Jai Opetaia looked and sounded angry during his face-to-face with challenger David Nyika on Saturday to discuss their January 8 fight. From the start Opetaia looked like he was in a foul mood as if he got out of bed on the wrong side that morning.
His grumpy mood worsened when Nyika didn’t cower, show fear, and act in the subservient manner he seemed to expect of him.
Opetaia’s fury exposed
Opetaia wanted him to cower and act submissive, and he wouldn’t do that. Jai wanted to be in control and dominated Nyika during their encounter.
It was a sign of how insecure Opetaia is. He’s clearly used to intimidating his opponents, making them submit so he can dominate them by the time they get in the ring.
IBF cruiserweight champion Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) worked up when he was told that Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) wanted a “gunfight” with him on Wednesday night.
Opetaia, 29, said he wants 12 rounds of “war” with the 6’6″ Nyika, and he believes he will knock him out. The two fighters will meet at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Australia. The event will be broadcast live on DAZN.
“Sparring is sparring. I’m ready for a fight on April 10th. Don’t worry about the sparring. It’s a completely different ball game,” said Jai Opetaia DAZN Boxing to David Nyika.
“I feel I did everything I had to do. I feel I know Jai well enough. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. I had my eyes on Jai for a long time,” said Nyika.
“I know I can knock him out. I know I can hurt him,” Opetaia said. “These gloves are a dangerous game. You want a shootout. Let’s have a shootout. I know it’s not going to be a gun fight. He’s going to box. He doesn’t want to be hit. It’s going to be a chess match.
“So, let’s go there, let’s play it. 12 rounds of war. I’m ready for it. You say you are prepared for me. I am prepared for anyone. I didn’t set my goals on anyone. I’m just practicing. I focus on myself; this is it. There is nobody out there that I imagine I want to beat or beat him,” Opetaia said.
Will Obadiah freeze again?
Jai talks big, but he wasn’t in any part of the war in his rematch against Mairis Briedis on May 18. Opetaia had the look of someone with a bad case of battle stress. He came apart as he was put under constant bombardment from the Latvian fighter and froze in the final six rounds.
Briedis dominated the second half of the fight, and did enough to earn a draw. The judges gave it to Opetaia, but it should have been a draw. Therefore it is strange that Opetaia talks about wanting a “war” with Nyika; he is not good under those circumstances. Where Opetaia is good is when his opponents aren’t throwing, and he does all the attacking. If it’s just him throwing, he’s good.
“I beat myself up every day. Hurt, sacrifice every day, I’m ready for it,” said Opetaia.
“It sounds like you haven’t done your homework,” Nyika said when asked what goes through his mind when he hears Opetaia talking about him, knowing he’s going to knock him out. “Perfect practice doesn’t seem to make perfect.
“I trained, I did research and I gathered my information. It’s not the kind of sport where you can go in with one game plan. I have a game plan from A to Z,” said Nyika.
When Nyika said all these things, Opetaia looked furious, highly upset that he had someone who did not bow to him and scrape the floor like a foot servant like the many second rate fighters he had built his record. with.
