Underdog Jack Massey questions Jai Opetaia’s credentials

Arriving in a new country is exciting. Once the bags have been collected and passport control has been cleared, visitors often spend the ride from the airport to the hotel staring out of the window at their new surroundings. 

While the other fighters arriving in Saudi Arabia for Saturday’s undisputed light-heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol marvel at the spectacular skyscrapers and the mega projects changing Riyadh’s skyline, for Jack Massey, the sight of the cranes and scaffolding will act as a timely reminder of just how far he has come. 

On Saturday Massey fights Jai Opetaia for the IBF cruiserweight title, but this time two years ago he was working on the scaffolds himself. Unable to secure a meaningful opportunity, the 31 year old went back to work.

The temperature had dropped to -6 degrees when his manager, Kevin Maree, called offering him the chance to box former heavyweight champion Joseph Parker. Massey, 22-2 (12 KOs) couldn’t say “Yes” quickly enough. He had almost given up hope.

“There was a few times,” Massey told BoxingScene. “There were some promotional issues around that time and I had to get back to work. 

“It was like, ‘I’ve been in this game nearly 10 years and I’m back on a scaffold. What am I doing this for?’ But at the end of the day, it’s all I fucking know. It’s pretty sad to say, but I’ve not got any qualifications or anything else. What am I going to do? If I do stop now, without any money in the bank, it’s like going back to the factory where I worked 10 years ago.

“People my age, in their 30s, they’ve either got their own business or they’re qualified plasterers or mechanics or whatever. It’s a long way back down and it was a bit frightening and a bit scary to be honest, but I just knew that if I stuck to it, it would always come.”

Despite losing, Massey comfortably negotiated the 10 rounds against Parker, but rather than his efforts putting him directly into a lively domestic mix at 200lbs, his cruiserweight rivals and their handlers saw a hard, thankless night’s work and cast him back into the shadows.

This time, Massey stayed in the gym and when his phone rang again earlier in 2024 he was ready. The offer was a late notice European and Commonwealth title shot against Isaac Chamberlain. 

Things got tough during the middle rounds but, aware that he would be unlikely to be given another shot, the hard-nosed Massey bit down and showed some versatility by boxing his way to a close but deserved decision victory. 

The call offering him a shot at Opetaia’s IBF title didn’t come as such a big surprise. In fact, realising that the world’s cruiserweights were charting a course around the dangerous Australian, Massey saw his chance and actively chased down Opetaia. 

Massey respects Opetaia but believes that, outside of Mairis Breidis, he poses the toughest test yet of his credentials. 

“Watching him, you can’t take it away from him that he’s a very good fighter,” Massey said. “He looks good. But if you look at who he’s fought, it’s only really been Breidis twice, hasn’t it? Coming to the back end of his career.

“But you can’t take away the fact that when you watch him fighting, you can see that he’s a very, very good fighter. You can’t go in there underestimating him thinking he’s only fought over-the-hill fighters. You can tell he’s a good fighter and he’s very good at what he does.”

Massey’s status as European champion qualifies him as a more than legitimate world-title challenger and he would be a very live underdog against the WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith, the WBC titlist Noel Mikaelien or the WBA champion Gilberto Ramirez. 

Opetaia, regardless, has quickly developed an intimidating aura and separated himself from the pack. Although he was an excellent amateur, the 29-year-old southpaw made his name by overcoming a horrifically broken jaw to take the IBF title from Breidis in 2022.

He has forged his reputation by ruthlessly taking out the overmatched Jordan Thompson and Ellis Zorro, and by the cold, no-nonsense fashion with which he goes about his business.

Massey has never been on such a big stage and will need to hold his nerve as the fight-week events progress, but his preparation has been focused purely on what goes on inside the ring and they took encouragement from Opetaia’s most recent outing.

In May, Opetaia gave the ageing Breidis a rematch, but although he controlled the vast majority of the action, he slowed down as the fight progressed and had to endure a difficult final round.

Massey respects Opetaia but he isn’t going to surrender to the hype before he has witnessed the reasons for it himself. Opetaia is going to have to prove himself to him. 

“That’s why he gets a lot of critics,” he said. “Because obviously a lot of people buy into him. They like him. They like his style and how he is outside the ring. Obviously, that also brings critics on board to come to the table and say, ‘Well, who’s he actually fought?’ so he’s got to prove himself a little bit more. 

“But people get excited, don’t they? They hear the sparring stories and they watch him fight and stuff and start putting labels on him to be the next this and that. So, time will tell when Jack Massey gets in with him.”

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79