Jai Opetaia is giving the edge to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in his fight against unbeaten knockout machine Artur Beterbiev in eight days from now on October 12th. The IBF cruiserweight champion Opetaia admits to being a fan of Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs), and would like to fight him or Beterbiev in the future.
Opetaia (25-0, 19 KOs) is defending his IBF title against Jack Massey on the undercard of Beterbiev-Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His immediate goal is to collect all the cruiserweight titles against the other champions, but if the Beterbiev vs. Bivol winner moves up, he’d like to fight them.
“It’s boxing. I’ve been around this sport my whole life. I believe anyone in that ring, I’ve got the ability to beat,” said Jai Opetaia to Queensberry about him sizing up Artur Beterbiev. “You just have to fight smart and do the right things. I believe with my ability, I can do that against any fighter.”
Opetaia would stand a better chance of defeating Bivol due to his power and size advantage. Bivol is a boxer who would force Opetaia into a boxing match. He would have a good chance of winning that kind of fight. Beterbiev would be more difficult for Opetaia because he fights on the inside, and that’s an area where he’s weak.
Opetaia is type of fighter that throws potshots from the outside, and dives in to throw single punches. That style wouldn’t work against Beterbiev, who would force an inside battle and chop Opetaia down.
“It’s the perfect walk-forward fighter against the boxer that cuts at the angles,” said Opetaia about the Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight. “I’m leaning more toward Bivol because I’m more of a Bivol fan. I love his style. It’s going to be a good fight. I’m really interested in it.”
Of the two 175-lb champions, Beterbiev is the more likely one to move up to cruiserweight to challenge Opetaia, but only if he’s victorious against Bivol. If he loses, Beterbiev will want a rematch, and he’ll get one if His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is interested in seeing them fight again.
“Yes, of course. I’m always going to fight nights and sizing everyone up since my amateur days when I was rocking up the tournaments,” said Opetaia when asked about his thoughts on potentially fighting Beterbiev or Bivol. “That’s something in the future that could easily happen.
“That’s one of those mega-fights the profile builds. I’ve got to do my job and handle my business. The winner of this fight is going to be huge. It’s definitely a possibility, but my full focus is just collecting the cruiserweight belts at the moment. But if those opportunities pop up, I’ll be taking them for sure,” said Opetaia about his interest in fighting the winner of the Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight.
It’s understandable why Opetaia is sizing up Beterbiev after hearing about his interest in fighting him. It would be foolish for Opetaia to assume that because he’s bigger than him, he would win because he’s not as skilled as him nor equipped to fight on the inside. Again, Opetaia is a potshot fighter only, and he doesn’t know how to fight in close.
