Which former heavyweight champ could Jai Opetaia have beaten?

He is very hittable even though i like him. So even in an earlier era, i don't see him beating massive hitters like Foreman and Liston.

I think Jai is fast and talented. Do i think he could beat someone quicker than him like an Ali? No. Nor do i think he could beat a guy like Tyson who surpasses him in speed and power.

I think Opetaia could beat the following: Chris Byrd, Ray Mercer, Tommy Morrison (assuming WBO counts), Trevor Berbick, Pinklon Thomas, Leon Spinks, Jimmy Ellis, Ernie Terrell, Ignemar Johansson, Floyd Patterson.

 

He’d make Morrison look stupid. Tommy had massive power but Jai can stay out of the way and box Tommy’s ears off.

Jai is also incredibly durable. Morrison could be cracked. His chin was suspect.

 

Wilder

 

He would KO glass-jawed Maskaev, school Valuev, probably would school Briggs too. I can see him stopping Morrison, Seldon, Hide, beating Ruiz, Rahman and buch of old-timers.

 

Mercer wasn't a world champion. He held the WBO in 1991 which is like what the IBO is now.

Opetaia could've beaten a lot of them. There's no way the likes of Liakhovich, Briggs, Rahman, Maskaev, Peter etc. would've beaten Opetaia.

 

I wouldn't write them off like that especially since Opetaia has no resume

 

Rahman beat Corrie Sanders, Lennox Lewis, and should've got a decision win over David Tua. Rahman had 41 stoppages and was a big puncher with that right hand.

 

Some wild answers in this thread for a guy who hasn't fought at HW yet.

 

By my count (and I may have missed someone) there have been roughly 75 cruiserweight champions in history.

Only three actually became a WBC, WBA, IBF or WBO heavyweight champion. (Holyfield, Haye and most recently Usyk)

Some may add Toney, but he was immediately stripped and the fight declared a no contest when he got caught with PEDs.

But, essentially, 95 percent of cruiserweight champions never become heavyweight champion.

So, who does Opetai beat to become heavyweight champion?

Odds are, probably nobody.

Here's the list.

01. Evander Holyfield (became World heavyweight champ)
02. Lee Roy Murphy
03. S.T. Gordon
04. Marvin Camel
05. Ossie Ocasio
06. Alfonso Ratliff
07. Piet Crous
08. Bernard Benton
09. Dwight Muhammad Qawi
10. Rickey Parkey
11. Carlos DeLeon
12. Taoufik Belbouli
13. Robert Daniels
14. Glen McCrory
15. Boone Pultz
16. Jeff Lampkin
17. Magna Havna
18. Massimiliano Duran
19. Bobby Czyz
20. Anaclet Wamba
21. James Warring
22. Tyrone Booze
23. Al “Ice” Cole
24. Markus Bott
25. Nester Giovannini
26. Orlin Norris
27. Dariusz Michalczewski
28. Ralf Rocchigiani
29. Nate “Mr.” Miller
30. Marcello Dominguez
31. Adolpho Washington
32. Carl Thompson
33. Uriah Grant
34. Imamu Mayfield
35. Fabrice Tiozzo
36. Juan Carlos Gomez
37. Arthur Weathers
38. Johnny Nelson
39. Wayne Braithwaite
40. Vasily Jirov
41. Kelvin Davis
42. Virgil Hill
43. James Toney
44. O’Neil Bell
45. Enzo Maccarinelli
46. Firat Arslan
47. David Haye (became WBA Heavyweight Champ)
48. Jean-Marc Mormeck
49. Guillermo Jones
50. Giacobbe Fragomeni
51. Tomasz Adamek
52. Marco Huck
53. Zsolt Erdei
54. Steve Cunningham
55. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
56. Grigory Drozd
57. Yoan Pablo Hernandez
58. Tony Bellew
59. Krzysztof Glowacki
60. Victor Emilio Ramirez
61. Beibut Shumenov
62. Ryad Merhy
63. Denis Lebedev
64. Yuniel Dorticos
65. Murat Gassiev
66. Oleksandr Usyk (became World Heavyweight Champion)
67. Arsen Goulamirian
68. Ilunga Makabu
69. Badou Jack
70. Gilberto Ramirez
71. Noel Mikaelyan
72. Mairis Briedis
73. Lawrence Okolie
74. Chris Billiam-Smith
75. Jai Opetaia

 

Right.

 

Nate Tubbs beat Corrie Sanders. He wasn't that good, Rahman. He had some good wins, but he'd be an underdog against Opetaia.