Jai Opetaia puts IBF blues behind him, focuses on Ring title defense against Ellis Zorro

Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia has had a lot on his plate this week.

The 28-year-old Australian southpaw relinquished his IBF title yesterday after the New Jersey-based sanctioning body refused to approve his 12-round bout against England’s Ellis Zorro (17-0, 7 KOs) scheduled to take place on the mammoth ‘Day of Reckoning’ card at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.

As previously reported by The Ring, the IBF would not grant a second exemption for Opetaia (23-0, 18 KOs) to face an opponent of his choosing, instead insisting that he face their leading contender Mairis Briedis (28-2, 20 KOs) next.

So what’s the problem? Simply put, Briedis is injured and unavailable to box. And to add insult to injury for Opetaia, the 38-year-old Latvian veteran has no issue sitting this one out as the two teams have reached an agreement in principle to box a rematch early next year, appeasing the IBF’s mandatory defense requirements.

The irony here is that no one is disadvantaged by Opetaia facing Zorro in what will be a career-high payday for the champion. In fact, the IBF have done themselves out of a sanctioning fee by refusing to approve the fight.

Such is the politics of boxing. Opetaia, for one, couldn’t be less interested.

“As of today, we have relinquished the belt. We are fighting on the 23rd of December and that’s got my full focus at the moment,” Opetaia confirmed to The Ring in an exclusive interview on Monday.

“I still believe I’m the best in the division, whether I have the IBF belt or not. I am still The Ring champion and I’m very proud to hold that belt.

“I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing and keep winning these fights and I believe the belts will come back or we will continue to get the other belts.

“It sucks that this has happened. The IBF pretty much forced it, but it is what it is. We are looking forwards not backwards, so bring it on.”

Few fight fans outside of the United Kingdom will be familiar with the 31-year-old Zorro. Opetaia wasn’t familiar with him either, but says he doesn’t see anything about the challenger that he expects to trouble him.

“I’m in the same boat as you, I didn’t know much about him until the fight was locked in and he was the opponent, so I’ve had a little look at him,” Opetaia said.

“He is quick, he’s got that decent little counter and stuff, but man, I feel like I’ve got an answer for everything he has. I’ve been training extremely hard and I’m ready for wherever this fight goes. I’m ready for it. I’m pumped and excited to make a statement on one of the biggest stages in history. This boxing card is massive to be a part of. I’m just pumped and I cannot wait to get in the ring.”

Opetaia returned to the ring on September 30 after an almost 15-month layoff to blast out previously undefeated Jordan Thompson in four one-sided rounds at Wembley Arena in London.

The short turnaround between fights will present no problems for Opetaia, who says he is always in the gym working on his game regardless of whether he has a fight scheduled or not.

“We train hard regardless. We’re in the trenches, we’re pushing our body to its limits. People talk about deep waters and training hard, but I live it. I don’t just talk about it, I get it done every day. It’s just a part of what we do,” Opetaia said.

“The camps are all the same. They’re just hard. We push and we push and we push. We get through it and we deposit every day so that when the fight comes, we have a full bank.

“With Ellis, nothing really changes in our camp. It’s just the same shit, different day. We wake up and we just grind every day. We make sure we’re fit, we’re strong. As long as we are in the best shape and come into the ring at 100%, we beat anybody. That’s what we believe and that’s what we do.”

After the devastating power boxing Opetaia displayed against Thompson, many fans and pundits are clamoring to see him dispatch Zorro in similar fashion. Opetaia acknowledges the pressure to produce a highlight-reel KO, but says his own focus is simply on winning the fight by any means necessary.

“I try not to focus on any outside noise, on what other people want or what other people think. I just go in there and I see the openings, I do what I do and I box smart. That’s the main thing, just boxing smart and getting the ‘W,’” Opetaia said.

“I feel like winning the fight is the major statement, so the way I win it just depends on the way the fight plays out. Winning is the only thing on my mind. Whether the knockout comes or not, I’m just ready for anything.”

The ultimate goal for Opetaia is to move up to heavyweight and challenge for the greatest prize in sports. But for now, those dreams can wait.

“I’ve got a few boxes to tick at cruiserweight first. I see that heavyweight division further down the track. At the moment I’m focused on what I’ve got to do at cruiserweight,” Opetaia said.

“I’m really not looking past Ellis Zorro. I’m expecting the best version of him. People know when they fight me that I’m the best and I’m expecting the best version of him as well. I motivate the people trying to beat me. They know they’ve got to raise up to a better standard.

“I’m expecting a hard fight. I’ve trained for 12 rounds of absolute war. I want him to bring me his best so that we can put on a good show.”

The post Jai Opetaia puts IBF blues behind him, focuses on Ring title defense against Ellis Zorro appeared first on The Ring.