Jai Opetaia says he is open to defending his IBF cruiserweight title against lightweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol if either one or both want to move up in weight to face him.
Opetaia would have had trouble with Beterbiev’s search-and-destroy fighting style, making it impossible for him to land his potshots. The Aussie’s inside game is non-existent, and he doesn’t like to take penalties. Opetaia crumbled under pressure from Mairis Briedis in their rematch last May and looked like a mental wreck in the tenth. Beterbiev would be a nightmare for Opetaia.
Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) is the most likely of the two to step up to challenge the unbeaten Opetaia (25-0, 19 KOs) if he beats WBA champion Bivol on October 12. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh might be interested in putting together a fight between Opetaia and Beterbiev for one of his big events.
Capturing the undisputed championship at 175 will leave Beterbiev with no more goals to achieve at that weight. If Beterbiev destroys the finesse fighter Bivol as many boxing experts expect, a rematch would be pointless. Also, Canelo Alvarez has no interest in fighting Beterbiev, and there is no one else for him to fight.
Opetaia defends his IBF belt against Jack Massey (22-2, 12 KOs) on the undercard of Beterbiev-Bivol on October 12 at the Kingdon Arena in Riyadh.
“Why not? It’s a fight I’d love to have,” said Jai Opetaia Boxing news about a fight against Dmitry Bivol. “I respect Bivol. I would love to share the ring with him. That chess match, that stylistic fight that people watch over and over again. Those are the fights I grew up watching.”
Opetaia, 29, adopted a Shakur-esque fighting style, using the in-and-out approach and avoiding exchanges. We saw that in Opetaia’s last fight against Mairis Briedis on May 18.
Instead of fighting in his old brawling style, Opetaia boxed and looked like Shakur Stevenson. It wasn’t the most fun fight to watch because of Opetaia’s approach to retirement, but he had to fight that way because he was being beaten by a motivated Briedis.
“I want to be the type of fighter that a trainer shows his fighters, ‘This is what you’re meant to do.’ We want to put on clinics and fight smart,” Opetaia said. “Having a fight like that would be great. I focus on fighting smart. The knockouts will come, but I like to think of myself as a good boxer.”
What Opetaia is saying here is that he no longer fights aggressively now that he is facing better opposition. It was easier for him to look good when he was fighting lower level guys with no power, like Elias Zorro and Jordan Thompson, but things are different now that he’s fighting top competition.
“Stylistically, the fight going forward (Beterbiev) against the guy (Bivol) who just stops the angles, it’s fantastic as a boxing fan and the science of the sport. This is a great fight and a great matchup Opetaia said.
