GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – Jai Opetaia believes that the emotion involved in fighting back in Australia inspired the nature of the “dogfight” he won against David Nyika.

In his first fight in his home country since July 2022, when he so impressively resisted a broken jaw to dethrone Mairis Briedis as the IBF cruiserweight champion, Opetaia returned to the same venue, the Gold Coast Convention Centre, to violently trade with Nyika for three rounds before devastatingly knocking him out in the fourth.

Nyika, like Opetaia, 29, remained motionless for a worryingly long period and required oxygen before eventually returning to his feet. He was applauded when he did so, prompting the 5,000-strong crowd to appreciate, further, the entertaining fight they had just witnessed.

Opetaia has been recognized as Australia’s finest fighter since the first of his victories over Briedis. His growing reputation had also contributed to his following four fights taking place in Saudi Arabia and the UK.

His co-promoter, Mick Francis of Tasman Fighters, had spoken on the eve of Opetaia-Nyika of his desire to stage more of his fights in Australia, and Opetaia – expected to next fight Gilberto Ramirez in a unification contest in Saudi Arabia – told BoxingScene: “It was awesome, man – and that dogfight was awesome, too. The crowd come here to see a war. They loved every minute of it.

“You know, I got tagged, he got tagged, throughout the whole fight, and then I clipped him later on in the fight and he couldn’t get up. That’s the danger of fighting a dogfight, you know? It was a fucking gunfight – he stuck to his word, so you’ve gotta respect that.

“We did fight here, so that’s all that matters, you know? It happened the way it happened.

“The atmosphere, the time being there, the crowd – everything. The crowd loved it, man. It’s done, it’s dusted, so we move forward.

“Fuck yeah [I enjoyed it] – it was mad. You get hurt or punched on – I was swinging a bit too much, you know? But it’s all good.

“Man, it was just a typical dogfight, man. We was just punching until someone fucking goes to sleep, pretty much. It was good.

“I started to get a bit worried, you know? You never want – like I said, your opponent’s never your enemy – so I always wanted him to be alright. He started to take a while, but he’s alright.

“I hit him with some big shots, man, and he just didn’t wanna go down. He didn’t want to take a backward step. I take my hat off to him, bro. He showed a lot of heart; that was a full-on gunfight. I respect David Nyika for that. He gave the crowd a good fight.”

Eddie Hearn and Matchroom also promote Opetaia, and Hearn revealed that he has already been in contact with Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, which guides WBA and WBO champion Ramirez, to discuss the sought-after unification contest.

Opetaia has previously been frustrated in his attempts to secure a similar fight with the recently deposed WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith, but when asked if he was confident about Ramirez being his next opponent, he responded, “Definitely. We’re chasing that unification fight, for sure. It should happen, you know? Why not? Why wouldn’t it happen? Exactly, so fucking let’s go. As soon as possible, man.”

Opetaia has also long been expected to eventually move to heavyweight, and asked about both how many fights he believes he has remaining at cruiserweight and whether or not he is in his prime, he said: “There’s no time limit on it. You know what I mean? We’re moving at our own pace. We’re our own boss – we ain’t gotta do what people want us to do. We want to unify the division, and when the move up comes, it comes. There’s no rush.

“Getting there [to my prime], bro. Getting there. For sure.”