Jai Opetaia’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he wants to make the unification fight with WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez after Jai defends against his IBF mandate Huseyin Cinkara next year on the 8 of January
Matchroom boss Hearn says Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) will “do a number” on ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs), and when he does, it’s going to gloat and rub it in Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya’s face to get the last laugh.
Should De La Hoya risk or not risk Ramirez?
De La Hoya did not say whether he will give the green light to Ramirez, 33, to take the fight with Opetaia because he may have other ideas for interesting matches for the famous Mexican star. Why limit yourself to Opetaia, who has a Shakur Stevenson style?
Hearn seems to be in a rush to make the Opetaia-Ramirez fight, and he would only be in a rush if he was absolutely 100% certain that Opetaia was going to win. The British promoter did not take the same approach to match his fighter Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis with Vergil Ortiz Jr., who De La Hoya promotes.
So, if you’re Oscar, you shouldn’t give Hearn what he wants by making the match between Zurdo and Opetaia, unless he’s willing to do the same with Boots fighting Vergil.
“As for Zurdo (Ramirez) against Jai (Opetaia), absolutely! Jai has an obligation that we have to take care of in (Huseyin) Cinkara. That could come at the beginning of January (8th) in 2025, and then everything what we want are unifications for Jai”, said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxingg. Billiam-Smith, made the right decision to take the easier fight against Zurdo. No disrespect, but you see a big, big and skilled heavyweight in Opetaia doing a number on Zurdo, and that’s music to the ears because we want to do these fights with Oscar De La Hoya.
“It’s all very well boasting a record when you’re not in a competitive fight. Put Zurdo with Opetaia. Put Zepeda with Shakur. Put Barboza with Catterall. The list is endless and we win all those fights with Golden Boy. When we do it there’s nothing else to say, and when we do, but just to look at the great Oscar De La Hoya and go (clap-clap-clap-clap),” said Hearn.
Opetaia will defend against #1 Cinkara (22-0, 18 KOs) on January 8th at the Gold Coast Convention Center, in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. That should be an easy win for Ramirez because the 39-year-old Cinkara has never fought any notable opposition during his professional career.
“It’s nothing personal. I think it’s actually pretty funny. When the ‘Clap Back’ first started, I thought it was so cringe,” Hearn said of De La Hoya.
“I think it’s pretty funny. With me and Oscar, there’s always been a bit of a needle between me and him. That’s what you want in the build-up. I don’t see us losing against Golden Boy. Not only losing everything . Lose one, bring it.
The reason Hearn can be so cavalier on De La Hoya’s Clap Back situation now is because he feels confident that the 29-year-old Opetaia will beat him easily. But if it was a situation where Oscar had the upper hand, you can bet that Hearn would be harassing him, taunting him, and pressuring him to make the fight.
Jai’s weakness: Can’t handle pressure
Opetaia is not that good of a fighter, as we saw in his rematch with former IBF cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis on May 18.
When Opetaia started taking damage from hard shots from a motivated Briedis, he looked absolutely terrified and turned into a bigger version of Shakur. It was like watching a bully be exposed. This performance by Opetaia showed that he is not the fearless fighter he portrays himself to be in his interviews.
Aussie Opetaia is coming off a successful defense of his IBF cruiserweight title against Jack Massey (22-3, 12 KOs) on October 12 in Riyadh. It was an easy win for Opetaia, holding off the lightweight Massey in the sixth round of a one-sided mismatch.
Opetaia vs Massey Punch Stats
– Jai Opetaia: 87 of 205 shots for a 42.4% connection rate.
– Jack Massey: 41 of 143 punches for 28.7%
