Fans Frustrated as Jai Opetaia Faces 40-Year-Old Mandatory Huseyin Cinkara on December 6 in Gold Coast Defense

IBF and Ring Journal cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (28-0, 22 KOs) will defend in opposition to his #1 IBF obligatory challenger Huseyin Cinkara (23-0, 19 KOs) on the Ring of Fireplace on December sixth on the Gold Coast in Australia.

Followers Present Frustration Once more

It’s a battle that followers are annoyed with as a result of they’re not interested by seeing Opetaia, 30, defend in opposition to the 40-year-old Cinkara, who has no notable wins on his nine-year resume to warrant him combating for a world title or being ranked #1 by the IBF.

The fundamental downside is that the cruiserweight division is likely one of the weakest within the sport. For this barren division, Speyer, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany-born Cinkara is what passes for high quality. For Jai, Cinkara is just like his final three opponents when it comes to expertise:

Claudio Squeo
David Nyika
Jack Massey

Clearing the Path or Stalling Out?

In a submit on social media right now, Opetaia was upbeat, letting followers know that he’s “clearing the trail” for him to hunt all of the world titles at cruiserweight. With solely the IBF title in his possession, he’s bought an extended strategy to go earlier than he rounds up the opposite three to perform his long-term aim of changing into undisputed.

Clearing the trail. I would like ALL the belts. 😤#ANDSTILL https://t.co/XQHBSMQUye

— Jai Opetaia (@jaiopetaia1) October 1, 2025

Followers need to see Opetaia surrender on his quest and transfer as much as heavyweight, the place he can go after profitable, difficult fights in opposition to Oleksandr Usyk, Moses Itauma, and Anthony Joshua. It’s unclear why Opetaia doesn’t need to surrender on his aim to chase greater fights whereas he’s nonetheless younger. He may sometime remorse his choice.

Jeepers Flame: Massive Fish, Tiny Pond

Lots of people consider that Jai lacks self-confidence, and that’s why he’s chosen to remain rooted to the game at cruiserweight. He’s afraid of going as much as the uncharted territory at heavyweight and presumably failing. So, he’d relatively keep at cruiserweight the place it’s secure, and be an enormous fish in a small pond filled with guppies.

Jeepers Isaac has been masking boxing since 2020, bringing readers sharp ringside insights and well timed evaluation on the game’s largest moments