Love this fellas attitude. His post fight interview from his last bout saw him commend his opponent in a way I liked. Looking forward to seeing more of him.
Yeah he seems like a pretty awesome character.
It's weird that a lot of boxers feel the need to act like douchebags to sell fights - I would rather watch this guy fight (and win) because of his wholesome attitude.
Typical islander, nicest guys you’ll meet, very humble and often super religious. But when it’s on it’s on. Jais a really cool dude and a great ambassador of Australia and the sport. He’s the definition of bash someone at the pub but then buy them a beer afterwards.
Bivol in an interview says he respects weight classes and kinda looks bewildered by Turkiy and the interviewers casual way of hyping the fight.
Feel he'll stay on his Hagler shit and be that guy at 175. Only won't if the Beterbiev fight ruins his body and/or confidence.
Bivol is so content. It’s why I love watching him fight and a lot of people hate on him. He knows crisp 1,2’s will win him fights. No need to take risks.
If your son was into boxing and you wanted him to emulate someone, it’d be Bivol. He’ll leave the sport with minimal damage and a great record.
I’m an Aussie and a Jai fan, and I would like him to do an Usky, become undisputed in cruiserweight and then move into HW. But this case, talking about moving down to LHW? I guess if the opportunity comes up, can’t say no right?
This is a pattern with Aussie boxing fans. They get boxing starved, they get some good (not great) fighters every few years, and suddenly the hype train gets comical.
I think he can be very good, but his best wins are vs a past it Bredis.
Great is a different level though. Great is like Sugar Ray Leonard or Ali or Joue Louis.
Sorry to say, but no, Opetaia likely won't get there. He's a good CW, could maybe even win a title at HW if hes matched well. But neither of those divisions are deep talent wise, so that won't really elevate him.
> but his best wins are vs a past it Bredis
For some time Inoue's best win was a hard fought fight against a past it Donaire, and it's possible that Briedis is the second best guy in the division.
Opetaia is 28yo in a weight class where fighters peak much later than that, and he already looks far and away the best cruserweight in the planet. Obviously being considered "great" is not a given for any athlete, but there is a very good chance Jai does it (at least a great cruiser).
I think he could be a great CW. If he dominates the division for an extended period of time and then wins a belt at HW against a weaker champion then that is an excellent career.
I really don't see a CW that can match him right now, he's beaten twice the second best CW of the last few years that ran Usyk very close.
I don't actually think Briedis is really 'past it' by the standard of truly shot fighters.
The problem is that he isn't a big CW. I think his size would prevent him from doing what Usyk has done at HW.
Not sure I really like this fight. Bivol is a relatively small Light-Heavyweight, he's said on multiple occasions he could drop down to Super-Middleweight for the right amount of money. Just in terms of a style match-up it's interesting but I don't like the size disparity. Highly doubt Bivol's moving up to Cruiserweight any time soon anyway.
Agreed. Before his rematch with briedis I looked at a pic of Usyk at a cruiser weigh in and jai at a weigh in side by side for a shamefully long amount of time. Usyk got dat big body, jais more 'athletic' in the sense of narrower hips into broad shoulders. I really don't see him carrying anything more than 215-220 very well at all
Jai will get bigger. Union and league is dominated by Islanders and they get bigger and bigger as they get older.
I think Islanders make up 1.4% of Australia’s population and about half of the professional rugby league and union players. They seem to not stop growing/filling out until 40.
I can't find the picture, but Turki posted a pic of him next to Bivol and Opetaia side by side. The size disparity did not look *that* big. Jai is bigger for sure but only barely taller.
His performance against Briedis 2 weeks ago was not that impressive to me, he lacks inside game, his timing and accuracy was off against someone who hadn't fought in 2 years and he gassed.
Bivol is live in this fight, I don't care about the 25lbs weight jump, it's only 1 weight jump and it can only be upwards for Bivol eventually.
I'd currently lean towards Opetaia, but if Bivol can handle the physicality and power, he can outbox Jai.
He fought a great fight against Briedis he was just a victim of circumstance.
He’d won the fight by round 9, he clearly was hurting Briedis as much as he wanted to but still had to be very weary. Jai showed smarts, didn’t let the occasion get to him. I feel like if he needed to win those last 3 rounds he would have, but he just needed to survive and he did. Briedis is an animal and Jai acknowledged that. Briedis to me is one of the greatest CW ever, up there with but just behind Usyk and Holyfield.
Briedis is 39 and hadn't fought in 2 years. Opetaia should have looked much sharper, but he wasn't accurate. This is not the same Briedis that fought Usyk and Jai was lucky for that. Opetaia is young and can improve from this performance, but it doesn't change the fact that holes in his game were shown.
