I know that he has had some shoulder injuries, but jeez, minus Opetaia, who will now apparently only fight in house, there is very little to stand in his way of having another run. I am sure Zurdo will not fight him any more than he would fight Jai. Mikaeljan would be about it. Most people felt he won their first, but Briedis got the official, and he was injured for that one, and I imagine could to better. RING MAGAZINE TOP TEN Champ: Opetaia Zurdo Billiam-Smith Cieslak Mikaejan Rozicki Jack Mosquea Safar Riley Glanton BOXREC TOP TEN Champ: Opetaia Zurdo Billiam-Smith Cieslak Papin Milaeljan Masternak Wlodarczyk (actually fighting at bridger) Perez Safar Kovalev (who is retired, I think) Come back Mairis!
Who is going to fight him? An iron jawed technically good boxer with a big right hand. High risk low reward. If you beat him, you have beaten an old man from a small obscure country. If you lose, you have lost to an old man.
From what I have seen of others in the division, and considering the two slugathons between Marius and Jai, nobody else beats the version of Briedis who last fought Opetaia. However does that person still exist? Jai's dialogue regarding his ambitions has not varied one iota, and he spoke of fights leading to unification during his Zuffa announcement. I have not been interested much in Zuffa as it was presented as a White thing, but it turns out there is a Turki involved with shiploads of money at his disposal. He will get what he wants, and he wants Opetaia making him big returns. That won't happen if he keeps fighting no-names.
If that is the case, it is hard to understand what Zuffa boxing actually is other than another belt. Dana said he was not doing business with other organizations, so how is Jai going to defend the IBF belt after signing with him? Very confusing.
Fully agree, and perhaps somebody from Jai's team could enlighten us? I have monitored his career for a fair while now, and something extremely consistent has been his talk of unifying cruiser, then similar at either bridger or heavy, or both; and his disdain for big money fights over legacy fights. I can't see him tossing that dream away in a hurry. It appears that Dana is a figurehead, with Saudi investment the real driver of Zuffa, and Turki Alalshikh is Jai's biggest fan.
It’s really quite simple. The Zuffa League which will primarily be in the Vegas Apex is just a league where they fight for the Zuffa belt only and recognise nothing else. Obviously if Dana is signing active champions like Opetaia he will not have them fight in the Zuffa League which is basically just a TV show like his Contender series for the UFC. The purpose of the league is to have Zuffa champions then go outside the league to win real belts. The Zuffa League is just a stepping stone essentially.
Thanks for the explanation, I am finding an enthusiasm towards Jai that I haven't felt since Kostya as far as Australian boxers go.
Opetaia still plans on unifying the belts and that wish was accommodated in the arrangement struck with Zuffa.
Jai Opetaia’s manager Mick Francis has confirmed that unifications remain a priority for the lineal and IBF champion, even though Zuffa Boxing boss Dana White has said he had no intention of entertaining the sanctioning bodies. “One of the concerns was they didn’t recognize the sanctioning bodies,” Francis said. “However, probably to sweeten the deal and get Jai across the line is that they will let Jai fight for the titles and unify the division, which is exactly what he wants to do.” “His personal brand will blow up and go through the roof and that’s something we’ve always wanted to do and he’ll get the opportunity to unify,” Francis added. “Jai wants to unify the titles. He wants someone to believe in him and to support him and someone behind him.