GOLD COAST, Australia – Jai Opetaia remains on course for a unification contest with the winner of Badou Jack-Norair Mikaeljan after devastatingly knocking out Husseyin Cinkara in eight one-sided rounds.
The IBF cruiserweight champion, on the occasion of the sixth defence of his title, gradually broke his challenger down before producing another of the most emphatic knockouts of 2025 by landing an explosive left hand on Cinkara’s exposed chin.
Cinkara, 40 years old, was by then already exhausted and doing little more than attempting to survive. He had buckled Opetaia’s knees in the second in his only moment of success, but remained motionless for an uncomfortably lengthy period after so heavily hitting the canvas, until gradually recovering following medical attention, and hearing the stoppage being confirmed at 56 seconds of the eighth round.
The honest Opetaia was critical of his performance, post-fight, at the Gold Coast Convention Centre – “I fought like shit” – but if he quickly became reckless it was largely because the tiring Cinkara equally quickly lost his ambition.
There is little question that he would have to improve in the event of being matched with Jack, Mikaeljan, Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez or David Benavidez – he has made little secret of his desire to fight for the undisputed title in 2026 – but each, equally, would prove more active opposition.
The 30-year-old Opetaia had anticipated Cinkara’s early aggression, and to that end, as the considerably younger, fitter and more active fighter, set a high pace from the opening bell. He also regularly targeted the Turkish German’s body in an attempt to quickly tire him out and to slow him down, before also falling narrowly short of his target with a straight left hand.
At the start of the second round he then swung and missed with a wild left hand that left him open to a right before absorbing a jab to the chin and then the right hand that hurt him. When he is hurt Opetaia typically risks trading instead of protecting himself and he did so again, when soon responding with a left to the body and a further left that backed Cinkara up.
If the Australian was already taking risks and neglecting his defence, he looked consistently sharp and possessed a considerable advantage in reflexes and speed. As early as the third they both fought as though both aware of that reality; Cinkara started to tire and become hesitant, and also to lose his form.
A straight left to the head and further lefts to the body continued to punish Cinkara in the fourth round, serving as the realisation of a prediction Opetaia had made, pre-fight. Aware of the confidence with which his challenger was carrying himself he insisted that that confidence wouldn’t last when they started to trade. Opetaia, similarly, was aware that forcing Cinkara on to the back foot was the most effective way of disarming him, and so, repeatedly, it proved.
The champion’s pace slowed slightly from the start of the fifth but he was aware of Cinkara’s exhaustion and remained content while Cinkara continued to retreat. Both fighters were also swelling up under both eyes, but only Cinkara, looking increasingly lost, fought as though hurt.
That Opetaia was throwing with power while often neglecting his jab was recognition of how little Cinkara was already offering. His punch resistance regardless kept him in the contest, until the most devastating of finishes so dramatically followed.
It was at the start of the eighth when Opetaia attempted a straight left hand to the chin, and when he fell only narrowly short. He proved to be simply finding his range because he then threw a right jab, teased Cinkara with his head movement and pulled the trigger before landing to perfection. Cinkara fell so heavily it was obvious his challenge was immediately over. The bigger concern soon surrounded his health.
When in January Opetaia stopped in four rounds David Nyika, the finish had been similarly devastating.
Cinkara had been on course to be his opponent that night but Opetaia is an aggressive champion at his peak, one who has clinically won three fights in 2025, and started and ended his year in the same, intimidatingly brutal fashion.
“I feel like I just fought like shit, to be honest,” he said, after Cinkara’s recovery. “You get these nights. We go back to the drawing board. I’m very disappointed in myself, I feel like I’ve let some people down with that performance. I made a lot of mistakes. I’m so pissed off.
“I’m so pissed off, but we got the win. I needed that humble pie; watch this space. We want unifications fights, Zurdo, I’m chasing belts – I’ve been asking for them for a long time. But we’re gonna go back to the gym and sharpen up.”
The super middleweight Max McIntyre had by then already stopped his fellow Australian Jed Morris in the fourth of eight scheduled rounds. A powerful-and-accurate right uppercut hurt Morris before further punches forced him backwards and to the canvas. When he returned to his feet he was dangerously unsteady, prompting his corner to throw the towel in after two minutes and 35 seconds.
