Pick it: Jai Opetaia vs David Nyika
When to watch: Wednesday, January 8 at 3 a.m. ET (8 a.m. GMT)
Why to watch: Opetaia will defend the lineal cruiserweight championship, Ring Magazine title and IBF belt against a late-replacement opponent. Will that lead to Nyika being able to play the spoiler? Or will it be too big a step up too soon for a fighter who is otherwise still in the developmental stages?
Opetaia, 26-0 (20 KOs), first won those titles in July 2022, when he defeated Mairis Briedis by unanimous decision. But he made only one defense of the IBF belt before ditching it, swayed instead by the big payday he received to fly to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to face Ellis Zorro in December 2023.
Opetaia remained the lineal and Ring champion all the while and then regained the still-vacant IBF title in May 2024, back again in Riyadh, earning it with another unanimous decision over Briedis. He fought in Saudi Arabia one more time in October, stopping Jack Massey in six rounds.
The 29-year-old Opetaia hails from Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, and he is performing back at home for the first time since the first Briedis bout, headlining at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in nearby Broadbeach.
Opetaia was originally supposed to face the unheralded Huseyin Cinkara, 22-0 (18 KOs), whom the IBF somehow decided was worthy of being its mandatory contender.
Cinkara’s recent victories to earn the elimination bout were over the 22-4-1 Al Sands, the 21-14 Vaclav Pejsar and the 20-10 Reinaldo Gonzalez. That was somehow enough to land Cinkara a date with another dubious contender, Armend Xhoxhaj, who was 18-3 at the time. Xhoxhaj had already fallen short in two shots against upper-tier cruiserweights, stopped in four rounds by Mateusz Masternak in 2021 and knocked out in five rounds by Chris Billam-Smith in 2022. Cinkara put away Xhoxhaj in four minutes.
Nyika is a 29-year-old who represented New Zealand in the 2020/2021 Olympics, taking home a bronze medal at heavyweight (the amateur equivalent of professional prizefighting’s cruiserweights).
He is 10-0 (9 KOs) and just began moving up his level of opposition last year. Even then, those two victories in 2024 came against the 12-0 Michael Seitz and the 31-8-1 Tommy Karpency, who lost to a number of familiar names over the years while down at light heavyweight. Nyika has yet to beat an opponent ranked in the top 10 by The Ring or the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board. Now he’s about to step in with perhaps the best cruiserweight in the world.
I say “perhaps” because Opetaia, while the lineal champ, has a worthy contender waiting in the wings. That would be Gilberto Ramirez, who unified the WBA and WBO titles in November with a victory over Chris Billam-Smith.
Opetaia and Ramirez want to face each other. Will the IBF still make Opetaia defend first against Cinkara? Will Ramirez have his own mandatory obligations as well? Or will those questions be moot if Nyika upsets the apple cart?
The undercard includes heavyweight prospect Justis Huni, 11-0 (6 KOs), whose team has eased up on the gas pedal after a tough fight with Kevin Lerena last March. Huni will take on Shaun Potgieter, 10-1 (7 KOs).
Wednesday, December 11: Callum Simpson vs Steed Woodall (Peacock in the United States, Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland)
The broadcast begins at 2:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. GMT).
Simpson, 15-0 (10 KOs), is an undefeated super middleweight from Barnsley, England, about half an hour away from where he will headline at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield. The 28-year-old fought twice last year, including a decision win in August over the 15-2-1 Zak Chelli.
Woodall, 19-2-1 (12 KOs), is a 30-year-old from Birmingham, England. His two defeats came via fourth-round TKO against Steve Rolls in 2015 and a unanimous decision against Padraig McCrory in 2023. Woodall returned from that last loss with an upset win last June, taking out the previously unbeaten Lerrone Richards in six rounds. Can Woodall do it again?
The undercard includes a title fight. Caroline Dubois, 10-0 (5 KOs), will defend her WBC lightweight title against Jessica Camara, 14-4 (3 KOs).
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