Jai Opetaia vs. Richard Riakporhe - IBF Purse bid - July 14 2023

[Redback Rasta]

Richard Riakporhe 16-0, the IBF #2, WBO #2 and WBC #5 ranked contender, has until July 14th to negotiate terms with IBF champion Jai Opetaia before a purse bid is called.

Opetaia's opponent was to have been Mateusz Masternak but he has walked away and is believed to be instead pursuing a fight with new WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith.

[joshj909]

Have a feeling it won't happen for one reason or another but this is a good fight.

[gregregegg]

Have a feeling it won't happen for one reason or another but this is a good fight.

While I love your skepticism I just don’t think either is in a position to pull out…

[Redback Rasta]

Riakporhe sounding keen. Says he'll fight Opetaia wherever the fight may fall.

Billam-Smith eying off a unification fight should Riakporhe win the title from Opetaia.

[coneye]

Thought Opetaia had a badly damaged jaw , is he all healed up now

[margaret thatcher]

good fight

saw jai ringside at tim;s fight, was wondering what was going on with him

didnt he get into some drunken bust up at a club? hopefully he hasnt gone off the rails a bit. this could be another one where he shines late before it gets tough later on

[Ruthless-RKO]

Jai Opetaia vs. Richard Riakporhe in Talks For August 23 Showdown

Discussions are ongoing to finalize an ordered fight between IBF cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia (22-0, 17 KOs) and mandatory challenger Richard Riakporhe (16-0, 12 KOs).

If the deal is reached, the fight would land in south-east Queensland.

According to Opetaia’s manager, Mick Francis, the fight is targeted for August 23, possibly at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, and he hopes a deal will get finalized by July 14.

“Jai is the champion, and he should have the opportunity to have his first defense in Australia,” Francis said to The Age.

“That’s the whole thing about winning the world title is you hustle, you hustle, you hustle and when you finally win, why should you keep hustling? Jai has been out of the ring for a year on Sunday, so he’s been out for quite a while, so the last thing that personally we need to do is take Jai to the UK in foreign territory with 20,000 screaming Poms wanting his blood. We’re trying to bring that fight here to Australia and it’s looking very positive.

“We’ve had talks with local council and state government, which are both motivated to bring a big fight to Queensland, especially on the back of what Jai did a year ago.”

Last year, Opetaia pulled off an upset when he secured a dominant decision win over Mairis Briedis to capture the IBF world title on the Gold Coast. Opetaia won the bout despite suffering a broken jaw during the bout.

The goal for Opetaia is to unify the entire weight class - a goal that Oleksandr Usyk managed to accomplish in 2018.

“Jai wants to unify all the titles and Chris Billam-Smith... has got the WBO belt, and that’s the belt Jai has always wanted to fight for," Francis said.

“I’ve been around sportspeople for a very long time but I can honestly say Jai Opetaia has got the biggest motor, he’s the hardest trainer and he’s got the best attitude I’ve ever seen in any athlete.”

[Redback Rasta]

Thought Opetaia had a badly damaged jaw , is he all healed up now

Yeah, Briedis broke it pretty good but that was a year ago and if it isn't healed by now, it never will be.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Let's hope we get this sorted.

[Les Norton]

Thought Opetaia had a badly damaged jaw , is he all healed up now

It was 12 months ago so he’d be hoping so

[Ruthless-RKO]

Jai has signed with Matchroom
Now.

[Redback Rasta]

Hearn keen to win the purse bid and set up a hometown defence for Opetaia on the Gold Coast card and include heavyweight prospect Justis Huni on the undercard.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Jai Opetaia's Manager Expects Fireworks at Purse Bid For Richard Riakporhe Defense

Mick Francis, manager for IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, is expecting fireworks at the official purse bid for the mandatory defense against unbeaten Richard Riakporhe.

Opetaia last fought over a year ago, when he shocked Mairis Briedis to capture the IBF title. Opetaia needed some recovery time after suffering a broken jaw during the fight.

He was then ordered to make a mandatory defense against Mateusz Masternak, but the Polish boxer withdrew from the contest. Once Masternak withdrew, Riakporhe was ordered in as the new mandatory.

"No one wants to fight Jai and that's the problem - they know they're going to get beat," Francis told AAP.

"It doesn't matter if they fight on the Gold Coast, the UK or on the moon. He's the baddest cruiserweight we've seen and we've never had anyone genuinely call out Jai, ever."

Opetaia recently signed a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing.

Hearn, who has an exclusive content deal with steaming service DAZN, wants to stage Opetaia's next fight Australia, with heavyweight prospect Justis Huni being featured on the undercard.

On the other hand, Riakporhe is promoted by Ben Shalom of Boxxer, who have a content deal with Sky Sports. Shalom will certainly want to stage the fight in the UK.

"You've got two of the biggest boxing powerhouses in the UK going at it now, plenty of pride on the line there to get this fight," Francis said.

"Eddie has made it clear he wants to do it in Australia and put Justis on the undercard. He's got (Toowoomba product) Stevie Spark at Matchroom too, Conor Wallace .... we could put on a massive, high-quality card and I know Gold Coast wants to be the boxing capital of Australia."

The two sides have until August 8 to reach an agreement, or a purse bid will be held.