The upcoming fight between Jai Opetaia and Jack Massey will indeed be allowed to be competed for the IBF cruiserweight title – in addition to Opetaia’s lineal championship – but the winner will have to defend next against the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger.
That mandatory challenger, Huseyin Cinkara, won an eliminator in April, knocking out Armend Xhoxhaj in 4 minutes and moving to 22-0 (18 KOs) in the process. Cinkara is ranked No. 1 by the IBF, while Massey is rated No. 11.
Opetaia’s team requested an exception to be allowed to defend the IBF belt on Oct. 12 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol.
The IBF approved that request on Sept. 25 under four conditions:
- Opetaia vs. Massey can’t take place any later than Oct. 12.
2. The IBF must receive fully executed contracts for Opetaia vs. Massey by Oct. 10.
3. The winner of Opetaia-Massey must defend the IBF title by Jan. 20, 2025.
4. The IBF will not grant any more exceptions for defending against the cruiserweight mandatory challenger.
Opetaia is 25-0 (19 KOs). He won the IBF title and lineal championship in July 2022, when he defeated Mairis Briedis by unanimous decision. But Opetaia vacated the title after one defense. He had been ordered to have a rematch with Briedis but had also been offered significant money to go to Riyadh and face Ellis Zorro in December 2023 on the same show as Joseph Parker vs. Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin.
IBF rules prohibit consecutive voluntary defenses, according to a report at the time by Jake “Jazz Hands of Stone” Donovan.
“I fought through absolute agony to win that belt and it saddens me to relinquish it,” Opetaia told Donovan. “But the fact is, Briedis isn’t ready to fight on Dec. 23, and I need to stay active. I simply can’t turn down a career-high payday.”
Opetaia wound up rematching Briedis this May, with the vacant IBF belt on the line. Opetaia won another unanimous decision.
Massey is 22-2 (12 KOs) and is coming off a decision win in June over Isaac Chamberlain. Massey’s two losses were via decisions against then-cruiserweight prospect Richard Riakporhe in 2019 and at heavyweight against Parker in early 2023.
Cinkara’s recent victories have come against the 22-4-1 Al Sands, the 21-14 Vaclav Pejsar and the 20-10 Reinaldo Gonzalez. That was somehow enough to land Cinkara an elimination bout with Xhoxhaj, who was 18-3 at the time.
Xhoxhaj has 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.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
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