By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia could be defending the title against fellow Australian and IBF #10 ranked Jason Whateley (10-0, 9 KOs) according to promoter Dean Lonergan. Opetaia and Whateley clashed multiple times in the amateurs.
“As soon as it’s right, my preference would be that we fight in Australia against an Australian,” Lonergan told Fox Sports. “The most obvious guy would be Jason Whateley. He’s up there and qualified, he’s in the top 15 in the world, he’s had 10 pro fights and he’d be a great fight for Jai, but we’ll just wait and see. At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to what Jai wants. We’ll just talk through about what he wants and we’ll go from there.”
I thought the champ said he’d fight Brandon Glanton whos 15-0.. These guys talk a lot but then never get busy. Glanton had great ESPN win last yr over an undefeated 13-0 fighter.
also whateley is ranked #64 by boxrec. He’s beaten 10 nobodies. What chance would Whateley have against a guy he lost 3 times to in the amas (every time they fought) and a whom just beat Breidis?? It looks like an easy home town fight set for Jai. Why do these guys do this?? They’ll make us think we’re getting a real fight out of a guy 10-0. unreal
Kind of a cherry pick but i get it, Fight another top 15 Aussie makes sense for them money wise in Australia. After this i expect a setup no less.
He should be fighting Lawrence Okolie next.
Jai doesn’t have this mandatory due and he should pass on this b******* fight. You don’t go from defeating Breidis legitimately in a great event to fighting some domestic novice that nobody has ever heard of. It’s not like you’re going to get stripped if you don’t fight him. Besides, Jai isn’t a kid and has a lot of fights so it’s time for him to be involved only in big contests at 200 lbs. Either unify or give the Latvian a rematch. I’m not interested in seeing this kid fight anybody else, because he’s too good for that.
Deserves a break / seriously man he took on the no 1 guy – won almost every round – had his face shattered and people begrudge him a soft comeback to see if his head doesn’t disintegrate? Cmon man. It’s not like anyone will watch it outside of his home town.