Ben Damon, a Fox Sports commentator, reports that Jai Opetaia has left the camp of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury after sparring just five rounds with him to help him prepare for his February 17th fight against IBF, WBA & WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Damon says Opetaia left the camp because Fury needed more “orthodox sparring” to prepare him for the southpaw Usyk. Boxing fans don’t believe that’s why Opetaia left the camp. They believe he was asked to leave the camp after dropping Fury like a bad habit.
Usyk is a fighter with an unorthodox fighting style, which would make Opetaia the ideal sparring partner for Fury. Unless he was flatlining the big lug, dropping him hard with a powerful left hand. That obviously would be a good reason for Opetaia to be given the boot from the camp, wouldn’t it?
Numerous rumors are circulating about the powerful southpaw Opetaia (24-0, 19 KOs) having dropped the 35-year-old Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs), who some feel is old & washed up at this stage of his career.
Damon commented on the rumors, saying, “Yep, I heard it didn’t happen.”
“Jai Opetaia did five rounds of sparring with Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia, but with a lack of orthodox sparring in Fury’s camp, Opetaia has now returned to Australia to continue his own preparations for the planned Mairis Briedis rematch at #FuryUsyk,” said Damon on X.
Jai Opetaia did five rounds of sparring with Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia but with a lack of orthodox sparring in Fury’s camp Opetaia has now returned to Australia to continue his own preparations for the planned Mairis Briedis rematch at #FuryUsyk
— Ben Damon (@ben_damon) January 22, 2024
Latest on World Cruiserweight champion @jaiopetaia1 … pic.twitter.com/iofuDrQd1G
— Tasman Fighters (@tasmanfighters) January 22, 2024
So there it is. Opetaia has supposedly left the camp to prepare for his rematch against former IBF cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis (28-2, 20 KOs) on the February 17th card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That sounds like a reasonable explanation, doesn’t it?
Opetaia had a lot of trouble beating the 39-year-old Briedis in 2022 to take his IBF title from him. Although Opetaia won, it was far from an easy fight for him.
As for Fury, fans believe the rumors that Opetaia knocked him down, and it’s hard not to accept them as true. The 35-year-old Fury is so slow, fat, chinny, and easy to hit at this career stage that having someone like Opetaia in the camp sparring him would not be good for his health or preparation for Usyk.
Fury was dropped hard by the novice Francis Ngannou in his last fight in October, and many fans believe he should have lost that fight. Deontay Wilder knocked Fury down four times in their three fights.