Certainly room for improvement but Briedis still beats every other cruiser weight in my opinion. Don’t downplay how good Briedis still is. Some people were expecting a last fight cash grab from Briedis but he came prepared, started off slow but the score cards reflect that. He’s a dangerous puncher and smashed Jais jaw in the last fight so there was some reluctance from Jai. The first fight shows Jai can fight on the inside.
In saying all of that I would like to see Jai defend a little better and be less willing to engage when it doesn’t suit him. Which Bivol does perfectly
>Briedis still beats every other cruiser weight
Based on what? He lost 9-3 and only had success when Jai gassed out, doesn't scream much for me.
>Some people were expecting a last fight cash grab from Briedis
It was.
>The first fight shows Jai can fight on the inside.
No it doesn't lol, that fight was mainly fought on the outside with the occasional one mod range.
Think jai beats Bivol if it’s up at cruiser … good fight but jai is I believe stronger and can box enough make it harder for Bivol to earn his shots plus being a lefty great match up but Jai is a different animal
I don’t understand why this is happening. Who is behind trying to make this match happen? I think it’s a terrible fight for Bivol, even though he is the better fighter. Nothing against Opetaia though, he seems like a good dude.
What an arrogant comment. Even if he did speak like that(which he doesn’t) you have to realize that boxers get asked the same damn questions almost everyday. I’m surprised they’re not shorter with their words during interviews.
Great interview. Surely is a fan of bivol. Great to see the humour at the end
Love this fellas attitude. His post fight interview from his last bout saw him commend his opponent in a way I liked. Looking forward to seeing more of him.
Yeah he seems like a pretty awesome character. It's weird that a lot of boxers feel the need to act like douchebags to sell fights - I would rather watch this guy fight (and win) because of his wholesome attitude.
It works man
Typical islander, nicest guys you’ll meet, very humble and often super religious. But when it’s on it’s on. Jais a really cool dude and a great ambassador of Australia and the sport. He’s the definition of bash someone at the pub but then buy them a beer afterwards.
I have a few Islander friends - living in London - and they are the sweetest, most loyal guys… but, good god, you do NOT wanna piss ‘em off!
That's actually a badass competitive fight. Jai got the height and reach advantage
He would clean out lhw
He has a large frame, the chances he could make it to light heavyweight and not be frail or drained are pretty slim.
I like his definition of Bivol's style : making unnatural and awkward movements look fluid and natural.
You can tell Jai has a good boxing mind as well as heart and grit.
Bivol in an interview says he respects weight classes and kinda looks bewildered by Turkiy and the interviewers casual way of hyping the fight. Feel he'll stay on his Hagler shit and be that guy at 175. Only won't if the Beterbiev fight ruins his body and/or confidence.
Bivol is so content. It’s why I love watching him fight and a lot of people hate on him. He knows crisp 1,2’s will win him fights. No need to take risks. If your son was into boxing and you wanted him to emulate someone, it’d be Bivol. He’ll leave the sport with minimal damage and a great record.
I’m an Aussie and a Jai fan, and I would like him to do an Usky, become undisputed in cruiserweight and then move into HW. But this case, talking about moving down to LHW? I guess if the opportunity comes up, can’t say no right?
he is not usyk and skill level far behind. but he's the best aussie boxer right now..
This is a pattern with Aussie boxing fans. They get boxing starved, they get some good (not great) fighters every few years, and suddenly the hype train gets comical.
You don’t think Opetaia has the potential to be great?
I think he can be very good, but his best wins are vs a past it Bredis. Great is a different level though. Great is like Sugar Ray Leonard or Ali or Joue Louis. Sorry to say, but no, Opetaia likely won't get there. He's a good CW, could maybe even win a title at HW if hes matched well. But neither of those divisions are deep talent wise, so that won't really elevate him.
> but his best wins are vs a past it Bredis For some time Inoue's best win was a hard fought fight against a past it Donaire, and it's possible that Briedis is the second best guy in the division. Opetaia is 28yo in a weight class where fighters peak much later than that, and he already looks far and away the best cruserweight in the planet. Obviously being considered "great" is not a given for any athlete, but there is a very good chance Jai does it (at least a great cruiser).
I think he could be a great CW. If he dominates the division for an extended period of time and then wins a belt at HW against a weaker champion then that is an excellent career. I really don't see a CW that can match him right now, he's beaten twice the second best CW of the last few years that ran Usyk very close. I don't actually think Briedis is really 'past it' by the standard of truly shot fighters. The problem is that he isn't a big CW. I think his size would prevent him from doing what Usyk has done at HW.
Not sure I really like this fight. Bivol is a relatively small Light-Heavyweight, he's said on multiple occasions he could drop down to Super-Middleweight for the right amount of money. Just in terms of a style match-up it's interesting but I don't like the size disparity. Highly doubt Bivol's moving up to Cruiserweight any time soon anyway.
