Over the past few years, Jai Opetaia has proven to be one of the best fighters in the world and the de facto king of the cruiserweight division. Since Oleksandr Usyk’s departure, the fight for the scattered world titles left behind has continued. Although Opetaia only won the IBF title twice during this time, defeating another of the top cruiserweights of the time, Mairis Briedis, his devastating power and precise skills placed him at the top of his division.

After successfully defending his IBF title against Jack Massey on October 12, the question remains: what’s next for this emerging phenomenon and what paths lie ahead for him to explore?

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Union

Opetai’s clearest option, and the one he has identified as his current priority, is to clear the cruiserweight division and become undisputed champion.

Opetaia would need to fight at least three more fights at his current weight to solidify his position as the best cruiserweight in the world. Since defeating Massey, the IBF has insisted that Opetaia defend against his mandatory challenger, Huseyin Cinkara, or he will be stripped of his title again for the same punishment for choosing to fight Ellis Zorro in Saudi Arabia last year.

So he will have to be patient to unify the division as he fights the IBF.

“I am simply seeking to unify the lanes,” Opetaia explained. “That’s why I really chase the fights for progress.”

November 16th, Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Chris Billam-Smith will fight for the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles in a unification fight. This fight seems like the perfect next step for the Australian as he will be able to defend his mandatory and then face the winner of Ramirez vs. Billam-Smith and become the unified champion, leaving only one belt up for grabs.

In an ideal world, Opetaia could become the undisputed cruiserweight champion by the end of next year if promoters can get their schedules together and fighters stay vigorous. The final obstacle in this path will be WBC champion Norair Mikaelian, who has been inactive for over a year after winning the green and gold belt.

It’s challenging to find any reason to believe that Opetaia isn’t comfortably beating other champions in the division at a time when the talent pool at cruiserweight is a bit smaller. I expected Opetaia to take her first steps towards greatness.

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Heavyweight

Let’s look to the future, perhaps to the Australian moving up to heavyweight. He was asked this question more and more often as he easily defeated cruiserweight opponents.

At six feet two inches, if Opetaia decided to take the risk and move up to heavyweight, he would be a tad undersized in the current heavyweight era. He also stated that he easily exceeds the cruiser weight limit, which calls into question whether he would be able to gain enough weight to compete and compensate for his missing height.

This is not about limiting a player solely based on size, as this has been proven time and time again to be a false assumption. Just look at the likes of David Haye and Oleksandr Usyk in the current era of heavyweights. Both fighters are only an inch taller than Opetai, and both won heavyweight gold after moving up from Cruiserweight.

Opetaia had previously appeared in the ring with heavyweight fighters, he was best known for being called up to Tyson Fury’s training camp after the fight with Oleksandr Usyk.

Rumors swirled when Opetaia was sent home very quickly after her first sparring session. Some speculated that it was because Opetaia abandoned Fury, and others claimed that Fury wanted more orthodox sparring. However you read it, Opetaia certainly seems to have what it takes to compete with much larger opponents.

This does not appear to be a pressing matter for the 29-year-old as he is focused on the challenges facing his current division.

“I definitely see myself heading in that direction,” Opetaia revealed. “But like I said, without winning these fights, it’s just talk.”

He also said, “once I get up, I don’t want to gain the weight back.”

This probably tells us that this will be a move that he will make later in his career and that he doesn’t feel pressured to gain weight for now.

Moving up to heavyweight is a very real option for a man of Opetaia’s skill and strength and will remain an open option for him for the rest of his career, so there is no need to rush out of the cruiserweight division when there is still work to be done for Do.

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Artur Beterbiew

An fascinating proposition to fight the IBF cruiserweight champion could be the newly crowned undisputed featherlight heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev. While this fight requires a bit more imagination than the other options presented, Beterbiev has expressed interest in moving up to cruiserweight.

Speaking ahead of his unification fight with Dmitry Bivol, he said: “We’ll see later. Challenges can fall into different categories. Enter [in weight]. I don’t focus on those things.”

The biggest fight on offer for him would be against Opetaia, and the Australian has also expressed interest in that fight.

In a conversation with Beterbiev he said: “Yes, for sure. He is a great champion and I am always ready to test myself to be great.”

Even though it seemed a bit out of the question, this fight would be an electrifying prospect and would be great for both fighters’ careers. Unfortunately, Beterbiev’s advanced age as a boxer must come into the discussion as he will have to fight Dmitry Bivol again, and Opetaia will be looking to reunite before looking at prize fights, so it’s doubtful the timing will ever be right for both sides .

