Hearn wants Jai Opetaia for Usyk: Is this a joke or the new reality of boxing?

Promoter Eddie Hearn wants his fighter, IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, to be the next opponent against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to defend their titles.

That would be 100% unfair to the top contenders in the heavyweight division if Opetaia were allowed to fight Usyk for his WBA, WBC and WBO world titles without earning the opportunity to defeat the contenders. What a stupid joke and so wrong for the sport.

From Hearn’s point of view, it’s understandable why he would want his fighter Opetaia to have a title shot against Usyk. It’s money. He has no one else in his Matchroom stable to fight Usyk after he twice whipped his flagship fighter, Anthony Joshua, causing him to have a mental breakdown inside the ring after his second loss.

Hearn would be laughed at if he made a play for national heavyweight Johnny Fisher to challenge Usyk for his three belts after the performance he put on against Dave Allen last week. Aside from cruiserweight Opetaia, Fisher is the only one Hearn has. He won’t let Joshua fight Usyk and ruin his plans for the ‘Battle of Britain’ money fight against Tyson Fury.

Is to selfish movement of Hearn wanting Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) to go up and jump the line against top contenders Martin Bakole, Agit Kabayel and Joseph Parker, without proving that any of those guys actually win the title. shot.

It’s a circus, and it fits with Francis Ngannou getting a direct shot at Tyson Fury and journeyman Derek Chisora ​​challenging for a world title after losing three of his last four fights. Allowing Opetaia to leapfrog heavyweight contenders to fight Usyk for his three world titles makes a mockery of the sport, but it shows what’s important: money.

Opetaia, 29, looked awfully bad in his narrow victory over Mairis Briedis on May 18, running around the ring, looking scared when the 39-year-old started pressuring him. You got a glimpse of who Opetaia really was during the last four rounds of the fight. He is someone who is fine when he has a passive fighter in front of him, but when he is relentlessly attacked by a hard puncher, he becomes a scared lamb.

“I think Opetaia’s style and his great fight. The only fight I watch, I mean, I love Opetaia against Usyk. I just think it’s a very good combination of styles. But Jai must also earn his stripes for that fight. “He has to win next week and then he will probably have to unify against (Gilberto) Ramírez,” Eddie Hearn told iFL TV about wanting Oleksandr Usyk to fight his fighter, IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.

“And then when he takes a step forward, he can compete at weight. It’s a great fight, but he has to continue building his profile. But I don’t see many fights that really get me excited about Usyk. He has done everything. Who else can he beat?: Hearn said about Opetaia.

If Hearn wants Opetaia to challenge Usyk for his world titles, he needs the Australian to fight these four:

1. Martin Bakole
2. Daniel Dubois
3. Bakhodir Jalalov
4. Agit Kabayel

If Opetaia can overcome this mini-challenge victoriously, then he will have earned his title shot against Usyk. Other than that, he needs to get back where he came from, back into the mud of the cruiserweight division, fighting mediocre, obscure fighters that casual fans have never heard of and will never care about.

Opetaia will defend his IBF title against replacement opponent David Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) on January 8 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. The fight will be broadcast live on DAZN. Nyika replaces the injured Huseyin Cinkara.