Comments Thread For: Jai Opetaia finishes David Nyika in brutal fashion to retain his cruiserweight title

[MulaKO]

CBS is decent at best but he can ****. So too is Arsen Goulamirian and Joe Smith as far punching power goes.
They are all quality operators.
I look at Jai's record and the quality name that jumps at me is Mairis Briedis and both of those fights were boderline life and death affairs.

Any body who thinks he is going to walk through Zurdo is in for a surprise.
Advice to Jai and his team: Please tighten up that defense. He will need it to survive 12 rounds or less.
There is no frills or special effects with Zurdo but he knows his way around the ring and he knows how to DIG to that body.
Cant wait.

Let’s see if it gets signed first

[sidefx996]

Levels is right.
Zurdo going up two weight classes for the beat-down..

Huh?? Zurdo's been a cruiserweight for 3 fights and has routinely been stepping into the ring at well over 200 lbs for years. He hasn't fought at SMW in like 6 years.

[BrankoB]

They looked like animals in there. They fought with such intensity I thought this looked personal - like somebody screwed somebody's girlfriend or wife. Violent ending with a couple of unnecessary punches at the end.

[NihonJim]

I had never seen Nyika fight so was not sure what to expect from him. Watching him in this fight I was surprised at how inexperienced he was. Looks the part physically. Tall but does not fight tall behind the jab, switches stance between southpaw and orthodox randomly with no rhyme or reason , lacking in defense. Jai could not miss him even if he wanted to. Nice tune up for Jai. Now on to Zurdo who is a TOTALLY different beast. My money will be on Zurdo with all due respect to Jai.

Nyika is typical of NZ fighters, he has some attributes and talent but is behind where he should be technically, living in an isolated part of the world with cage fighters for sparring isn't good. He was training for the Olympics by doing laps of a supermarket car park at night, that's not a joke.

Nykia should relocate asap.

[Left Hook Louie]

Huh?? Zurdo's been a cruiserweight for 3 fights and has routinely been stepping into the ring at well over 200 lbs for years. He hasn't fought at SMW in like 6 years.

Yeah but is he a natural Cruiserweight and is he bringing any power with him? Looks like Zurdo is getting his chance to silence the skeptics, right? I'll eat an extra Denny's Grand Slam if I'm wrong.

[BrankoB]

CBS is decent at best but he can ba_ng. So too is Arsen Goulamirian and Joe Smith as far punching power goes.
They are all quality operators.
I look at Jai's record and the quality name that jumps at me is Mairis Briedis and both of those fights were boderline life and death affairs.

Any body who thinks he is going to walk through Zurdo is in for a surprise.
Advice to Jai and his team: Please tighten up that defense. He will need it to survive 12 rounds or less.
There is no frills or special effects with Zurdo but he knows his way around the ring and he knows how to DIG to that body.
Cant wait.

Everybody seems to be forgetting that the unified heavyweight champion of the world Usyk also had a life and death affair with Mairis Breidis. Before the Fury fight he was on record saying those were the toughest rounds in his career. So Breidis is a pretty good yardstick in cruiserweight division - the most difficult test of all for anyone.

The fact that Jai beat him twice and the fact that he was willing to fight him the second time (after a broken jaw) speaks volumes.

[LA_2_Vegas]

I missed the boat on Opetaia, today was the first time catching a fight. Damn where have I been, he is really exciting.

Way more familiar with Zurdo -

first impression is that I can't see Zurdo beating someone dynamic like that. But then, Ramirez is one of those guys that has a way of bringing the fight to his pace, no matter who the opponent is....and at that pace, he has great timing on his body punches. you come onto him and he's gonna dig into two underneath everytime. I'm really interested in this fight now.

[crimsonfalcon07]

Yeah but is he a natural Cruiserweight and is he bringing any power with him? Looks like Zurdo is getting his chance to silence the skeptics, right? I'll eat an extra Denny's Grand Slam if I'm wrong.

He sure isn't a natural SMW. He's gonna be in the wrong side of the power differential, but he's clearly got enough power to keep people honest, and he's about the same size as Jai (6'2.5", 74" reach vs 6'2" 75" reach). His first fight at CW was against another 175lber who was coming off a devastating KO loss to Beterbiev, and they both looked like trash, but he's clearly settled into the weight, and if he's been working on his conditioning, he's gonna be a handful. We know he's patient and has tons of championship experience, and is comfortable boxing on the back foot. And he's a southpaw. Opetaia hasn't fought another southpaw since 2017, and never one at a high level, and I don't think he's fought someone who's as slick a mover as Zurdo. He's certainly the only possible threat in CW to Opetaia, although right now, I favor Opetaia to win, short of Usyk dropping down again.

[kiaba360]

I'm too careful with my money, but I agree. I saw a powerful guy clobber a powerful but woefully inexperienced fighter (beautifully, I will add) who had no business being in that ring. Something is off about Jai, I can't put my finger on it, and until he climbs in there and proves me wrong, I got Zurdo winning a decision.

I don't mind people picking Ramirez based on his recent performances, but I would love if Opetaia has an impressive performance. He has shown vulnerabilities, but he has an intensity that makes him must-watch for me. He's already suffered a broken jaw, so we have an idea of what he's willing to endure in the ring. That first fight with Briedis, and the subsequent long recovery afterwards, lit a fire under him. I'm really interested in seeing Opetaia/Ramirez.

[Oracle01]

Zurdo will outbox Jai into a decision win ,im willing to put $ on it.

How will Zurdo outbox him when he's much slower, and less skilled? Zurdo just has volume, and durability that's it.