In recent days, news spread that Saudi official Turki Alalshikh was strongly interested in organizing a heavyweight fight between current IBF cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia and the experienced Derek Chisora. The admission from Opetaia’s own manager had led many to believe that the Australian was ready to move up in weight, but now he has denied those claims.
In a long interview with Boxing Scene, Opetaia stated that he is not interested in facing Chisora and that he has no intention of leaving the 200-pound division just yet. The reason is quite simple: before challenging the heavyweights, Opetaia wants to unify all the belts in his current weight class.
The southpaw from Sydney expressed his frustration at the difficulties in convincing fellow champions Gilberto Ramirez and Badou Jack to face him, but at the same time, he insisted that he intends to keep pursuing his goal.
The idea of switching back and forth between heavyweight and cruiserweight fights does not seem particularly wise to him. Opetaia believes he still needs to add more muscle mass before fighting the giants of the premier division, and he said that when the time comes, he will settle around 225 to 227 pounds. At that point, cutting back down to 200 pounds for cruiserweight bouts would become too draining.
Opetaia’s path now looks quite clear: in November, if negotiations are successful, he is expected to face IBF mandatory challenger Huseyin Cinkara, and then finally take on WBA and WBO champion Gilberto Ramirez in early 2026. Should he win, only Badou Jack’s WBC belt would remain to complete his collection.
Opetaia turned 30 just two months ago, so he clearly still has time ahead of him before entering the downward slope of his career. All conditions are therefore in place for him to continue his pursuit of unification and later attempt to emulate the achievements of Evander Holyfield, David Haye, and Oleksandr Usyk by moving up in weight. Let’s just hope there are no setbacks, as watching the Australian in action against the top heavyweights would certainly be thrilling.