Jai Opetaia is considered one of the greatest rising forces in world boxing, but the Aussie doesn’t want to just inherit Oleksandr Usyk‘s legacy in the ring, he wants to take it from him in the ring.

Opetaia is possibly the best cruiserweight in the world today while Usyk is a multiple world champion across both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.

The Australian will rematch Mairis Briedis in an IBF world title fight on the undercard of the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk heavyweight championship clash on Sunday [AEST].

With recent defeats of Tim Tszyu and Jason Moloney, no Australian male currently holds a world championship belt from boxing’s four major sanctioning bodies.

Opetaia hopes to change that and aims to unify the cruiserweight titles.

But his burning desire remains to fight Usyk, who was the undisputed champion of the division.

Aussie Jai Opetaia is regarded as one of the best cruiserweight fighters in the world today
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Aussie Jai Opetaia is regarded as one of the best cruiserweight fighters in the world today

Opetaia will fight on the undercard of the clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk
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Opetaia will fight on the undercard of the clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk

Opetaia, left, will rematch  Mairis Briedis in an IBF world title fight after the Aussie won their previous fight two years ago with a broken jaw
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Opetaia, left, will rematch  Mairis Briedis in an IBF world title fight after the Aussie won their previous fight two years ago with a broken jaw

‘I would love to fight Usyk,’ Opetaia told Sky Sports.

‘I’ve watched Usyk for a long time. I was 17 at the Olympics in London in 2012 when he won.

‘I’ve always been close, and now I’m rolling into my prime.’

‘I’m not a little kid anymore. Now they know. I’m on their radar. It’s a good feeling. He’s always been the top seed, so to fight him – I would love that.’

The rematch with Briedis is expected to be tough. The first fight was brutal; Opetaia defeated Briedis despite breaking his jaw.

‘I’m expecting a hard fight, 12 rounds of war,’ he said. ‘If I have to break my jaw again, so be it. This is what it takes.’

His grit and skill led Tyson Fury to bring Opetaia in as a sparring partner to prepare for Usyk.

‘It was good adapting to a new style,’ Opetaia said of his experience with Fury.

‘I learned a lot. I wanted to earn his respect and prove myself.’

Fury recently invited Opetaia to spar with him in a training session as both fighters prepared for their respective bouts
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Fury recently invited Opetaia to spar with him in a training session as both fighters prepared for their respective bouts

Opetaia said the experience sparring with Fury was 'insane' and said the fighters developed a mutual respect for each other
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Opetaia said the experience sparring with Fury was ‘insane’ and said the fighters developed a mutual respect for each other

Rumours surfaced from that training session that Opetaia had dropped Fury when they sparred and was forced out of the WBC heavyweight champion’s camp immediately, rumours the Aussie has shot down on multiple occasions.

Instead, he said the session allowed both fighters to earn respect from each other and to show that the Aussie belongs at this level.

‘A kid like me coming from the Central Coast in Australia, then to be sharing the ring with a fighter like Tyson Fury, it’s insane,’ Opetaia told Boxing Social.

‘The negative stuff to come out of it was a shame because it was the best cruiserweight helping the best heavyweight in our fights.

‘There was so much positivity that could have come out of it, but they’ve always go to do that clickbait type of stuff.

‘But for my team, for our experience, it was amazing. It was an awesome experience, I’m grateful for the experience.

‘My team mingling with their team, being around other world champion fighters and knowing that we deserve to be there as well.

‘Everywhere we go I always say it, we go to earn respect, not disrespect. I felt like I did earn their respect.’

To fight Usyk, Opetaia will likely have to go up two weight divisions, starting with a move to bridgeweight which sits between the WBC’s cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.

‘Even at bridgeweight, I feel like I have ticked the boxes at cruiserweight, I feel like that bridgeweight will be a more certified weight,’ he said.

‘Being a three division world champion, you know what I mean? It sounds good to me and it is definitely possible.

‘I feel like with my ability I am definitely capable of doing these things.’

Opetaia will have to move up at least one weight division to take on Usyk in the future
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Opetaia will have to move up at least one weight division to take on Usyk in the future

Usyk was an undisputed champion at cruiserweight and multiple world champion at heavyweight as well
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Usyk was an undisputed champion at cruiserweight and multiple world champion at heavyweight as well

Meanwhile, Opetaia’s opponent, Mairis Briedis, hasn’t fought since losing to Opetaia nearly two years ago.

‘Of course I want to win,’ Briedis said.

‘As Mike Tyson once said: ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ So let’s try not to miss that punch and stick to our plans.’

The main card begins at 2am AEST, with Opetaia’s fight expected around 7am. The event will be streamed live on DAZN.

Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk card


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Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk for the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles

Jai Opetaia vs. Mairis Briedis for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title

Joe Cordina (c) vs. Anthony Cacace for the IBF super featherweight title

Frank Sanchez vs. Agit Kabayel; Heavyweight

Moses Itauma vs. Ilija Mezencev; Heavyweight

Mark Chamberlain vs. Joshua Wahab; Lightweight

Sergey Kovalev vs. Robin Sirawn Safar; Light heavyweight

Daniel Lapin vs. Octavio Pudivtr; Light heavyweight

David Nyika vs. Michael Seitz; Cruiserweight

Isaac Lowe vs. Hasibullah Ahmadi; Featherweight