Jai Opetaia voiced his frustration about being stuck defending his IBF cruiserweight title against fringe contender Claudio Squeo on May 13th rather than facing WBC and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez in a unification fight. Opetaia sounds helpless, like an infant, and unable to see the solution to his problem.
He’s showing signs of learned helplessness. His problem would be easily solved if he dared to abandon the cruiserweight division to seek out the goldmine awaiting at heavyweight.
Hearn’s Rationale
Promoter Eddie Hearn says Opetaia’s title defense against #14 IBF-ranked Squeo (17-0, 9 KOs) is to keep him busy and take advantage of his popularity on the Gold Coast. That’s where Opetaia (27-0, 21 KOs) fought earlier this year, knocking out in the fourth round on January 8th at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Australia.
Boxing fans on social media aren’t buying into Hearn’s excuses for why Opetaia is fighting the little-known 34-year-old Squeo, as they view this guy as another bum and are seeing a pattern forming with how he’s being matched.
Despite Opetaia holding a 27-0 record, he’s only fought ONE good opponent during his ten-year professional career, 39-year-old Mairis Briedis, and he almost lost to him in their rematch last May. Obviously, that wasn’t a good look for Opetaia struggling to beat the 40-ish Briedis and being forced to run when the pressure he was being put under became too much down the stretch.
Now that Briedis has retired, the cruiserweight division is completely barren of talent. Zurdo Ramirez is the only decent fighter in the weight class, aside from Opetaia. Not surprisingly, none of the top light heavyweights are interested in moving up because there’s no one to fight in the division to make money. Cruiserweight is seen as a division where fighters who lack the talent to fight at heavyweight choose to stay.
“Back out on the Gold Coast, defending his [IBF cruiserweight] world title. That’s what Mick and everybody wants to do. We know the big fights are coming, the Zurdos,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to DAZN Boxing, talking about Jai Opetaia’s plans. “The plan is to become undisputed and unify, but this guy wants to stay busy.
“The event in January on the Gold Coast was wild [against David Nyika]. We want to go back there, defending the world title in May. It’s important to look good before trying to pick up those other belts by the end of 2025. I really want him to fight frequently this year.
It sounds good what Hearn is saying about his rationale for having Jai Opetaia fight Claudio Squeo, but that doesn’t wash with the fans. They see this as Opetaia milking his IBF title against another tomato can after his recent victories over similar fighters, Nyika and Jack Massey.
Opetaia’s Frustration
“We want the Zurdo fight, but also, Badou Jack is fighting [Ryan] Rozicki, coming up soon. That’s another fight. We’ve got to get all those belts before inevitably we move up to heavyweight,” said Hearn.
“It’s a bit frustrating. I’ve been chasing these unifications. I’ve been chasing this Zurdo fight, and still, it hasn’t come. I don’t know why,” said Opetaia.
“You’re an animal, that’s why,” said Hearn about why Jai can’t get the unification fights against Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez and the other cruiserweight champion, Badou Jack. “The best should be fighting the best. He [Zurdo] has two belts. I have two belts [IBF and Ring]. I’ve been trying to push for this fight, but it doesn’t make sense why it isn’t getting over the line.
If Opetaia isn’t happy fighting the opposition that is being fed to him, he should move up to heavyweight already and test himself against the best in that division. It’s not going to work for him to beg WBA, WBC, and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to give him a free title shot without working for it. If Opetaia wants to fight for a belt and make the big bucks, he needs to face the likes of Joseph Parker, Filip Hrgovic, Fabio Wardley, and Martin Bakole to earn the fight.
Last Updated on 03/21/2025
