Jai Opetaia vs Claudio Squeo: Who has the edge heading into their fight?

Jai Opetaia produced fireworks in sleeping David Nyika his last time out in January.

Now, the IBF cruiserweight world champion returns to defend the title on his home turf against Italian fighter Claudio Squeo at Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia, and live on DAZN , on Sunday.

Opetaia (27-0, 21 knockouts) demolished Nyika with a fourth-round KO, adding to his highlight reel of terror.

He will be aiming for another eye-opening victory this weekend.

With the stakes high,  DAZN News   analyzes who has the edge between this champion and challenger entering this title bout.

Boxing Styles

With power and speed in both hands, Jai Opetaia sits on his punches in the pocket extremely well, leveraging their maximum force.

His nimble footwork allows him to be agile on offense and defense with pointed counterpunch ability.

The IBF cruiserweight world champion will put his soul-taking style against Italian fighter Claudio Squeo who is a bulldozing, fight-forward aggressor.

David Nyika had spells of success punching in traffic with Opetaia, who can be hit, but it came at a steep price —getting slept in the fourth round.

How Squeo can use that to plan for Opetaia remains to be seen.

Edge: Opetaia

Power

Opetaia’s power can be downright nightmarish.

The 29-year-old’s fourth-round KO of Nyika from earlier this year demonstrated that tenfold.

The frame had Opetaia unloading a scraping left hook across the jaw, before a blunt right uppercut dropped Nyika.

But that was just the beginning of how ghastly it would get for the latter.

Seconds after Nyika courageously rose from the canvas, Opetaia launched a hellacious overhand right followed by a left hook later to send the New Zealander into sleep mode.

Of Opetaia’s 27 victories, 21 have been delivered via knockout.

That is stacked against Squeo’s nine knockouts in 17 fights.

This category is not close.

Edge: Opetaia

Mental Warfare

At 35, Squeo has never fought outside of his native Italy nor faced the caliber of opponent anywhere close to Opetaia.

Factor in that he will be facing Opetaia on the champ’s home turf and it is a colossal mental hurdle to overcome.

Edge: Opetaia

Who has the edge in Opetaia vs Squeo?

DAZN News , as no surprise, has the edge 3-0 in the champ’s favor.

Whether it is unifying at cruiserweight or challenging at heavyweight, Jai Opetaia has lucrative fights on the horizon that will come to fruition as long as he flattens this bump in his road.

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