IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia and challenger David Nyika both weighed in at 199.5 pounds at Monday’s weigh-in for their fight this Wednesday, January 8, at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, in Australia.
Nyika looked well defined and showed very little fat on his 6’6″ frame. During the send-off, the two fighters went head-to-head. It had a professional wrestling type feel to it, and I was waiting for a few theaters from the door. That was the only thing missing.
Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) is the favorite, but Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) has a real chance to win. He catches Jai at a good point in his career after his two grueling fights against former IBF champion Mairis Briedis. He is softened. The event will be shown live on DAZN.
Hear Hypes Opetaia
“David Nyika is here to fight. He is one of the best amateurs this part of the world has seen in a long time. He took notice of the fight at three weeks. He sees something. He believes, but tomorrow night he packs an animal in Jai Opetaia. This is going to be a brilliant fight,” said Eddie Hearn DAZN Boxing at today’s Jai Opetaia vs. David Nyika weighs in.
“You sell for what he is. He is an animal. He’s not going to come out, sing you a song and give you a happy face. He just wants to fight,” Hearn said Sports News Australiatalking about Opetaia. “That’s what Jai is. He is an evil beast. What you see is what you get, and that’s why people love to watch him fight.
“He is a real champion. If you say Usyk. I don’t see any heavyweights who can beat Usyk. Maybe Jai can’t beat Usyk, but it’s a hell of a fight. If you watch Usyk go undisputed cruiserweight and then get to heavyweight and go undisputed. It’s the same goal that Jai Opeptaia has,” Hearn said.
A fight between Opetaia and Usyk is still away as Jai still needs to collect the other three belts before he achieves his goal of becoming the undisputed cruiserweight champion. It’s going to take a while. It might be better if Opetaia puts his goal aside and moves up to heavyweight to challenge Usyk for his three belts. He can always return to the section to continue collecting them all.
“If we can make that happen at cruiserweight, I think it makes the Usyk fight huge. You imagine the undisputed cruiserweight world champion fighting the undisputed heavyweight world champion,” Hearn said. It’s a massive battle. He does have to get through David Nyika. It’s not going to be easy.”
Nyika has a real chance to win this fight if he can hang on and push through the second half of the match to start breaking Jai with pressure. Opetaia’s face breaks down when he gets hit really hard, and he has those eye ridges that tend to swell up when he gets hit. If Nyika can land enough shots on those eye ridges, he can cut him and potentially score a stoppage.
“I know he’s a big favorite to do it, but if he does, you have to focus on the other champions. I think the Zurdo fight is a brilliant fight. Get Wednesday out of the way, and the goal should be to unify the division,” Hearn said.
