Jai Opetaia is close to giving up on his hopes of fighting Chris Billam-Smith in a cruiserweight unification title fight.
Australia’s IBF champion said his team have yet to hear back from Billam-Smith’s advisors about an offer that was made in June by Riyadh Season for a bout in Saudi Arabia.
Opetaia has had designs on the WBO title for months, and is enjoying his second spell as the IBF champion following his second win over Mairis Briedis.
The 25 year old defeated the Latvian in May, and he is keen to face Bournemouth hero Billam-Smith next.
“I’ve been chasing the WBO for quite a while,” Opetaia told BoxingScene. “It’s pretty obviously he doesn’t want to fight so we’ve just got to move on to the next person, I guess. I can only do so much, so now I’m going to fight whoever they put in front of me, really.
“The fight’s there. The fight is there to be made. There’s nothing stopping it, except their decision. It’s the biggest paycheck he’ll get. I don’t know. I can only do so much. As much as I talk about it, I’m not even trying to say he’s an easy fight or he’s a walk in the park or anything like that. I just want the fight to happen.
“I want to fight for the WBO. I want that belt around my waist and so I’ve just been trying to make sure it happens, but I can only do so much.”
Billam-Smith defeated Richard Riakporhe in June, boxing in a soccer stadium for the second time in three fights while making the second defense of the title he won from Lawrence Okolie in the summer of 2023.
Opetaia wants to unify. Billam-Smith has taken some time out after his clear win over Riakporhe to be with his family, but that has not stopped Opetaia from calling for the fight he wants more than any other against a fighter he has plenty of respect for.
“I don’t even know why we’re still in negotiations or in talks,” he said. “I don’t understand it. I’ve got the most to offer over any other cruiserweight in the world. I’ve got two belts [as two-time champion]’; everybody else has one. I’m generating the most money, I’m fighting on the biggest stages. I don’t understand.
“I’m not going to waste any more energy on it. I’ve tried to make the fight happen. They don’t want that to happen. They don’t want to fight yet. So I don’t know what to do. I’ve just got to fight a different opponent.”
Opetaia said he only caught highlights on social media of Billam-Smith-Riakporhe, but he has confidence in himself if the fight is eventually made.
“I believe my skill set is a lot higher than his, in terms of natural ability and stuff; that doesn’t mean it’s going to be an easy fight,” Opetaia added. “I know he’s got a lot of grit and he’s gonna want to win that fight. People dig deep. You find out who people are in world championship fights like that.
“I feel you’ve just got to dig deep and keep coming forward. They’re hard fights. Someone that doesn’t want to lose is always going to be a hard fight, it’s not a walk in the park. But I’m not here to take easy fights. I’m here to take memorable fights.”
A clash of heads with Briedis caused Opetaia some damage to his nose earlier in the year, but the IBF champion said he now has the all-clear and has resumed training.
“I’m ready to fight,” he said. “Just put me in the ring and let me go. I’m sick of beating around the bush. We’re world champs, we want to fight other world champions, and the Sheikh’s got everything in his power to make sure it happens, but they just don’t want it, so what do I do?”
One thing Opetaia might have to do is wait until after October 12, when the light-heavyweight title is unified by the hugely-anticipated clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitriy Bivol.
Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh has said he would like to match the WBA 175lbs champion Bivol with the IBF 200lbs champion Opetaia.
“That’s a fight that can be made as well,” Opetaia confirmed. “Even if we were to do it at a catchweight or something like that. These types of fights are definitely fights I would take with open arms. I would never say no to that sort of stuff, but that’s all talk as well, until it actually happens. But my goals now – I want to fight for the other belts, unification fights, but until the Bivol fight happens or anything else crosses my path, I’m locked in on the other belts.
“I think that’s an awesome fight [Beterbiev-Bivol]. I’m really excited to watch that. I’m a massive fan of Bivol. I never even thought about fighting him until I went there [to Saudi Arabia] and the Sheikh was like, ‘You fight him?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever, bro’. We went over to that Day of Reckoning [led by Anthony Joshua-Otto Wallin] and that was my first time on the big scene, rubbing shoulders with great fighters, and the Sheikh was just getting individual photos of all the fighters, AJ’s there; [Joseph] Parker; Deontay Wilder; massive names, and then he calls Bivol over to take a photo and then, while they’re talking, he says, ‘You can fight him’. And I was like, ‘Whatever bro’.
“Out of respect, I shook his [Bivol’s] hand and said, ‘I respect you as a fighter’. I do. I feel he’s a great fighter and it’s a fight I would love to be a part of. It’s one of those boxing matches that I feel people would watch over and over again. It becomes that chess match. It would be good.”
The time out of the ring has allowed Opetaia’s nose to heal, and it’s allowed him to take stock. He’s boxed three times in nine months, taking a round to dispatch Jordan Thompson and Ellis Zorro respectively – both fights took place in London – and then facing Briedis in Saudi.
His partner has also given birth to a baby daughter – Lyla.
“Three fights close together was crazy for me and I loved it, being active,” Opetaia said. “I’ve had a lot going on in my life, I’ve just had a new baby and stuff like that, so my time’s been pretty occupied but me and my partner have found the groove and now I’m just training hard and changing nappies.
Of course, there are other cruiserweight champions and Opetaia can only shrug when asked why his name is not being called out.
“I think there was a little bit of negotiation with Badou Jack,” he explained. “I’m not sure what happened to it. I’ve never picked an opponent. I’ve never sat down and said, ‘I want to fight him; I want to fight him’. They just give me names and that’s who I’ve got to fight. All my opponents have been put in front of me. This is the only time that I’ve wanted to chase someone, and that’s because he [Billam-Smith] holds the belt that I want. Other than that, it doesn’t bother me. I’ll fight whoever.
“I’m at that stage of my career where anything other than a unification fight – it’s just not progress for me.
“[I want] any other cruiserweight [championship] fight, obviously there’s those big names that would be a massive fight, big payday and this and that, but for my career and where I’m sitting at the moment, I just want unification fights. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.
“Any of them [the champions] – just give me a date and let’s do it.”
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