IBF and Ring cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia will fight IBF 10th-ranked David Nyika on January 8 on an enhanced card at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach. Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that Nyika will be Opetaia’s opponent.
2020 Olympic bronze medalist Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) will replace IBF #1 Huseyin Cinkara on short notice. Cinkra pulled out of the January 8 fight against Opetaia with an ankle injury.
Opetaia Can’t be broken
Niyika has to follow Mairis Briedis’ plan by giving Opetaia nightmares with constant pressure. In their second fight, we saw that Opetaia hates to be pressured and comes unheeded when she starts getting hurt in the face. Briedis exposed Opetaia in a losing effort.
The coach of three years, Niyika, 29, works even better because she is from New Zealand, which makes Opetaia fans in Australia very attractive, as the two countries are close. War will play well with the Aussies and New Zealanders.
“I’ve been training hard for this card, and when the opportunity came up to face Jai, I jumped at it,” Nyika told Stuff.co.nz. “This is the moment every fighter dreams of, and I have the whole of New Zealand behind me.
“I know Jai how tough he is, but I’m ready for this challenge. This is my chance to change my life, I leave everything in the ring.”
A Bivol-esque Challenge
It will be interesting to see how Niyika handles Jai Opetaia’s power, speed, and bivol-esque abilities. Since becoming the champion in 2021, he has faced some unusual opposition. At the 2020 Olympics, Niyika was beaten by Muslim Gadzhimagomedov of Russia 4-1. It wasn’t close.
Most recently, Niyika knocked out 38-year-old Tommy Karpency with a third-round knockout on September 15. It’s unclear why Niyika’s management isn’t moving him up to speed, given his relatively new experience. It’s a waste of time to bring in a former star like Niyika who was slow. He should have been fighting the killers.
In the three years he has been in this sport, he has never achieved anything other than being ranked in the top ten in the IBF and being selected for the title as the player to replace him. Apart from this, it is likely that Niyika will be spinning her wheels, toiling away in obscurity for the next three to five years, just getting old.
There are no real big names in the weight class except Jai Opetaia, but he is not a world famous name. This division needs big names and fighters that can sell. Anyway, Opetaia vs. Niyika will do well in their lands.
What a battle – Australia v New Zealand locked in!!!! Big respect to @DavidNyika to go up and you know what @jaiopetaia1 it’s about! See you on the Gold Coast Jan 8! @daznboxing #OpetaiNyika @tasmanfighters 🇦🇺 🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/oF356wY2Zo
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) December 18, 2024
January 8 DAZN card
Jai Opetaia vs. David Nyika
Justice Huni vs. Shaun Potgeiter
Ben Mahoney vs. Fan Zhang
Austin Aokuso vs. Habib Ahmed
Max McIntyre vs. Abdulsalam Saman
Billy McAllister vs. Jordan Towns
