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Jai Opetaia targets Chris Eubank Jr-Conor Benn 2 undercard fight with British ex-world champion
Jai Opetaia’s manager has revealed that they are targeting a title defence against former champion Chris Billam-Smith before the end of the year.
Mick Francis said that Opetaia’s focus is on unifying the cruiserweight division, and they have held talks about potentially fighting Billam-Smith on the undercard of the Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn rematch while the WBA and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez recovers from injury.
Francis told Fox Sports: “We have had discussions about Chris Billam-Smith in December.
“It would potentially be on the Benn-Eubank Jr card.
“Right now, while waiting for Zurdo, Jai wants the biggest fights he can get in the division.
“We know that when it comes to cruiserweights, it’s Jai Opetaia first and daylight second.”
Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Opetaia is coming off two title defences in Australia – knocking out both David Nyika and Claudio Squeo.
Despite this, the IBF have ordered him to make another mandatory defence, this time against Huseyin CInkara of Turkey.
Opetaia and his team believe he has fulfilled his mandatory duties as champion and has now earned the right to the biggest fights in the division. That is currently Billam-Smith, with ‘Zurdo’ injured and WBC champion Badou Jack tied up in his rematch with Noel Mikaelian, which currently has no official date.
Billam-Smith has reinstated himself at the top of the cruiserweight division after losing to ‘Zurdo’ by outpointing Brandon Glanton on the undercard of the first Eubank Jr vs Benn fight.
He is currently ranked at number one with the WBO, two with the IBF, four with the WBC and nine with the WBA.
Francis alluded to potentially offering Cinkara a large sum of step-aside money to allow for Opetaia to fight Billam-Smith and clear the way for a unification bout in early 2026, saying "we want to get Jai the biggest fights", when asked about Cinkara being side-stepped.
The purse bid is set to take place later today, and Team Opetaia will be hoping that Cinkara accepts the generous sum of money, or he will become the latest in a long list of delays to Opetaia’s career.
Opetaia has been chasing the remaining cruiserweight titles for four years now and is yet to make any headway in his ambitions of becoming the undisputed champion. If he cannot achieve this any time soon, Turki Alashikh has expressed interest in a heavyweight fight between him and Derek Chisora next year.
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