GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – Jai Opetaia believes that David Nyika replacing Huseyin Cinkara as his challenger on Wednesday evening “saved the show”.
The IBF cruiserweight champion makes the third defence of the title he won when last he fought in his home country of Australia, against Mairis Briedis in July 2022.
He has since fought either in Saudi Arabia or the UK, and as a resident of the Gold Coast in Queensland is more aware than any of the extent to which Wednesday’s promotion, at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, has been built on his name.
Since the first of his victories over Briedis, Opetaia has come to be recognised as his country’s finest fighter. The excitement surrounding him at Tuesday’s weigh-in at the same venue – both champion and challenger were 199.5lbs – was a reflection of both that, his status as the world’s leading cruiserweight, and the extent to which his career and reputation has been transformed ever since.
He regardless recognises that New Zealand’s Nyika, like Opetaia also 29, succeeding the little-known Cinkara as his opponent when the German suffered an injury in December has heightened the significance of Wednesday’s fight in a corner of the world where the Australia-New Zealand rivalry is so significant. He has a marketable opponent enhancing the occasion of his homecoming, where previously his latest fight was considered a homecoming alone.
“It’s definitely saved the show and been able to promote a lot easier,” Opetaia told BoxingScene. “It’s a friendly rivalry. Around this part of the world, there’s always that New Zealand and Australian rivalry. It’s more of a friendship, you know what I mean? It’s not hate. It’s a family rivalry, in my eyes. I don’t look at is as a bad thing. We’re bringing the best out of each other, so that’s all that matters. You know what I mean?
“There’s no negativity to come out of this. We’re the best, you know what I mean? He’s from New Zealand; I’m from Australia. We’re on a massive platform, building up our neck of the woods. It’s all positive.
“He’s just pumping up, doing mind games – all good. We’ll just go in there and do our job, man. This stuff doesn’t bother me. I’m used to this. I’ve been fucking rocking up to fights and whoever weighs in, it’s just another day in the office. It’s all good. I’m not fussed. He wants to put on a show, you know? I’m standing there; he wants to get close. We’re not going to take a backward step, at the end of the day.
“I know him. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s a good dude. We’ve got to fight. We’ve got to take care of business. And then the rest is history.”
If Opetaia cuts a relaxed figure weeks out from fights, in the days beforehand he is increasingly intense. Where he had become accustomed to being a more peripheral figure on the undercards of the highest-profile fights in Saudi Arabia, his status as the champion and attraction on Wednesday have considerably increased his promotional obligations, and yet those obligations are potentially offset by his experiencing not only his increased popularity and significance, but the extent to which, unlike when he has fought overseas in his past four fights, he has been surrounded by his family at home.
“My family give me strength,” he continued. “Being around them gives me strength. It’s good, man. It’s good to be back here. I’m just pumped up, ready to go.
“It’s been a long time coming. We’re here now; job’s gotta get done. Let’s fight. I’ll celebrate when we win. At the moment it means nothing unless we win.
“It’s never easy. It’s fucking hard. Trenches; eat; orders. All the time. It’s never easy. It’s always hard. We fucking hate it. But we love it.
“It’s at international level it’s gotten more serious. The stages have got more serious. But it’s the same fucking shit – we train hard, we fight hard, and we try and win fights. That’s been my life since I’ve been a kid. This shit hasn’t changed – it’s just the stages. People are starting to notice – that’s all.
“He’s a good boxer. [But] he needs to worry about what I’m good at. I’ll find out [his strengths and weaknesses] in the ring and capitalise on his mistakes.”
Since the first victory over Briedis, which was sufficiently painful that it came at the cost of a broken jaw, Opetaia has again outpointed Briedis in less dramatic circumstances, and Jordan Thompson, Ellis Zorro and Jack Massey have been stopped.
It remains the first of those victories that is considered the most important of his career – and also that that is most widely being revisited, given that Opetaia will again test himself in the very same place.
“Fucking, straight to the hospital getting jaw surgery – it was mad,” he said. “There’s many nights that have made this career, but that’s the one that the public have noticed.
“There’s been a lot of nights by myself that have made this career. A lot of make-or-break situations we’ve gone through that people haven’t seen that have made this career. There’s been so many fucking ups and downs that have made this possible. That’s the one that everyone’s noticed – and now they’re starting to take notice.”
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