In a recent interview, Jai Opetaia goes in-depth on his career and on the potential future opponents he has been offered by His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh.
Opetaia comes off his second win over Mairis Briedis on the Fury v Usyk undercard, cementing his name as one of the top cruiserweights in the division.
Later in the interview, Opetaia tells of three potential opponents that Turki Alalshikh has offered him.
Jai Opetaia Opponents
David Benavidez
When asked about potential opponents, Opetaia welcomed a fight with ‘The Mexican Monster’, David Benavidez, if he moves up to cruiserweight, warning him ‘If he wants to come to cruiserweight he can come and get it’, ‘Cruiserweight is my division.’
Benavidez faces Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the WBC Interim belt in his debut at Light-heavyweight, this Saturday.
Canelo Alvarez
It is later revealed that Turki offered Jai Opetaia a Canelo fight at a catchweight – ‘The Sheikh actually asked me, he rang me and said would you fight Canelo, he said like 175 pounds and I wouldn’t be able to make anything lower than cruiser, the jump from 79 kilos to 91 is ridiculous.‘
Oleksandr Usyk
Opetaia also said ‘I would love to fight Usyk, I’ve always been so close to him, when I was 16 I qualified for the Olympics, I competed at 17, little kid, and he won that Olympic games. I’ve always been there, it wasn’t my time yet but I feel like my time’s coming and one day I will be able to face him’.
Whether this will happen at heavyweight or cruiserweight is unknown, as Opetaia will aim to move up to heavyweight once he’s collected the belts at cruiser, whilst Usyk aims to move back down to cruiser, suggesting his goal is to be a two-time undisputed cruiserweight champion and undisputed heavyweight champion.
Dmitry Bivol
Finally, Opetaia stated he would ‘love to share the ring’ with Dmitry Bivol, who said himself that Opetaia may be a potential opponent after his undisputed light-heavyweight clash against Artur Beterbiev.
This weekend sees fellow cruiserweights Chris Billam-Smith and Richard Riakporhe clash for Billam-Smith’s WBO title. Could the winner face Opetaia soon?
Whoever Jai Opetaia faces next, it is clear he has a bright future ahead.
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