Perth based trainer Victor Bray about to lead his troop Jackson England to a world title. Big Daddy Browne used to train with him but Departed ways in 2020. He should have stayed on board.
The to and fro, looks like a build up to a mega fight to me. Surely the best match to be made in boxing? https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/jose-benavidez-sr-claims-jai-opetaia-avoiding-fight/306119
Opetaia versus the Armenian must be almost done b/c you've got the WBC wanting to take their belt off the Armenian & gift it to the Mexican-American. You've also got the intellectually-challenged American boxing media wanting to pretend that Opetaia is avoiding their guy. Reality is Australian fighters will take the best fights they get offered while American fighters run in the opposite direction from anyone who poses a genuine threat of beating them. Stand by for the American media to declare their bloke "Undisputed" when the sanctioning bodies gift him all of the belts despite the fact the division's Lineal champ is ready, willing & able to fight him.
I recall seeing Jai interviewed recently and he said he expected the bout with Noel would be made soon.
I saw on Facebook WBC said they will strip Noel if he fights Jai and have made Benavidez his mandatory.
Fk, they are making his Zuffa switch look like Matchroom II, if not worse. Thanks for the info, don't have Facebook. Will try to find it elsewhere. Opetaia in danger of losing the Ring belt outside the ring soon I'd say. Politics has nearly killed boxing now.
Yeah, they are freezing him out unfortunately https://sports.yahoo.com/boxing/art...-unified-champ-david-benavidez-224937830.html
In a recent interview, Jai's manager acknowledged that is was a risk to sign with Zuffa, but they were prepared to accept the risk. Looks like it's all gone pear-shaped https://www.*****.com/mikaelian-vs-benavidez-zuffa-bombshell/ And yes, will be interesting to see what the Ring magazine now decide to do with their belt as Jai has not defended the Ring Magazine title against any top five opponent since Mairis Briedis in May 2024. According to the Ring magazine's rules, a fighter can be stripped if they haven't defended the belt against a top 5 opponent within the last two years. I'm guessing that's top 5 as ranked by the Ring magazine, as Hüseyin Cinkara was ranked as the number 1 contender by the IBF and number 5 by the WBA when he fought Jai for the IBF and The Ring world cruiserweight titles last December.
yeah, that's what I'm hoping as it's been a struggle for him to get the others into the ring to face him.