Eddie Hearn thinks Jai Opetaia can knock out David Niik in three rounds on Wednesday night if the challenger stands and fights the IBF heavyweight champion at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Australia.
Hearn sees the outcome of the fight to Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs). If he takes his replacement opponent Niik (10-0, 9 KOs) full force in the first three rounds, he will have no choice but to fight. When that happens, Hearn expects Opetaia to be too much for the lanky, 6’6″ native.
No Weight Champion
Eddie fails to mention how Opetaya showed up at the weigh-in, exhausted and worn out. He looked worn out from putting on weight and it’s pretty clear he’s going through hell to reach the cruiserweight limit.
Opetaia is a small heavyweight of the same size as Oleksandr Usyk, and that’s where he should be fighting at this point in his career. He’s outgrown the cruiserweight division, and it takes a lot for him to make weight to stay there.
Niika could use a drained Opetaja on Wednesday night to finish the job Mairis Briedis started last May. Opetaya beat the living daylights out of him Briedis, and was forced to run in the championship rounds to avoid being knocked out.
Niika is the first world-class fighter Opetaia has faced since the Briedis fight, and he could fall apart if forced to fight hard in every round.
“There’s Niika in direct contact, asking Jai Opetai how his 18-hour flight to Saudi Arabia is going. Don’t forget he was there a few weeks ago for a big fight. This is a serious fight,” Eddie Hearn said Matchroom Bookingtalking about Wednesday’s bout between IBF cruiserweight champion Jay Opetai and David Niik.
“This is a big fight at the world level. It’s one of the best fights, if not the best, in the cruiserweight division. The only cruiserweight fight better than this is Opetaia vs. Zurdo Ramirez. If Jai Opetaia is looking at Niik or if he’s not on and ready, he’ll have his hands full tomorrow night.
“So much will be decided in those early rounds when Niika touches those little gloves of Jay Opetai for the first time. I think Niika will be fine the longer the fight goes on, but Niika will unravel quickly. “You’ve seen so many guys with no experience come in there,” Hearn said.
Niika may not unravel as he is fighting a guy who is killing himself to reach the cruiserweight limit and has been through two serious wars with Mairis Briedis in 2022 and 2024. Both of those fights were draining for Opetaia, with him getting more punishment than he had in any of his previous ones fights during his 10-year professional career.
Opetaja’s executives gave him a lot of soft opposition at lower level to build him up. So he doesn’t have the experience that Hearn raves about in the professional game. Those are just two fights against Briedis, which were real hell for him. He was lucky to fight the Latvian at the end of his career and not in his prime. Briedis showed that Opetaia is not the big talent that Hearn and others are promoting him to be.
“When Jai starts putting it on you, you have to stand and fight.” If he does that, I think this fight will be over within three rounds. Really, because if Jai goes out there and starts getting aggressive with Niika, he won’t be boxing for long. He also likes to stand and trade,” Hearn said.
Opetaja’s jaw problems
It could be a mistake for Opetaia to attack the 6’6″ Niik early in the contest. This could lead to premature opening of the scar tissue around the eyes, which he does not need. Jay better suffer the cuts later. Also, he has jaw problems due to a bad break during the Briedis fight. If there is a weakness, Niika will reveal it.
“If you look at Niika’s weakness, sometimes she gets hit too hard,” Hearn said. “Maybe it’s because he’s fighting at a lower level and he’s not as anxious or fired up.” These are the types of fights where you will see the best of someone like Niika.”
Opetaia has the same weaknesses as Niika in terms of getting hit a lot, and it’s understandable though, because he’s a goofball who tries to knock everyone out. Because of this, he took a beating and was forced to run in two fights with Briedis, especially in the second one. He looked like he was being chased by a lion in another competition. Those eyes of his were 100% pure fear, and you can’t blame him. Briedis was putting a fire under his back.
“This kid has pedigree. Niika is a serious fighter. Not that he’s not good enough to become world champion. I’m sure Niika will become world champion, but will he become world champion tomorrow night? It might be too soon. “If he’s special, he might do it,” Hearn said.
At 29, if Niika isn’t ready now, he never will be. Hearn talks about him like he’s a young puppy, not a fighter pushing 30. He’s had a long amateur career, fighting far, far better technical fighters than Opetaya could ever hope to do. Experienced, Niika is more than ready to win this fight. If he loses, it is not because he lacked experience.
