Richard Riakporhe has vacated his position as mandatory challenger to Jai Opetaia's IBF title.

[mcinkara]

Purse bids for the world title fight were due to take place on Tuesday.

Riakporhe, 33, said he had previously accepted two fight offers to contest the belt.

"I missed out on other opportunities, which has left me inactive. It is clear other parties were simply trying to disrupt my journey, which I won't let happen," Riakporhe said.

"I have chosen to go a different route and will be sharing news of another world title opportunity very soon."

Londoner Riakporhe last fought in January when he stopped Krzysztof Glowacki in four rounds in Manchester and was made mandatory challenger to Opetaia's belt in July.
(BBC Sports, 08. Aug 23)



Hello friends,

does anyone know more about this? Is a fight against Billian-Smith the easier way or did it really have other reasons?
Riakporhe is a great boxer. It's a pity that so many aspects play a more important role than the sporting one..

The IBF had already put pressure on Jai to defend the title within the 9 months because of the guidelines. I'm curious to see what happens. Bridies and Cinkara are the next two boxers, it will be interesting.

[Redback Rasta]

Billian-Smith much more beatable than Opetaia.

[mcinkara]

Billian-Smith much more beatable than Opetaia.

Make sense, think so too. Then will Briedis probably be mandatory challenger and there will be an eliminator fight between Cinkara vs Dorticos or Jordan Thompson.

But Dorticos is ranked #1 by the WBA though. I think he will concentrate more on this way, so I think Jordan makes more sense.

[Redback Rasta]

This thing seems to have blown up in Boxxer's face.

They tried to play clever, having their man Mateusz Masternak not proceed as the mandatory against Opetaia, allowing another of theirs, Richard Riakporhe, to move into the mandatory position.

Opetaia countered by disputing Riakporhe status as the new mandatory and attempted to have a voluntary defence approved instead of a mandatory. Boxxer then pushed back and successfully had Riakporhe’s mandatory position upheld.

Then, on the eve of the purse bid, fearing they were not going to win it, Boxxer and Riakporhe have sh!t the bed and done a runner.

[gregregegg]

What’s up with boxxer duckingvpurse bids befor they happen. Turn up, act enthusiastic, don’t bid, then decide if you want to move towards based on the offer….

Bad look to be 33 and avoiding the top cruiser for a world title.

[mcinkara]

This thing seems to have blown up in Boxxer's face.

They tried to play clever, having their man Mateusz Masternak not proceed as the mandatory against Opetaia, allowing another of theirs, Richard Riakporhe, to move into the mandatory position.

Opetaia countered by disputing Riakporhe status as the new mandatory and attempted to have a voluntary defence approved instead of a mandatory. Boxxer then pushed back and successfully had Riakporhe’s mandatory position upheld.

Then, on the eve of the purse bid, fearing they were not going to win it, Boxxer and Riakporhe have sh!t the bed and done a runner.

That's how I understood it too. Would have been a great fight and made the cruiserweight more interesting. Would be a dream, if simply the best boxers would fight against each other. LIke in amateur boxing!

[pilight]

IBF needs to make Opataia fight somebody or go ahead and give the title to somebody who will defend it.

[Redback Rasta]

IBF needs to make Opataia fight somebody or go ahead and give the title to somebody who will defend it.

Opataia's mandatories, first Mateusz Masternak then Richard Riakporhe both sh!t themselves and ran, and it's Opetaia's fault? Yeah, right :doh:

[Redback Rasta]

“It’s clear Opetaia is the most avoided Cruiserweight in the world. Twice we’ve had mandatory challengers pull out on us at the last minute. Once with Mateusz Masternak and now with Richard Riakporhe" - Mick Francis, manager of Jai Opetaia.

"When Masternak pulled out, we petitioned the IBF to have a voluntary defense. Boxxer stood in our way and enforced Riakporhe’s rights as mandatory challenger. For Riakporhe to then pull out at the last minute is an extremely poor reflection on Boxxer."

[mcinkara]

“It’s clear Opetaia is the most avoided Cruiserweight in the world. Twice we’ve had mandatory challengers pull out on us at the last minute. Once with Mateusz Masternak and now with Richard Riakporhe" - Mick Francis, manager of Jai Opetaia.

"When Masternak pulled out, we petitioned the IBF to have a voluntary defense. Boxxer stood in our way and enforced Riakporhe’s rights as mandatory challenger. For Riakporhe to then pull out at the last minute is an extremely poor reflection on Boxxer."

I know from private sources that Opataia's team asked for a voluntary defence again after the fight against Riakporhe. That makes sense, because he had to defend his title until the next 9 months after his victory. Now we're coming up on 14 months. That would be bitter if Briedis accepts and later can't fight because of injury or other reasons. IBF already threatened to revoke the title in March.

[pilight]

IBF needs to make Opataia fight somebody or go ahead and give the title to somebody who will defend it.

Opataia's mandatories, first Mateusz Masternak then Richard Riakporhe both sh!t themselves and ran, and it's Opetaia's fault? Yeah, right

When multiple people are reporting a guy difficult to make a match with and he's been off for over a year, it's time to consider that maybe he's the problem.

[Redback Rasta]

His team have gone through the mandatory process, as ordered by the IBF, twice and two clowns from Boxxer have wasted everybody's time pretending they were interested, only to run when it looked likely they would need to get in the ring and fight. It's that simple.

Briedis has proved himself a fighting man, unlike those two Boxxer twerps and hopefully the rematch will deliver another war.