title belts against soft opposition that they know they can beat.
The Turki Alalshikh solution
With the right matchmaking, Ramirez and Jack were able to hold on to their titles for years before they were finally deprived. What is necessary to attract them to tackle the unification against Opetaia is for Turki Alalshikh to give them an offer that they cannot refuse. Would they reject $ 10 million? I don’t believe they would.
The question is: Would it be worth paying Turki the kind of money for a fight that would not attract much interest from American fans? The Aussies would be interested in a battle that Opetaia was involved in almost everyone. Yet Americans are likely to have moderate to a low interest in a fight involving Jai, Badou or Zurdo, in my opinion.
“Win is the key”
“If I knew the answer to the question, I would be indispensable,” Opetaia said when asked what it would take to get the other three champions in the crossweight to agree to face him. ‘Winning is the key. As long as I keep winning, they can’t deny it. ‘
At some point, Opetaia may have to give up with his dreams of becoming an undisputed Cruiserweight champion and moving to heavyweight. He is in the same boat Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis was in when he fought on welterweight.
It was impossible for him to get the two remaining champions he needed to become the undisputed champion at 147. So he finally gave up and went to 154. Opetaia may need to reconsider its purpose and move to heavyweight if he does not want to waste his hopeless dream for the next three to five years.
Last updated on 09/22/2025
