Jai Opetaia’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, says he wants to make the unification fight with WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez after Jai defends against his IBF mandatory Huseyin Cinkara next year on January 8th.
The Matchroom boss Hearn claims Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) will “do a number” on ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs), and when he does, he’s going to gloat and rub it in the face of Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya to get the last laugh.
Should De La Hoya Risk or Not to Risk Ramirez?
De La Hoya hasn’t said whether he will give the green light to Ramirez, 33, to take the fight with Opetaia because it’s got to because he might have other ideas for interesting matchups for the popular Mexican star. Why limit himself by facing Opetaia, who has a Shakur Stevenson style?
Hearn seems to be in a hurry to make the Opetaia-Ramirez fight, and he would only be that way if he was absolutely 100% certain that Opetaia is going to win. The British promoter hasn’t taken that same approach to match his fighter Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis with Vergil Ortiz Jr., who De La Hoya promotes.
So, if you’re Oscar, he should not give Hearn what he wants by making the match between Zurdo and Opetaia unless he’s willing to do the same with Boots fighting Vergil.
“In terms of Zurdo [Ramirez] against Jai [Opetaia], absolutely! Jai has a mandatory that we have to take care of in [Huseyin] Cinkara. That could come in early January [8th] in 2025, and then all we want are unifcations for Jai,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing. Billiam-Smith, he took the right decision to take the easier fight against Zurdo. No disrespect, but you’ll see a big, big, skillful heavyweight in Opetaia do a number in Zurdo, and this is music to my ears because we want to make these fights with Oscar De La Hoya.
“It’s all very well boasting about a record when you’re not in competitive fights. Put Zurdo in with Opetaia. Put Zepeda in with Shakur. Put Barboza with Catterall. The list is endless and we win all those fights with Golden Boy. When we do there’s nothing else to say, and when we do but just to look at the great Oscar De La Hoya and just go [clap-clap-clap-clap],” said Hearn.
Opetaia will defend against #1 Cinkara (22-0, 18 KOs) on January 8th at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. That should be an easy win for Ramirez because the 39-year-old Cinkara has never fought any notable opposition during his professional career.
“It’s nothing personal. I think he’s actually quite amusing. When the ‘Clap Back’ first started, I thought it was so cringe,” said Hearn about De La Hoya.
“I think it’s good fun. With me and Oscar, there’s always been a little bit of needle between me and him. That’s what you want in the build-up. I don’t see us losing against Golden Boy at all. Not just losing the whole thing. Losing one. So, bring it on.”
The reason Hearn can be so cavalier about De La Hoya’s Clap Back situation now is because he feels confident that Opetaia, 29, will beat him easily. But if this were a situation where Oscar had the upper hand, you can bet that Hearn would be annoyed at him, taunting him, and pressuring him to make the fight.
Jai’s Weakness: He Can’t Handle Pressure
Opetaia isn’t that good of a fighter, as we saw in his rematch with former IBF cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis on May 18th.
When Opetaia started taking damage from the hard shots from a motivated Briedis, he looked absolutely scared and transformed into a bigger version of Shakur. It was like watching a bully get exposed. That performance by Opetaia showed that he’s not the bold fighter that he betrays himself with during his interviews.
The Aussie Opetaia is coming off a successful defense of his IBF cruiserweight title against Jack Massey (22-3, 12 KOs) on October 12th in Riyadh. It was an easy win for Opetaia, stopping the light-hitting Massey in the sixth round of a one-sided mismatch.
Opetaia vs. Massey Punch Stats
– Jai Opetaia: 87 of 205 shots for a 42.4% connect rate
– Jack Massey: 41 of 143 punches for 28.7%
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