Jai Opetaia is considered one of the biggest rising forces in world boxing, but the Australian doesn’t just want to inherit Oleksandr Usyk’s legacy in the ring, he wants to take it away from him in the ring.
Opetaia is arguably the best cruiserweight in the world today, while Usyk is a multiple world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.
The Australian will face Mairis Briedis in an IBF world title fight on the undercard of the heavyweight championship clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on Sunday (AEST).
With the recent defeats of Tim Tszyu and Jason Moloney, no Australian currently holds a world championship belt awarded by boxing’s four major sanctioning bodies.
Opetaia hopes to change that and aims to unify the cruiserweight titles.
But his burning desire remains to fight Usyk, who was the undisputed champion of the division.
Australian Jai Opetaia is considered one of the best cruiserweight fighters in the world today.
Opetaia will fight on the undercard of the clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk
Opetaia, left, will face Mairis Briedis in an IBF world title fight after the Australian won her previous fight two years ago with a broken jaw.
“I would love to fight Usyk,” Opetaia told Sky Sports.
‘I’ve watched Usyk for a long time. He was 17 years old at the London Olympics in 2012 when he won.
“I’ve always been around and now I’m at my best.”
‘I’m not a little boy anymore. Now they know. I’m on his radar. It’s a good feeling. “He’s always been the favorite, so to fight him… I would love to.”
The rematch with Briedis is expected to be tough. The first fight was brutal; Opetaia defeated Briedis despite breaking his jaw.
“I expect a tough fight, 12 rounds of war,” he said. ‘If I have to break my jaw again, so be it. This is what is needed.’
His courage and skill led Tyson Fury to hire Opetaia as a training partner to prepare for Usyk.
“It was good to adapt to a new style,” Opetaia said of his experience with Fury.
‘I learned a lot. I wanted to earn her respect and prove my worth.
Fury recently invited Opetaia to train with him in a sparring session as both fighters prepared for their respective fights.
Opetaia called the experience of training with Fury “crazy” and said the fighters developed a mutual respect for each other.
Rumors emerged at that training session that Opetaia had dropped Fury while they were training and was forced to leave the WBC heavyweight champion’s camp immediately, rumors that the Australian has rejected on multiple occasions.
Instead, he said the session allowed both fighters to gain mutual respect and show that the Australian belongs at this level.
“A kid like me coming from the Central Coast of Australia and then sharing the ring with a fighter like Tyson Fury is crazy,” Opetaia told Boxing Social.
‘The negative that came out of this was a shame because it was the best cruiserweight helping the best heavyweight in our fights.
“There was a lot of positivity that could have come from this, but they’ve always done that kind of clickbait stuff.”
‘But for my team, for our experience, it was incredible. It was an incredible experience, I am grateful for the experience.
‘My team mixing with their team, being surrounded by other world champions and knowing that we deserve to be there too.
‘Wherever we go, I always say: we are going to earn respect, not disrespect. “I felt like I had earned their respect.”
To fight Usyk, Opetaia will likely have to move up two weight divisions, starting with a move to bridgeweight, which sits between the WBC’s cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.
“Even at bridge weight, I feel like I’ve met the requirements at cruiser weight, I feel like that bridge weight will be a more certified weight,” he said.
‘Being a three-division world champion, you know what I mean? Sounds good to me and it’s definitely possible.
“I feel like with my ability I’m definitely capable of doing these things.”
Opetaia will have to move up at least one weight class to face Usyk in the future
Usyk was the undisputed champion at cruiserweight and also multiple world champion at heavyweight.
Meanwhile, Opetaia’s opponent, Mairis Briedis, has not fought since losing to Opetaia almost two years ago.
“Of course I want to win,” Briedis said.
‘As Mike Tyson once said: ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ So let’s try not to miss that blow and stick to our plans.’
The main card begins at 2am AEST, with the Opetaia fight expected around 7am The event will be streamed live on DAZN.