Obadiah vs. World: Australians and Kiwis will face each other on January 8

IBF and Ring cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia will fight No. 10-ranked IBF substitute opponent David Nyika on January 8 on a Matchroom-promoted card at the Gold Coast Convention Center in Broadbeach. Promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that Nyika will be Opetaia’s opponent.

Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs), the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, will replace IBF number one Huseyin Cinkara in short order. Cinkra withdrew from the January 8 fight against Opetaia due to an ankle injury.

Opetaia can be broken

Niyika must follow Mairis Briedis’ model of giving Opetaia nightmares with constant pressure. In his second fight, we saw that Opetaia hates being pushed and breaks down when he starts to suffer facial damage. Briedis exposed Opetaia in a losing effort.

Three-year pro Niyika, 29, works even better because he is from New Zealand, which makes him more interesting for Australian Opetaia fans as the two countries are close. The fight will go well between the Australians and New Zealanders.

“I’ve been training hard for this card, and when the opportunity came to face Jai, I took it,” Nyika said. Stuff.co.nz. “This is the moment every fighter dreams of and I have the entire nation of New Zealand behind me.

“I know how tough Jai is, but I’m ready for this challenge. “This is my opportunity to change my life and I leave it all in the ring.”

Bivol-esque Challenge

It will be interesting to see how Niyika handles Jai Opetaia’s power, speed and bivol skills. Since turning professional in 2021, he has been battling scrappy opposition. At the 2020 Olympics, Niyika was defeated by Russian Muslim Gadzhimagomedov by a score of 4-1. It wasn’t close.

Most recently, Niyika defeated journeyman Tommy Karpency, 38, by third-round knockout on September 15. It’s unclear why Niyika’s management hasn’t moved him at a faster pace, given his extensive amateur experience. It’s a waste of time to bring in a former amateur star like Niyika has done bit by bit. He should have already been fighting the assassins.

In the three years he has been in the game, he has won nothing aside from a top 10 IBF ranking and a title shot as a replacement opponent. Without them, Niyika may have been spinning her wheels, toiling in obscurity for the next three to five years, simply getting older.

There are no real big names in the weight class other than Jai Opetaia, but he’s not a well-known name in most of the world. The division needs bigger names and fighters who can sell. Anyway, to Opetaia vs. Niyika will do well in their countries.

What a fight – Australia vs New Zealand locked in!!!! Great respect to @DavidNyika for taking a step forward and you know what? @jaiopetaia1 it’s about! See you on the Gold Coast on January 8! @daznboxing #OpetaiaNyika @tasmanfighters 🇦🇺 🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/oF356wY2Zo

—Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) December 18, 2024

DAZN card for January 8

Jai Opetaia vs. David Nyika
Judge Huni vs. Shaun Potgeiter
Ben Mahoney vs. Fan Zhang
Austin Aokuso vs. Habib Ahmed
Max McIntyre vs. Abdulselam Saman
Billy McAllister vs. Jordan Towns