Jai Opetaia (25-0, 19 KOs) wasn’t altogether pleased with his performance last Saturday night, wishing he’d done better defeating Mairis Briedis (28-3, 20 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision to win the vacant IBF cruiserweight title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(Courtesy: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
Opetaia, 28, regrets how he fought in the last quarter of the fight. When Briedis came on, forcing him to retreat, it looked to some like he was afraid of the former champion.
A Change in Demeanor
The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112. Briedis appeared to win the last four rounds, as that’s when he went on the attack, and Opetatai looked timid and hesitant. The transformation that Opetaia went through, going from looking brave to timid was shocking. He was literally a different person when Briedis went after him.
Boxing fans noticed that when Opetaia’s nose started bleeding and his eyes swollen, he caved in mentally from the pressure from Briedis. Opetaia looked scared and wasn’t showing the warrior spirit that he’d talked about during the entire run-up to his fight. It was eye-opening.
A Shakur Stevenson-esque Performance
Opetaia had talked about wanting his fight to be a war and hoping Briedis would come to fight. Interestingly, Opetaia fought like lightweight Shakur Stevenson, pulling back and retreating all night when Briedis attacked him.
That style was entertaining, and disappointing because boxing fans on social media had heard a lot about Opetaia during the promotion. He fought like a bigger version of Shakur. It was dull.
When the cameras panned to the audience during the Opetaia-Briedis fight, the fans looked bored and some appeared frustrated becaue Opetaia wasn’t standing his ground when Briedis would cross into no man’s land to meet to exchange punches.
Hopefully, this style that Opetaia showed was just an aberration, and he won’t fight like that in the future because he’s not going to win fans if he performs like that.
Lessons Learned
“Yeah, I got the W and I’m happy with that, but I know I can do better. It’s eating me up with the last bit of that fight,” said Jai Opetaia to Boxing King Media about how he performed in his rematch with Mairis Briedis last Saturday night.
“I can’t wait to get home. Briedis, I respect him. He’s a warrior in that ring. He showed it. He earned my respect in there. We always say you don’t disrespect. You earn respect, and I feel like he’s done that exact same thing. I take my hat off to him and his team.
“It’s good. He’s a tough ba****d,” Opetaia said about Briedis. “He’s f**** tough. He kept coming. It is what it is. We’re going to learn a lot from that fight. We’re going to learn a lot from those long 12 rounds.
“I felt fit. I felt like I was trying to hurt him a little too much. I was chasing him a little bit too much, and that’s why I’m frustrated with myself. If I waited, it would have come. It’s all learning, it’s all progress,” said Opetaia.
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