Australian cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia is the talk of the town this week after his sensational fourth-round knockout win on Wednesday morning.
Despite both Opetaia and his promoter calling for a super-fight with ‘Zurdo’ later this year, there’s already speculation that the Australian could soon find himself standing across from Oleksandr Usyk.
Eddie Hearn targets Opetaia vs Usyk after Aussie’s viral knockout win
Jai Opetaia certainly made the most of his time on the microphone after his sensational fourth-round knockout over David Nyika, calling for a long-awaited fight against WBO champion Gilbert ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.
Whilst promoter Eddie Hearn can’t wait to put that cruiserweight title fight together, the Matchroom boss is also targeting a much, much bigger fight later down the line.
“You’re talking about a very, very special fighter in Jai Opetaia, it’s not just [about] the belts at cruiserweight, it’s the belts at heavyweight as well.
“Jai is going to pick up all the belts in the cruiserweight division to become undisputed and then we want to push him into a fight with Oleksandr Usyk to try and become undisputed at heavyweight as well.”
Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in an incredible rematch last month, and Hearn believes that Opetaia represents the only fighter who could give the Ukrainian a real run for his money.
“You have to search for greatness, and he’s good enough to do it… I believe that he’s the only person, cruiserweight or heavyweight, that can genuinely give Oleksandr Usyk a real, real fight – but to do it, we’ve got to pick up every belt in the cruiserweight division first.”
Whilst it’s fun to speculate on how a fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Jai Opetaia would go, boxing fans can also turn to video games to offer an early (if not basic) preview.
Usyk vs Opetaia simulation predicts four-round demolition job
Popular YouTube channel ‘Boxing Fight Simulations’ took advantage of the hype around the potential super-fight between Opetaia and Usyk, sharing an 11-minute simulation video from the Undisputed video game series.
Round one starts with Jai Opetaia being the aggressor, landing a beautiful uppercut before attacking the body; after a close back-and-forth, the Australian ends the first round with a nice combination.
However, the tide starts to turn in the Ukrainian’s favor in the second round, with Usyk going downstairs-upstairs with a good combination of his own to drop Opetaia just as the final bell sounds.
Round three was much of the same, Opetaia landing where he can, but Usyk finding his rhythm more and more – both athletes score clean shots, but it’s Usyk’s punches that seem to land harder.
With the scorecards 29-27 in favor of Usyk after three rounds, the undefeated Ukrainian piles on the pressure – dropping the Australian twice in quick succession and this time, Opetaia fails to make the count.
The simulation ultimately ends in Oleksandr Usyk scoring a round four knockout.