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Aleksander Usyk

The fight that certainly makes sense and now seems more real than ever is that Opetaia will fight current unified heavyweight champion and former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and attempt to go down in the history books among the best fighters at the weight cruiser of all time.

A fight between these two would be monumental for boxing, and even more so for the cruiserweight division, which may have never seen a fight on this potential scale.

Opetaia has been an admirer of Usyk throughout his career and feels like he has been waiting in the wings for this opportunity to prove himself.

“I would love to fight Usyk one day,” Opetaia told Sky Sports ahead of his fight with Jack Massey. “This is a fight I will definitely strive for. I have been close to Usyk for a long time. We were both at the same Olympics.

“I was always close. I was always in the shadow. I feel like my chance to play against him is getting closer.

Many expected that now, at the age of 37, the Ukrainian would retire from the heavyweight division, but Usyk made a surprising announcement earlier this year, shortly after his first fight against Tyson Fury.

“I think maybe after the rematch I will go down to cruiserweight, I want more [fights at] cruiser,” Usyk told the “3 Knockdown Rule” podcast in June.

“Maybe I’ll be undisputed in the cruiserweight division for a second time, that’s my plan. When I start preparing for the training camp [as a heavyweight]I have to eat constantly. It’s challenging for me, I don’t like it.”

If Usyk does indeed make this remarkable weight loss, one would expect that the ideal opponent for him to see if he can once again become the undisputed cruiserweight champion would be Jai Opetaia.

Perhaps Opetaia will be the undisputed champion before the fight is even possible. Regardless of how this plays out, there is no denying that this would be a huge opportunity for Opetai and a fight that would be challenging to write him out of.

BN: Could you start by telling us what your role is?

“In my day job I am an NHS consultant – an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and a head and neck surgeon. So, my day-to-day work focuses on facial trauma, cushioned/tough tissue reconstruction of the face and neck, and also covers patients with oral cancer, skin cancer, and other significant diseases.

“My second job is working for the British Boxing Board of Control. I have been a Doctor since 2012, I have been a Headquarters Medical Advisor since 2017, and I have been a Chief Medical Officer since last year.”

Could you explain the dangers of boxing, especially when it comes to head trauma?

“I guess I look at it two ways. In particular, there is a risk of injury, which is why we classify it as a traumatic brain injury. In its mildest form, it is a concussion, which many people may have experienced, even in their sports career as a teenager or as an adult, playing rugby, football, amateur boxing, etc. Then we move on, unfortunately, to the more solemn brain injury. Injuries – very solemn and often unhappy cases. This is what we call “brain bleeds”. This is an immediate risk.

“A long-term risk that we are now increasingly aware of, not only in boxing but also widely publicized in rugby, football (header) and the NFL, is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This is different than traumatic brain injury. I placed them in two separate columns.

“Traumatic brain injury is caused by – whereas chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a neurodegenerative disease that occurs later. The same thing with symptoms where people used the phrase – and it’s not a nice phrase – but it was used a lot: “Punch Drunk.” This is a really complex condition to live with because it is the result of brain injuries.

“We don’t know how many brain injuries each person has, how many blows and blows to the head it takes to get to this point. It is different for each person and the only way to truly diagnose this disease at this time is through an autopsy. So it’s basically about examining your brain after you die. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is still an open book. We are acutely aware of this at the British Boxing Board of Control.

“I think we’re ahead of the curve in what we do. We scan and perform magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. We conduct neuropsychological tests every year. A combination of MRI and neuropsychological assessment can give us a clue about changes. Changes occurring structurally in the brain, but also in the functioning of the brain. This means we can start advising people.

“I have friends who say, ‘Well, you know boxing is about hurting another person and causing injury. Well, I think boxing has a lot of advantages. What it offers to newborn children, communities, discipline. The adults you know may have had a completely different life path. There are plenty of notable boxers who will tell you, “If I didn’t do it, I’d go crazy, I’d probably be in jail…” – so why not make yourself as safe and sound as possible? You don’t want it to go underground and go unregulated, so you need to do everything you can to educate people about the dangers.

“Then it has to be a personal choice to some extent. But at least if [the fighter] make an informed decision using all the information available, you [the doctor] you have fulfilled your duty of care as far as possible in this situation.

