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

[SouthpawRight]

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.

maybe cruiser goes stale bores Jai out

and Jai moves up to heavyweight to fight his cousin Parker

[Left Hook Louie]

maybe cruiser goes stale bores Jai out

and Jai moves up to heavyweight to fight his cousin Parker

I have my doubts that Jai can compete effectively at HW but it will be fun to watch him try and maybe prove me wrong.

[DJ Daz]

Another cherrypick for the hypejob

You're kidding me, Opetaia will fight anyone. As he alluded to in the article, his biggest problem is getting any of the named fighters in the division to face him. Activity is the key.

[DJ Daz]

Ridiculous mismatch. I know that not many cruiserweights are anxious to fight Jai, but I would think they could get a more deserving challenger.

You would think so, but any manager with half a brain would steer their fighter away from a career changing beating from Jai. Jordan Thompson hasn't fought since his 4-round hiding, neither has Massey and reckon we won't see David Nika fight until next year.

[DJ Daz]

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.

Good point, but Cinkara broke his ankle, and we don't know if he's fit to return to the ring. Who knows how many other cruiserweights said no to facing Opetaia this time.

[JakeTheBoxer]

Shame Jai is losing his career in these pointless fights while there are potential great fights around for him.

1. Beterbiev at cw
2. Bivol at cw
3. Usyk at cw or hw
4. Parker at hw

[famicommander]

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?

Papin is ranked #2 by the TBRB and #3 by The Ring
Cieslak is ranked #4 by the TBRB, #7 by ESPN, and #6 by The Ring
Masternak is ranked #5 by the TBRB and #6 by ESPN
Ngabu is ranked #9 by the TBRB, plus he has the IBO trinket
Mosquea is ranked #10 by the TBRB and #10 by The Ring
Glanton is ranked #9 by The Ring

So you literally just named 6 guys from the IBF top 15 that would be much better opponents than Squeo, who is not independently ranked by anybody. Six legitimate, world-ranked contenders and he didn't pick any of them.

[NihonJim]

There's also nothing stopping Jai from doing a heavyweight fight.

He can retain his cruiserweight title and do a one off at heavyweight if he wanted to.

There's no reason for this fight, no reason at all, imagine paying to see it lol.

[dan_cov]

The division is weak but there are tons of better fighters than these cherrypicks he keeps fighting.
I'm on here everyday and follow the sport religiously and have never even heard of Claudio Squeo.

Whats up with Papin, Cieslak or giving one of the Cubans a call?
I don't know what Dorticos has left but that'd be bloody fun while it lasted

[The Big Dunn]

Turki needs to spend money to buy Zurdo some testicular fortitude to make the fight we want to see.