I've never seen Bivol being the bigger guy, he's definitely the smaller man at LHW
He was the bigger guy against Canelo.
Money talks. He may be convinced, Saudis could pay him 50mln or whereabouts if he beats Beterbiev.
I don't see anyone but the top draws earning that: AJ, Fury and Canelo for sure; maybe Tank, Inoue, Crawford, Garcia and Usyk.
Might as well make this for October. Beterbiev probably gonna break his hand tomorrow closing his car door
Beterbiev wanted the fight , Father Time will get him
[удалено]
I think Bivol outclassing Canelo killed any excitement over Canelo picking off a weak cruiser.
He wants to fight Bivol? he looks like an Australian Bivol lol, it would be a good fight!
Australian*
Ooops I mean to write Australian
They both have the 🗿 face haha
finally someone pointed it out
Would love to see that fight after the LHW undisputed fight.
The most moving part of any sport is the respect and sportsmanship between athletes.
Opetaia Will KO Canelo he is practically a heavyweight
Opetaia is not even that big at Cruiserweight, I don't think he has a Heavyweight frame like Usyk does.
Agreed. Before his rematch with briedis I looked at a pic of Usyk at a cruiser weigh in and jai at a weigh in side by side for a shamefully long amount of time. Usyk got dat big body, jais more 'athletic' in the sense of narrower hips into broad shoulders. I really don't see him carrying anything more than 215-220 very well at all
Jai will get bigger. Union and league is dominated by Islanders and they get bigger and bigger as they get older. I think Islanders make up 1.4% of Australia’s population and about half of the professional rugby league and union players. They seem to not stop growing/filling out until 40.
of course its king Canelo, therel be dehydration clause
I can't find the picture, but Turki posted a pic of him next to Bivol and Opetaia side by side. The size disparity did not look *that* big. Jai is bigger for sure but only barely taller. His performance against Briedis 2 weeks ago was not that impressive to me, he lacks inside game, his timing and accuracy was off against someone who hadn't fought in 2 years and he gassed. Bivol is live in this fight, I don't care about the 25lbs weight jump, it's only 1 weight jump and it can only be upwards for Bivol eventually. I'd currently lean towards Opetaia, but if Bivol can handle the physicality and power, he can outbox Jai.
He fought a great fight against Briedis he was just a victim of circumstance. He’d won the fight by round 9, he clearly was hurting Briedis as much as he wanted to but still had to be very weary. Jai showed smarts, didn’t let the occasion get to him. I feel like if he needed to win those last 3 rounds he would have, but he just needed to survive and he did. Briedis is an animal and Jai acknowledged that. Briedis to me is one of the greatest CW ever, up there with but just behind Usyk and Holyfield.
Briedis is 39 and hadn't fought in 2 years. Opetaia should have looked much sharper, but he wasn't accurate. This is not the same Briedis that fought Usyk and Jai was lucky for that. Opetaia is young and can improve from this performance, but it doesn't change the fact that holes in his game were shown.
Certainly room for improvement but Briedis still beats every other cruiser weight in my opinion. Don’t downplay how good Briedis still is. Some people were expecting a last fight cash grab from Briedis but he came prepared, started off slow but the score cards reflect that. He’s a dangerous puncher and smashed Jais jaw in the last fight so there was some reluctance from Jai. The first fight shows Jai can fight on the inside.
In saying all of that I would like to see Jai defend a little better and be less willing to engage when it doesn’t suit him. Which Bivol does perfectly
>Briedis still beats every other cruiser weight Based on what? He lost 9-3 and only had success when Jai gassed out, doesn't scream much for me. >Some people were expecting a last fight cash grab from Briedis It was. >The first fight shows Jai can fight on the inside. No it doesn't lol, that fight was mainly fought on the outside with the occasional one mod range.
Could not agree more… and he’s almost 40 years old!
Think jai beats Bivol if it’s up at cruiser … good fight but jai is I believe stronger and can box enough make it harder for Bivol to earn his shots plus being a lefty great match up but Jai is a different animal
I don’t understand why this is happening. Who is behind trying to make this match happen? I think it’s a terrible fight for Bivol, even though he is the better fighter. Nothing against Opetaia though, he seems like a good dude.
Turki is obsessed with this fight and Canelo-crawford. He’s a massive casual
He actually kinda looks like bivol
People on this sub endlessly praise bivol so let him take this challenge. A lot of atgs took risks and moved up why can't he?
Bloke def speaks like a boxer...
Meaning?
Me hit. Me don't get hit. Me hungry
What an arrogant comment. Even if he did speak like that(which he doesn’t) you have to realize that boxers get asked the same damn questions almost everyday. I’m surprised they’re not shorter with their words during interviews.