Mike Tyson returns to the ring next weekend at 58-years to face Jake Paul (27) over eight two-minute rounds in Arlington, Texas. A fight that raised eyebrows for many reasons. As medical director of the British Boxing Chamber CcontrolWhat do you think from a medical point of view about the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight?

“My medical thoughts fall into two areas. I think Mike Tyson, we all know, is his first career as an elite athlete: world-class, trained, conditioned. So there is no doubt that he has an elite entry-level level of skill and in-ring ability. He will train for it. It will undoubtedly be conditioned. But to be candid, that’s probably where it ends – because there are many other issues that concern me medically.

“His age is the first point. He is 58 years vintage, so he is approaching sixty. We know that after the age of 40, you get a degree, patchy, throughout the brain, but there is some degree of brain atrophy, or “shrinkage.” Basically, in your head, in your skull, there is more room for your brain to move. This means that it is more susceptible to linear, straight back and forth injuries, or to rotational shear forces. The problem is these types of forces, combined with more space in the skull for the brain to move around.

“His blood vessels are different now. They don’t have the flexibility and stamina they probably had in their twenties and thirties. They probably have to travel a slightly longer distance due to brain shrinkage. And when I talk about distance, I mean between the brain and the layers surrounding the brain. Then you have the overall effects of his lifestyle. We know he had a period where he wasn’t as lively and in good shape. He smoked. So the vessels can be damaged by cholesterol, they may not be as elastic, which can result in vessel damage and bleeding.

“His age matters. Physiologically, he will simply not be what he was in his twenties or thirties. Yes, he’s probably still in very good shape, but his cardiovascular and respiratory systems won’t respond the same [as it used to].

– Yes, two-minute rounds. OK, that’s some improvement. Yes, that’s eight rounds. So at least it’s not 12. But in the end, he’s fighting a 27-year-old gentleman who, although he has a low boxing career, but looks like he’s really committed to it. You see training videos. There is no doubt that he is [Paul] he is a conditioned person who is obviously very forceful and can pack a very, very good punch.

“Ultimately, the risk factors for Mike Tyson are much higher than for Jake Paul. People say they’re worried about Jake Paul in this contest. I must admit that from a medical point of view I disagree with this. I’m worried about Mike Tyson in this competition.

You mentioned Mike Tyson not necessarily “living the life” at certain points in his life. He was very open about his recreational drug exploit: cocaine, alcohol etc. Still uses cannabis regularly. What effect does recreational drug exploit have on the brain and the aging process?

“Yes, I mean recreational drug exploit… I have to be candid, it probably doesn’t worry me as much as smoking. Smoking actually worries me more because of its effect on the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system, the effect on blood vessels. We know that blood vessels will harden. They won’t react the same way.

“Recreational drug exploit had an impact on his daily functioning, potentially on his processing speed, and also at that age, in his 50s and 60s, there is naturally a physiological decline. So your ability to react and process things will naturally leisurely down, even if you’ve lived a lifetime. If you introduce recreational drugs, smoking, marijuana and other things, it will only have further harmful effects.

“Additionally, we know that as you approach age 60 (and beyond), your risk of traumatic brain injury increases. We know this from studies other than boxing. We know that when older adults (or people over sixty) fall, their risk of traumatic brain injury increases, as does their risk of complications following a traumatic brain injury. From a medical point of view, this is disturbing to me.”

We mentioned eight two-minute rounds. Another thing that has come to the fore is the exploit of 14oz gloves instead of 10oz gloves. Does this make the competition “safer” in your opinion?

“I think all this will support. Does that make the word “safe and sound” complex to exploit, doesn’t it? I think in boxing we try to make it as safe and sound as possible. So yes, they’re trying to mitigate some of the risk, and yes, I think that’s a good thing. This is commendable. But when you really look at the real physiological and chronological issues that we talked about, in terms of age and everything else, you can’t escape it.

As for Jake Paul, who you mentioned earlier, he is 27 years vintage and has been living the life of a professional, elite athlete for the last five or six years. Do you think people underestimate how crucial it is to be in great physical shape over the age of 50??

“Yes I know. I don’t think people appreciate that. Jake Paul, you can’t compare him to Mike Tyson in his prime, right? However, you can say that Jake Paul is 27 years vintage, has lived his whole life (as far as we know), trained and is trained. There are many benefits for him there and only in this.”

As a fan of the sport, not only from a professional standpoint, but also from a personal perspective on Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul?

“Medically, it’s not something I agree with. Personally, this is not something I agree with. This is not something I will watch. I just hope everything will go smoothly. The most crucial thing for the boxers, and hopefully for the medical team there, is that they have a restful night.

