WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez says he’s open to fighting a unification fight against IBF belt-holder Jai Opetaia.
U.S. Recognition
The Aussie, Opetaia (27-0, 21 KOs), has been harping about wanting to fight him and talking nonstop about the subject. However, the 29-year-old Opetaia’s lack of name-recognition in the U.S and his poor resume makes it a fight that does very little for Ramirez’s career financially. It would be a one-sided situation if they were to fight no, as Ramirez is the much bigger name due to his many excellent fights in the U.S.
Ramirez told Ring Magazine that he’d be interested in fighting Opetaia. He didn’t say WHEN he would do it. From the sounds of it, it’s one of those ‘One of these days’ type of fights that could happen in the future after Gilberto exhausts all the viable money fights available to him. Until then, Opetaia really needs to start fighting better opposition so he can become known to boxing fans in North America.
It’s not enough that Opetaia is known by the ultra-hardcore boxing fans in the U.S. He’s got to increase his popularity to where he’s a household name among Americans, and it doesn’t look like that’s ever going to happen.
Opetaia’s next fight, he’s going to defend his IBF strap against the unknown 34-year-old Italian Claudio Squeo (17-0, 9 KOs) on May 13th at the Gold Goast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, in Queensland, Australia. It’s just another throwaway fight for Jai, just like his last one against David Nyika.
Bigger Fish to Fry
Jai is basically just a belt-holder at this stage of his career and is mostly known for his two fights against a past-his-prime 39-year-old Mairis Briedia. He did NOT look good in either of those fights, especially the second one where he ran from Briedis when he began getting pressured.
The Golden Boy-promoted Zurdo Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) can make more money fighting David Benavidez, who has expressed interest in moving up to cruiserweight to challenge him. There’s also Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev as potential options for Ramirez.
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