Comments Thread For: Jai Opetaia to defend cruiserweight belt against Claudio Squeo

[JakeTheBoxer]

Yep.

the only chance jai gets a big money fight is if Bivol/beterbiev is willing to move up for a cash out.

[Left Hook Louie]

I hope Jai is being straight with us about doing everything they can to get Zurdo and that it's Zurdo who is ducking.
I want to believe that, truly.

Then there's this:

“He’s [Squeo] nothing special, nothing I ain’t seen before,” said Opetaia, 27-0 (21 KOs). “It’s another day in the office.”

Of course Jai is probably right. However, one of the enduring attractions of this game is the rare chance that lightning will strike when you least expect it. It happened recently to Bruno Surace.
It's not likely here but I'm going to be there watching so I DON'T miss it if and when it happens again.

[drablj]

disgusting fight. you know you have a mandatory (cinkara) waiting. you know it will inevitably be called again and stop unifications. but let's just fight this random who brings nothing to the table. when unifications are unavailable, champions should only fight mandatories. this is indefensible.

[VislorTurlough]

This will be his 5th gimme since he beat Breidis first time. Yeah cruiser is weak but that’s a ridiculous amount of trash easy money defenses

[crimsonfalcon07]

Some of you are probably forgetting that Cinkara pulled out of the mandatory fight with a broken ankle in January. That's not exactly the sort of injury you get right back in the ring. 12 weeks potentially just to heal, let alone rehab and get back into fighting shape. So his mandatory is unavailable. And he's getting these guys from the (terrible) rankings of the organization he's champ of. Mateusz Masternak is higher ranked at #4 but not any more casual-friendly, and he's also 37 and has 6 losses. The haters would crap all over that too. Since the other champs are doing mandatory defenses and his mandatory is unavailable, through no fault of his, and he's required to only fight boxers ranked in the top 15 by the IBF, who exactly do you want him to fight?

#3 Cieslak, #4 Masternak, #5 Salamov, #6 Ngabu, #7 Fres all have losses. You have to drop to #8 Mosquea to get an undefeated contender, then #9 Papin and #10 Glanton have losses, and he's already beaten #11 Nyika. #12 Uldedaj has 10 losses! #13 Robin Sirwan Safari strike you as way better than #14 Squeo? They're both undefeated.

IBF rankings suck, and their rules are very limiting. Those are the options for Jai. So who's your pick that's so much better?

[James Daley]

It's all about staying active for Opetaia in a shallow division.

We've seen it in the past with BOXXER and Chris Billam-Smith, who citied timing issues in favour of Gilberto Ramirez. Golden Boy Promotions are now actively lobbying the WBO for another 'mandatory challenger' after WBA's Yuniel Dorticos.

[SouthpawRight]

Yep.

the only chance jai gets a big money fight is if Bivol/beterbiev is willing to move up for a cash out.

I hope Jai is being straight with us about doing everything they can to get Zurdo and that it's Zurdo who is ducking.
I want to believe that, truly.

Then there's this:

“He’s [Squeo] nothing special, nothing I ain’t seen before,” said Opetaia, 27-0 (21 KOs). “It’s another day in the office.”

Of course Jai is probably right. However, one of the enduring attractions of this game is the rare chance that lightning will strike when you least expect it. It happened recently to Bruno Surace.
It's not likely here but I'm going to be there watching so I DON'T miss it if and when it happens again.

The Zurdo fight will happen and probably for big bucks. I'm not criticising any champion who fights 4 to 5 times a year, they all should have to in my opinion to stop the belt blocking culture we are mired in currently. The heavyweights spend more time on social media than they do in the ring. It's a disgrace. Fair play to Opetia for giving contenders their shot at the big time. As for getting hurt in his last fight, every fighter gets hurt in their careers, but it's how they respond that makes the difference. Is Opetia beatable? Definitely! But let's not pretend that he is not a very talented champion, because he absolutely is.

Jai’s best bets for good opponents and big money: Zurdo, Bivol, Artur, Benavidez

Benavidez could deliver even if he gets beat by Bivol first. Mexican fanbase

This will be his 5th gimme since he beat Breidis first time. Yeah cruiser is weak but that’s a ridiculous amount of trash easy money defenses

It's all about staying active for Opetaia in a shallow division.

We've seen it in the past with BOXXER and Chris Billam-Smith, who citied timing issues in favour of Gilberto Ramirez. Golden Boy Promotions are now actively lobbying the WBO for another 'mandatory challenger' after WBA's Yuniel Dorticos.

cruiser is a cursed division

The lacking big man weight class with nothing but a buncha oversized white guys who aren’t buff enough for heavyweight

starting in mid 20s need to regularly face good fighters to gain the experience necessary to become a very good fighter

these randoms Jai has been facing could result in Jai being outskilled bad by the time he faces a high level opponent

[elegua]

He should fight Benavidez

[SouthpawRight]

He should fight Benavidez

Bena averages 45 punches per round and lacks power at 175

I want to see Bena at 200. We’d see how he compensate for the further diminished power

[Left Hook Louie]

Can't put much blame on Opetaia for a very weak division.
At least he's staying active, which is a lot more than most of the top guys in all weight divisions do.