Jai Opetaia (27-0, 21 KOs) made easy work of the previously unbeaten #10-rated David Nyika (10-1, 9 KOs), knocking him out in the fourth round in brutal fashion to retain his IBF cruiserweight title on Wednesday night at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.
Nyika Crumbles
The 6’6″ Nyika wasn’t joking about him coming for war, as he attacked the champion Opetaia, forcing him to brawl early on. However, Opetaia, 29, got to Nyika in the fourth round with power shots, knocking him down twice with big shots to the head.
The second knockdown left Nyika on the canvas for a long time, looking badly hurt. It was a shot from Opetaia that would have done the same lethal damage to anyone, especially given the already hurt state the inexperienced Nyika was in at the time.
The official time of the stoppage was at 2:17 of round four. Nyika had been brought in as a substitute on three weeks’ notice after the previously scheduled opponent, Huseyin Cinkara, had pulled out with an injury.
Undisputed Ambitions
After the fight, Opetaia called out WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, saying he wants to fight him next in a unification match.
Opetaia needs a win over Zurdo and WBC champion Badou Jack to become the undisputed champion at cruiserweight. According to his promoter, Eddie Hearn, he wants to collect the four belts and then move up to cruiserweight to challenge unified champion Oleksandr Usyk for his titles straightaway.
Undercard
In the undercard, heavyweight fringe contender Justis Huni (12-0, 7 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a second-round knockout win over Shaun Potgieter (10-2, 7 KOs). Huni unloaded on the hapless Potgieter with hard shots to the head and body, blasting away at the overmatched opponent brought in for showcase purposes.
The referee finally had seen enough of the spectacle and stepped in and halted the contest 33 seconds in the second round. It was a good win for Huni, but it really didn’t tell us much about him, given his low-level opponent. He needs to face better opposition so that fans would see whether he’s quality or not. From tonight’s fight, you can’t tell.
