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IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (27-0, 21 KOs) says he wants a unification fight against WBA/WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez after the fourth-round blowout of the opponent David Nyika (10-1, 9 KOs) on Wednesday. night in australia
In-game concerns
Opetaia, 29, will have to fight much better against Zurdo Ramírez to defeat the unified champion. The lack that Jai showed on the inside against Nyika tonight would be exploited by Zurdo, who is an outstanding closer fighter. This is the best part of his game. He beat Opetaia in an inside fight and would overwhelm him with punches.
We saw tonight that Jai is a one-armed fighter, only capable of landing lefts with authority and needing to be on the outside to generate energy. He was normal inside when Nyika forced him to fight by closing the space, grappling and punching. If this had been Ramirez, Jai would have been out of his league and probably been knocked out.
According to Tasman Fighters boss Jake Donovan, Mick Francis, May 3 is a potential date for a unification clash between Opetaia and Zurdo Ramirez. Now the tricky part is trying to get the match negotiated. This will not be easy.
Opetaia is a good fighter in the Bivol mold, but he has zero inside game and is not made for a fighter like Gilberto Ramirez, Oleksandr Usyk or even Artur Beterbiev. It’s too one-dimensional and more of a pothot type.
Nyika’s dog fighting tactics
“I want these unification fights. I want all these belts around my waist,” said Opetaia al media at the post-fight press conference following his win over Nyika. “I’m chasing unification fights, but if they put someone else in front of me, I can’t help it.
“I was kind of surprised how it came out,” Opetaia said of Nyika’s assault. “My old man told me, ‘He wants to have a dogfight.’ ‘If he wants to have a dogfight, let’s have a dogfight.’
Nyika was fighting Opetaia on equal terms, fighting and abusing him inside. His tactics of turning the fight into a dogfight were quite effective. Jai ended the fight in the fourth round when he went outside, hurt Nyika with a left hand and then overwhelmed him with combinations.
