Jai Opetaia is the worst managed boxer in our era.

Jai Opetaia is fighting WBC cruiserweight champion Norair Mikaeljan, but Mikaeljan's title isn't on the line, leaving Opetaia to defend the Ring Magazine and Zuffa belts. Why? I don't know. It doesn't seem to be a problem between the WBC and Zuffa, considering Conor Benn is facing Ryan Garcia in the main event for the WBC welterweight title. Also, Opetaia lost his IBF belt* earlier this year when he fought for the vacant Zuffa belt against Brandon Glanton. But Opetaia's bad management didn't start there. I believe Opetaia was ducked by other cruiserweight champions, although there isn't hard evidence for most of those claims. However, I blame Opetaia's management more than anything.Instead of fighting fighters ranked by the other sanctioning bodies to get into eliminators and eventually mandatory positions, Opetaia fought guys like Ellis Zorro, Claudio Squeo, and Jack Massey. While Opetaia fans can argue that the lack of ranked opponents is because those fighters were ducking him, I'd say it's logical that champions and highly ranked fighters close to a mandatory position would avoid him, but fighters who aren't in line for a title and aren't getting a good payday would have every reason to fight the IBF cruiserweight champion. I'm not criticizing Opetaia, but his career is by far one of the worst managed careers I've seen.


*I’ve heard people argue that Aaron McKenna fighting Etinosa Oliha for the IBF title on a Zuffa show proves the IBF’s decision was rushed and clearly shows they have something against Opetaia. While I’m not defending the IBF’s decision to strip Opetaia, I understand the arguments for and against it. The important distinction in Opetaia’s case is that the vacant Zuffa title was on the line in his fight with Glanton, whereas, as far as I can tell, McKenna vs Oliha isn't for a vacant Zuffa title.

 

Mikaeljan is a solid boxer and did get robbed in the Briedis and Włodarczyk fights. I’d even argue he should be undefeated, though I think Badou Jack did enough to either edge or draw their first fight. Therein lies the problem Mikaeljan fought a 41/42-year old fighter who had lost to lower-level fighters like Richard Rivera, and who was an average (but entertaining) champion even in his prime. Badou made it competitive through his speed and explosiveness while coming down from a higher weight class. If that gave Mikaeljan trouble, imagine what a powerful, explosive fighter like Opetaia could pose as a challenge for him. That being said, I think Opetaia shouldn't sleep on Mikaeljan. This is his chance to get a legitimate top-five win after Briedis.

 

I care for the simple fact that Opetaia wants to become undisputed and doesn't plan to move to heavyweight once he reaches that goal.

I also believe most people want to see the Benavidez fight. If Opetaia doesn't have a belt, Benavidez doesn't need to fight him to become undisputed. I don't think Benavidez is scared of or ducking Opetaia, but right now I believe he wants to become undisputed as soon as possible before moving down to 175. If Opetaia gets a belt, he'll be included in Benavidez's path to becoming undisputed, and we'll get the fight that we want to see. I just don't want Opetaia to become one of those fighters who never gets the big fights needed to prove his level.