IN many ways, Chris Billam-Smith embodies the relentless work ethic and obsessive attention to detail of a professional athlete.

Reaching an elite level in his chosen sport is most often a thankless and ruthless task, reserved only for those who are willing to make extraordinary sacrifices to realize their burning desires.

And yet, clearly, the arduous process involved in becoming a world champion – fulfilling a childhood dream – is not lost on Billam-Smith, someone who is passionate about maximizing his potential.

While other fighters resent the process – the long sets, the strength and conditioning, the making of weight – the WBO cruiserweight champion from Bournemouth is the opposite.

In fact, he not only embraces the labor-intensive side of his training, but also takes pride in knowing that when all is said and done, there will be no stone left unturned, and no sleepless nights spent thinking about what could have been done differently.

And this is what primarily focuses the professional athlete’s attention; focusing on the fact that reacting to failures and therefore always finding room for improvement is often the key to success.

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Chris Billam-Smith – local hero and powerful world champion

Before his professional debut, Billam-Smith was, by his own admission, a solid if unremarkable amateur.

However, despite the lack of pedigree attached to his name, the south coast technician was able to attract the attention of esteemed trainer Shane McGuigan, who, along with his father, Irish boxing legend Barry McGuigan, decided to take a chance on the unproven youngster.

But really, from the McGuigans’ point of view, there was no risk at all. In any case, they had seen enough of Billam-Smith’s sparring sessions with former super middleweight king George Groves to know that, in time, their investment would be rewarded for his persistence.

And so, with an experienced team at his side, the Briton took nine victories on the compact indoor track before rising to the next level to face domestic rival Richard Riakporhe.

His lack of experience in the heat of battle had no bearing on his performance, however, as Billam-Smith, who ultimately lost by a hard-fought split decision, gave an account of himself in which he demonstrated his incredible stamina and unwavering determination.

And that’s what eventually made him famed: a fighter who, although not the most talented, will always put on an awe-inspiring spectacle.

Indeed, this reputation was only strengthened when Billam-Smith won his first belt, stopping the brave but circumscribed Craig Glover with a brutal fifth-round finish for the Commonwealth title.

Dominant wins over Nathan Thorley and Vasil Ducar then preceded his clash with Tommy McCarthy, the European champion and close friend of former two-division king Carl Frampton.

However, with the deep-seated feud between Frampton and the McGuigans taking center stage in the build-up, Billam-Smith was forced to deal with more pressure than he perhaps expected.

Nevertheless, the fan-friendly operator handled the situation with a high degree of professionalism, resulting in a widely controversial split decision, and less than a year later, he put on a much more decisive showing in the second meeting.

By this point Billam-Smith had quickly developed a devoted fan base and on his next appearance he was given the opportunity to stage his eagerly anticipated homecoming to Bournemouth.

Not only did the rising contender put on the first-ever televised boxing show in a seaside town, but the main event – a compelling 12-round fight against Isaac Chamberlain – left fans yearning for even more action in the evening.

Needless to say, Billam-Smith did not disappoint. After extending his undefeated record with a knockout over Armend Xhoxhaj, the local hero scored his first shot at the bull’s-eye in a world title fight against his former stablemate Lawrence Okolie.

And while he was undoubtedly preparing for the toughest test of his career, the end goal – a clash at the Vitality Stadium, home of his boyhood football club – provided, to put it mildly, enough motivation.

Meeting Okolie, a prolific knockout artist, obviously came with a lot of pressure. But pressure, as The Gentleman often points out, can be a privilege.

And so, after knocking down his opponent three times, the significant underdog secured a monumental majority victory – albeit in a somewhat gritty affair – and snatched the coveted WBO belt from his former sparring partner, becoming Bournemouth’s first world champion since Freddie Mills.

It is also possible that this night will never be equaled. Still, not willing to sail off into the sunset, Billam-Smith later defended his brilliance against seasoned veteran Mateusz Masternak before rematching Riakporhe at Selhurst Park, where in his second fight at a Premier League stadium he put in a much more convincing performance show. revenge on the Londoner.

Now the 34-year-old is preparing to fight WBA cruiserweight world champion Gilberto Ramirez in a mouth-watering unification fight. But regardless of the result in Saudi Arabia this Saturday, Billam-Smith’s story will always be defined by his mental determination, perseverance and, no doubt, unwavering passion to eliminate the competition through tough work.