Jai Opetaia is set to face David Nyika on January 8th, after Nyika stepped in to replace Huseyin Cinkara. Opetaia is a big cruiserweight, and has spoken before on moving to heavyweight, and on facing Oleksandr Usyk, in the future. Usyk, too, has not ruled out a drop back to cruiserweight, so is it possible we see Jai Opetaia vs Usyk in 2025?
Opetaia now sits at a record of 26-0, with wins over European champion Jack Massey and former European champ Ellis Zorro, as well as then-IBF World champion Mairis Breidis, who he defeated twice. Opetaia will be seeking a unification with WBA & WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez should he win against Nyika, after Zurdo defeated Chris Billam-Smith to claim the WBO title. The WBC champion is Badou Jack, though he has not fought for over a year.
Usyk vs Opetaia
Opetaia was asked by Gareth A Davies if he’d step up to heavyweight and we’d see Opetaia vs Usyk, to which Opetaia stated, ‘That’s a fight I could only dream of’, and that he’d love the opportunity. Davies went on to say, ‘But you want to be undisputed cruiserweight first right?’. ‘Definitely’ came Jai’s response.
Perhaps then it is unrealistic to say Opetaia vs Usyk will happen in 2025, but that’s not to say it won’t happen. Opetaia has expressed a willingness to move to heavyweight to fight the Ukrainian, but as it turns out, he may not have to.
Oleksandr Usyk recently defeated Tyson Fury for the second time, cementing himself as an elite talent, conquering both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Usyk previously told Sky Sports, ‘If I win again second fight, I’ll try cruiserweight again’, explaining that the amount of eating he has to do to maintain his heavyweight status is difficult – ‘For me, it’s hard, I don’t like it. Three times [per day]. Water, protein, bananas, it’s a lot of food’.
This means we may see Usyk move down to cruiserweight once again, with Opetaia the likely top opponent, especially if he’s collected Undisputed status by the time Usyk moves back down. Opetaia vs Usyk would be an intriguing fight, with many questions – Will Usyk’s fluctuations in weight affect his performance? Will age catch up to him? Opetaia struggled in the later rounds with an aged Breidis, will he have what it takes against a fighter like Usyk?
However, it doesn’t seem like Usyk is quite finished with the heavyweight division, asking Turki Alalshikh to make the Daniel Dubois rematch after the Brit stormed the ring and called out the Ukrainian.
Jai Opetaia is facing David Nyika on January 8th, live on DAZN.
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