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‘I’d love that’ – Jai Opetaia teases huge career move and fight against pound-for-pound star
IBF and Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia is showing no signs of slowing down ahead of his next world title defence later today.
Live on DAZN , Opetaia will take on undefeated Italian Claudio Squeo and is hoping a strong performance can kickstart his road to undisputed glory at 200lbs.
As can often be the case when a cruiserweight is at the top of his game, the talk of moving to heavyweight is never too far away and for Opetaia, he would be following the path of one modern boxing’s great pound-for-pound talents in Oleksandr Usyk .
A former undisputed champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, Usyk's path to greatness is likely to be someone Opetaia will draw inspiration from when it comes to making the move from 200lbs to boxing’s most popular weight class.
Speaking exclusively to DAZN News, Opetaia is eager to become a force at heavyweight, but only once he’s conquered his rivals at cruiserweight.
“It’s not in my immediate plans,” Opetaia said when discussing his heavyweight plans.
“I want to move up to heavyweight eventually, but I want these unification fights to become undisputed and then be able to move up there.
“It’s just frustrating, I’ve got this goal in my head, and I’ve had it for such a long time. I’m just trying to tick these boxes.
“I don’t want to go up and down, once I’ve gone to heavyweight, I want to stay at heavyweight.”
When it comes to who Opetaia would face at heavyweight, there are several options he could pursue.
One that has been teased by his promoter Mick Francis is an all-Australian showdown with Justis Huni who was knocked out by Fabio Wardley on Saturday night .
A heavyweight clash between Opetaia and Huni according to Francis be stadium worthy in a contest which he claims is “the biggest domestic fight Australia has ever seen.”
However, Opetaia appears to have loftier ambitions when it comes to his goals at heavyweight, and his main target is the unstoppable Usyk.
“That’s the goal. I’d love to do that,” Opetaia told DAZN News with excitement when asked about the possibility of facing the Ukrainian pound-for-pound star.
“We’ve just got to get these unification fights out of the way and then I’d love to fight Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
“It’s definitely something we’re trying to move forward to.”
Usyk has a major fight of his own to prepare for when he takes on Daniel Dubois for the undisputed heavyweight title on July 19 .
The pair will meet at Wembley Stadium live on DAZN PPV in a rematch of their 2023 meeting which Usyk won by stoppage in the ninth round.
Watch Opetaia vs Squeo on DAZN with a discounted special offer subscription price. More information here.
