IBF heavyweight champion Jai Opetaia has a lot to prove in his next defense against David Niika in 13 days time on January 8 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.
Fans in love with 29-year-old Opetaja (26-0, 20 KOs) jumped ship after watching his shy performance in his rematch with Mairis Briedis on May 18 earlier this year.
Blueprint to win
Many fans realized they were wrong about Opetai, believing him to be pure gold after watching him roll with obscure second-tier fighters. When Opetaia got into the real thing, he looked yellow in the second leg against Briedis. You could see the fear in his eyes as Briedis chased him, and it was so disappointing.
Opetaia looked scared when they started firing from Briedis. He resembled Dmitri Bivol in the way he ran around the ring, being chased by the 39-year-old.
It was not a good picture. For fans to forget that image, Opetaia must come to fight, stay in the pocket and trade powerful punches with the tough Niika (10-0, 9 KOs) on January 8th.
Niika has a realistic chance of winning this fight if he follows Briedis’ plan and puts Opetai under heavy, sustained pressure. Opetaya does not like to be hit. He’s not the same guy when opponents go up against him.
Opetaia needs a strong showing
“For me, it’s another target. It’s the same thing we all do. We get up and train. Yes, for sure. That’s what I was after. I am chasing unification struggles,” said Jai Opetaia BoxNation when asked if he was interested in a unification fight against WBA Cruiserweight Champion Gilbert ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.
“I have another commitment to take care of (David Niika). This is a serious fight. David Niika is from my people. He had a huge amateur pedigree. I expect 12 tough rounds. That’s exciting for the cruiserweight category. Yes, we want to finish this job, and we want to chase those unification belts.
“I shared the ring with him (Niika) many times. We did a lot of sparring. He lives only an hour from me. We are locals in the area. We work together a lot. So this is always going to happen,” Opetaia said of battling a lad from nearby territory to attract the interest of the Aussies and New Zealanders.
It is important that Opetaya stays on the front foot, attacks and does not retreat when under heavy fire from Niik. To become a global star, this time Jai has to stand his ground and not back down when Niika wants to engage. He seems to admire Bivolo’s fighting style, which is a poisonous style if the goal is entertainment.
The fight isn’t going down well with fans outside of Australia and New Zealand, who want to see Opetaia against WBA champion Gilbert ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, Chris Billam-Smith, Leonard Moscue and Chevon Clarke.
Briedis’ shadow
There isn’t much interest in seeing Opetaia go up against guys like Niika, Jack Massey, Ellis Zorro and Jordan Thompson. I can’t say this enough: Opetaia did NOT look good in his rematch against 39-year-old Mairis Briedis on May 18th earlier this year. He fought Briedis shyly, running around the ring after he started getting facial damage.
When fans saw Opetaia’s performance, they labeled it a hit, and he hasn’t done anything to prove them wrong since. Opetaya doesn’t like to get hit and will go out of his way to avoid punishment when faced with someone willing to challenge him, as Briedis did.
