Jai Opetaia feels that Anthony Joshua is a “soldier” and should take the rematch with IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois. Opetaia says that’s what he would do.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
If Joshua follows Opetaia’s advice, he could have his career upended with a second brutal knockout loss to Dubois. AJ was knocked clean out by the young lion. It’s risky for him to take a rematch right away rather than facing a non-puncher next.
Joshua’s situation is slightly different from that of the 29-year-old IBF cruiserweight champion Opetaia because he’s not as young and would be facing a fighter who destroyed him in five rounds last month in a one-sided fight at Wembley Stadium on September 21st.
AJ turns 35 on October 15th, and he has many rough street miles from his 11-year professional career. He’s not in his prime like Opetaia, fighting in a weak division like the cruiserweight division. The Australian fighter has a good thing competing in his division because he doesn’t have to worry the way Joshua does.
“Why wouldn’t you want to take the rematch? If I was him, I’d take the rematch. Why not?” said Jai Opetaia to Secondsout when asked if Anthony Joshua should take the rematch against IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois.
It’s hard to take Opetaia seriously when he says he’d take a rematch if he were in a similar situation as Joshua. Would he really choose to fight someone who had knocked him out the way AJ was? I don’t think he would if it had meant that his career and money opportunities would drop off.
“It’s heavyweight boxing; anything could happen. Get in there. You know AJ, he’s a soldier. He never backs down from a challenge. He’s always working really hard, ticking every box going into a fight. He’s a machine. So, why not?” said Opetaia.
Joshua has always trained hard and come into his fights in great shape. That doesn’t mean that he can take the hard headshots that the younger heavyweights like Dubois are going to be hitting him with. That’s the real problem. Joshua is like a car that is fixed up, but the engine is shot to pieces.
“It’s great for boxing. It’s opened up the heavyweight division even more,” said Opetaia on Dubois’ upset of Joshua. “There’s another big name in boxing. AJ is such a huge name without a world title. You have Daniel Dubois, who has built himself up.”
It’s not great for the heavyweight division that Dubois’ star has risen while Joshua’s has imploded. That’s not good because Dubois is never going to be the kind of star that Joshua has been. As long as Joshua can keep plugging along for another three to four years, it’s a positive that Dubois has become one of the big names.
“He’s only 27 years old; it’s crazy. You look at the mistakes he’s made. He was only young. It was all a rollercoaster to where he is now, and it’s made the world of boxing more exciting. I respect AJ, and I respect Dubois,” said Opetaia.
Jai Opetaia will defend his IBF cruiserweight title against Jack Massey on October 12th on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The event will be shown live on DAZN PPV. Opetaia has taken criticism from fand for choosing to defend against Massey rather than one of the talented contenders in the division. Massey isn’t viewed as a compelling opponent for Opetaia compared to fighters like Chris Billiam-Smith and Gilberto Ramirez. However, the cruiserweight division is weak, and there’s not much talent available. Hence, Opetaia is a champion rather than a contender.
