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IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia and challenger David Nyika weighed in at 199.5 pounds at Monday’s weigh-in for their fight this Wednesday, January 8 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, in Australia.
Nyika looked well ripped and showed very little fat on his 6’6″ frame. During the matchup, the two wrestlers went toe to toe. It had a pro wrestling feel to it and I was expecting some theatrics at the door. That was the only thing that was missing.
Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) is the favorite, but Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) has a real chance of winning. It’s catching Jai at a good point in her career after her two grueling fights against former IBF champion Mairis Briedis. It has been softened. The event will be broadcast live on DAZN.
Listen to Hypes Opetaia
“David Nyika is here to fight. He is one of the best amateurs this part of the world has seen in a long time. He accepted the fight with three weeks’ notice. He sees something. He believes, but tomorrow night he will face an animal in Jai Opetaia. “This will be a brilliant fight,” Eddie Hearn told DAZN Boxing in Jai Opetaia vs. David Nyika weigh-in.
“You’re selling for what he is. It’s an animal. He won’t come out, sing you a song and give you a happy face. He just wants to fight,” Hearn told Sports news Australiatalking about Opetaia. “That’s what Jai is. He is a vicious savage. What you see is what you get, and that’s why people like to watch him fight.
“He is a true champion. When you say Usyk. I don’t see any heavyweight who can beat Usyk. Jai may not be able to beat Usyk, but it is an incredible fight. When you watch Usyk become undisputed cruiserweight and then move up to heavyweight and become undisputed. That is the same goal that Jai Opeptaia has,” Hearn said.
A fight between Opetaia and Usyk is still some way off because Jai still needs to collect the other three belts before achieving his goal of becoming the undisputed cruiserweight champion. That will take a while. It might be better if Opetaia puts aside his goal and moves up to heavyweight to challenge Usyk for his three belts. You can always return to the division to continue collecting them all.
“If we can make that happen at cruiserweight, I think it will make the Usyk fight huge. “You imagine the undisputed world cruiserweight champion fighting the undisputed world heavyweight champion,” Hearn said. That’s a huge fight. He has to surpass David Nyika. “It’s not going to be easy.”
Nyika has a real chance to win this fight if she can hold on and make it to the second half of the contest to start breaking Jai down with pressure. Opetaia’s face falls apart when he gets hit hard and he has those wrinkles around his eyes that tend to swell when he gets hit. If Nyika can land enough shots on those eye ridges, he can cut it down and possibly score a stoppage.
“I know he is a big favorite to do it, but if he does it, you have to focus on the other champions. I think the Zurdo fight is a brilliant fight. “If we eliminate Wednesday, the goal has to be to unify the division,” Hearn said.
