Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia weighed in at 198½ lbs, and his opponent Ellis Zorro came in at 197½ pounds at Friday’s weigh-in for their twelve round fight this Saturday, December 23rd.
The face-off was uneventful, with no pushing & shoving between the two fighters. That’s not the 28-year-old Opetaia’a style to go into theatrics to create interest in his fights.
Opetaia (23-0, 18 KOs) will be looking to put on an impressive display in this showcase fight against the unbeaten Zorro (17-0, 6 KOs) in this bout, which cost him his IBF title.
It’s not a big deal, as his promoter, Eddie Hearn, plans on matching him against the other champions in the division to allow him to capture all the belts before he moves to heavyweight.
Opetaia vs. Zorro will be fighting on the Anthony Joshua & Deontay Wilder ‘Day of Reckoning’ card this Saturday, December 23rd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The card will be shown on ESPN+ & DAZN PPV.
After the weigh-in, Opetaia revealed that he’d like to face light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol once he moves up in weight. He said he went to dinner with the shiek, who expressed interest in a fight between him and Bivol.
This would undoubtedly be an excellent match-up, and perhaps an even bigger one would involve David Benavidez facing Opetaia at cruiserweight. He’s even bigger than Bivol, and it would make for an exciting contest.
Opetaia ready to shine in Riyadh
“I weighed in this morning. Eat all day, fuel up, and put a show on tomorrow. All the hard work has been done. I’m just excited to get in there,” said former IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia to Fighthype about his fight on Saturday night against Ellis Zorro on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“I’m excited to fight, massive card, huge platform. It’s great to be a part of. The Saudis are really raising the bar. Who knows what’s possible with these guys? They can actually do anything they want. They can wake up one day and go, ‘Hey, let’s get all the cruiserweight and put them on a fight card,'” said Opetaia.
It’s a big deal for Opetaia to suddenly be receiving a lot of attention for his fights, as many of his fights had largely been invisible to boxing fans in the U.S. and elsewhere. The cruiserweight division isn’t one of the more popular ones in the sport due to the absence of charismatic fighters.
Many of the fighters prefer to move up to heavyweight if they’ve got the size to compete at cruiserweight because the money8 is better in that division.
The sacrifice of the IBF title was well worth it for Opetaia, as he’ll be getting a lot of visibility fighting on the ‘Day of Recking’ card in Riyadh, and it’ll lead to bigger things for him in the future against the top dogs at cruiserweight.
“It’s awesome to have someone that loves the sport of boxing and doesn’t care about all the politics and just wants to have the best against the best,” said Opetaia about the Saudis. “I’m just happy to be a part of the first move towards that direction because it’s something that boxing has needed for a long time.
“It reminds me of the amateurs sort of things. They’d just say, ‘You’re fighting him.’ Lock on and punch on. It’s good. We’ve earned respect everywhere we go. Yeah, it’s awesome. I’m excited for the future of boxing.”
Opetaia doesn’t say who he’d like to fight beyond Dmitry Bivol. If Jai is going to stay at cruiserweight long enough to collect all the belts, he’ll need to face these fighters:
– Artur Goulamirian
– Chris Billam-Smith
– Noel Mikaelyan
– Mairis Briedis vs. Gilberto Ramirez winner
“All the heavyweight fights, they’re all exciting,” said Opetaia when asked which fight on the card he wanted to see the most. “Obviously, the main two [Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin and Deontay Wilder vs. Joseph Parker].
Future vision for Opetaia: Bivol
“[WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry] Bivol, I’ve got a lot of respect for Bivol. He’s probably one of my favorite fighters at the moment,” said Opetaia. “We actually went out to dinner with the shiek the other night and he said he wanted to see the fight between me and him [Bivol] further down the track, and that’s a fight that I would love to have.”
It would be amazing to see Opetaia fight Bivol once the Russian fighter fights for the undisputed light heavyweight championship in 2024 against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Callum Smith.
It’s unclear whether Bivol has anyone else that he wants to face before agreeing to fight Opetaia because the 175-lb division is a barren one a the moment.
Benavidez will likely move up once he gets his wish fulfilled against Canelo Alvarez because he’s putting his body through pure torture, draining down to 168, and he needs to be at cruiserweight so he can compete against fighters his own size, like Opetaia.
Excitement for the future
“I feel like that’s a fight that people can watch over and over again. That’s what my life has led to,” said Opetaia. “I’ve been boxing my whole life, and I’ve been watching fights like that my whole life. Man, I’m excited.
“He [Bivol] said he wanted to accomplish a few things as a light heavyweight first, which is understandable. If he were to tell me to go up to heavyweight at the moment, I would tell him the same thing, but that’s a fight to be made further down the track. The best of the cruiserweight versus the best of the light heavyweights,” said Opetaia.
Bivol is coming off a big year in 2022, beating Canelo Alvarez and Gilberto Ramirez. Saturday’s fight with Lyndon Arthur will likely be a letdown for him, and he’ll want to get the undisputed championship clash out of the way soon after against the Beterbiev-Smith winner. Fighting Opetaia would be the icing on the cake for Bivol if he becomes undisputed at 175.
“It’s exciting times. There are so many great fights to be made, and with the shiek to have the financial backing, he can do whatever he wants. It’s just a different type of game plan. I’m used to moving around with a lot bigger dudes. I have for a long time,” said Opetaia about him eventually moving up to heavyweight.
“We just adapt. I’ll put on some good size. It’s been done before. Evander Holyfield was my height. Usyk is my height. Let’s go; I’ll jump in the ring with anyone.”
By the time Opetaia makes the move up to heavyweight, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk, and Tyson Fury could be about done. If he does get a fight against one of them, his chances of success would be high.
“I’m curious to see how he comes out, and how aggressive he’s going to be, and stuff like that,” said Opetaia about his opponent Ellis Zorro. “If it goes the distance, I’m ready for twelve rounds of war. I trained hard. I’ve trained for a version that no one has ever seen of Ellis.
“I’m expecting him to come and fight his heart out. This is his chance to become great, to become one of the best. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and I am the best. I’m expecting a good version of him, so let’s get it on,” said Opetaia.
