Opetaia is going to have to move up without unifying, isn’t he?

Yes that is sounding pretty unlikely now. I'm hoping that if they both come through their respective fights they can still make it early next year, but maybe a bit after that date.

 

TBH who cares if he beats Ramirez and/or Jack and unifies; in the long run yes the belts are nice, but it is fights not belts that define a fighter and in the big scheme of things Ramirez and Jack are non-entities in boxing history. If Opetaia wants to establish a lasting legacy then he needs to do it at HW.

 

So unifications and dominations don't count unless they are at heavyweight?

A narrowminded view, if ever there was one.

 

You are probably right, I'm just speaking from the heart. I would fully expect Opetaia to box Ramirez's ears off and the prospect of the fight does not excite me. IMO greatness is ultimately defined as producing excitement and defying expectations, and beating Ramirez does neither of those things for Jai. Opetaia going to heavyweight and winning fights as the underdog and the smaller man would be much more memorable IMO. However I'm just a loser on a boxing forum, I have no place in telling another man what to do and if staying at Cruiserweight and dominating further is Opetaia's goal then all the power to him.

 

I'm not trying to judge you but you are even more confused than I had thought.

 

Opetaia has explained his thinking, him unifying Cruiserweight is an achievable amd tangible goal that he can have for his legacy and the rest of his life.

Going to Heavyweight is more risky, and there is a chance that he loses with nothing to his name. I think he do well at heavyweight though, for the record.

 

Its more this is a tweener division. Who cares if someone unifies at 168 or CW. MW/LHW and HW are the real divisions.

I honestly don't care about "undisputed" regardless think its dumb and arbitrary but defending him caring about it at HW and not CW.

 

That's fine just so long as Opetaia (safe bet he'll win Dec. 6) and the winner of Jack v. Mikaelian face off in, say, March (?) -- without any interfering fights in between....

That's if Don King doesn't somehow manage to f@#k it all up....

 

Say Opetaia moves up now without unifying, what are the chances that he is frozen out at heavyweight the same way? Its not like he is a big money spinner who can offer big purses to get named heavyweights in the ring, and he looks dangerous.

Without the unifications at cruiserweight and being given a decent ranking there is every chance he struggles to get a title bout at heavyweight anyway.

 

Opetaia did get offered a #3 ranking if he stepped up to heavyweight but outside of being made a mandatory or part of an eliminator, he can't make people fight him.

 

Almost 100%. Thats just the situation. Look at Okolie. He left Bridgerweight and did the would be Bridgerweight unifier at HW. That just shows the futility of the situation. He couldn't get another fight except the fight he would have done if he hadn't moved. If Usyk fights Kabayel after Parker/Wardley(this could be late 2026/early 2027) there will be 1 belt again. And like 20 guys waiting for a shot/mandatory/final eliminator/interim they think they are in line for. Its a mess. Eventually the belts will split again or they'll be an interim but how long will that take?

Usyk got his shot after 2 fights(and 2 years) because he went up in 2019.

 

I would much rather see Bivol/Beterbiev vs Jai than Jai moving up to HW.

 

Iirc Opetaia said his ideal situation is the two unification fights next year followed by a fight against the top light heavyweight at the end of the year.

 

Did Jai say if that would be him dropping down to light heavy, the opponent coming up, or some sort of catch weight?

 

I don't think Opetaia would drop down in weight, they would have to come up. They don't seem opposed anyway.