Racing
League
Rugby
Football
Cricket
Golf
Sport Nation
Motorsport
Netball
Basketball
Combat Sports
Olympics
Other Sports
Live sport on SN this weekend‘I’m chasing greatness’: Jai Opetaia’s heavyweight plan for boxing immortality
Stephen Foote • September 11th, 2026 12:36 pm
Photo: Dave Hunt/AAP
Australian boxer Jai Opetaia admits he has the grandest of designs for his status atop the boxing world - and that includes ascending the throne in the sport's most revered weight class.
Through the past five years, Opetaia has been cruising through the cruiserweight division, setting forth on a run which has to date garnered him the IBF, The Ring, and Zuffa world titles.
Now undefeated through 30 professional bouts, Opetaia admits his sights are still laser-focused on setting his legacy in stone by joining the rarefied air which comes with being an undisputed divisional champion.
But beyond that, a move up to conquer the heavyweight and seal his place in the pantheon is "definitely" part of his plans.
"Absolutely," Opetaia told Sport Nation's Fight Club podcast. "That's in my goals."
Unfortunately for Opetaia's plight, the infamous politics of boxing have meant he's since been stripped of the IBF belt for fighting in a contest the organisation hadn't sanctioned, in large part due to his new-found partnership with UFC boss Dana White's new promotion Zuffa.
Jai Opetaia on his heavyweight ambitions | Fight Club
Despite that ongoing battle with the IBF to have their title officially reinstated and WBO and WBA world champion David Benavides' elusiveness, Opetaia remains undeterred.
His long boxing lineage on both sides of his family have cemented a deeply rooted respect for the sport, and his prioritisation of legacy over loot doesn't remotely seem like mere lip service.
Opeteia insists he's determined to follow that special path forged by the likes of "the greatest of our generation" in Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford, no matter the price tag.
"Obviously you can make a bit more coin going up to heavyweight, but man, when your career is all said and done, I want to call myself undisputed.
"I respect this sport. I'm a fourth generation boxer in my father's and a third in my mum's, so it's more than just the glamour of moving up to heavyweight and getting a big profile. I want to go down as one of the best fighters to ever come out of my country, one of those fighters that my dad used to make me watch.
"There's more to the sport than just f**king Instagram posts and followers.
"I'm chasing real greatness here for the sport."
Jai Opetaia on signing with Zuffa Boxing | Fight Club
The next stop on that journey for the surging "kid from the Central Coast" is in Las Vegas this weekend, where's preparing to square off with Armenian-German Noel Mikaelian as the co-main event on the undercard of Zuffa Boxing's Ryan Garcia vs Connor Benn blockbuster.
The event is positioned to become the most-profile yet for the rebel promotion, which has already caused an immense stir among the traditional organisations.
White has been brazen in his approach to recruitment, earning the signatures of some of the sport's brightest stars and regularly - and willingly - engaging with the likes of Matchroom counterpart Eddie Hearn.
Among those signatures, Opetaia's could prove the most valuable yet, with the Australian running roughshod over all and sundry - including New Zealand's own David Nyika, who he dropped in just the second round of their March 2025 encounter on the Gold Coast.
While Opetaia admits the legal stoushes mean "things haven't gone according to plan" within his new employers, he says he still wholeheartedly believes he made the right decision.
"Obviously it's been a bit harder and things haven't gone exactly to plan. But I'm still happy with my decision, don't get me wrong.
"I just felt like they were new to the scene. I knew they were going to make a lot of noise real quick. They had something to prove. I'm from a small town and they want to build me up and try and fight for these belts. That's perfect.
Jai Opetaia scored a knockout victory over David Nyika in their 2025 bout on the Gold Coast | Photo: Dave Hunt/AAP
"So it's obviously taken a few weird turns with politics and stuff like that but I'm still very, very confident that if I do my job and I keep winning these fights, that everything will fall into place and I will become undisputed."
Opetaia's run of terror and steep upward trajectory has seen life as he once knew it - both for him and his family - transformed, the only constant his now 31-year daily mantra of "eat, sleep, and train".
But for someone who was sparring teenagers since he was 10 years old and stepped on the Olympic stage when he was just 17, you get the sense no spotlight would be too bright - and he's embracing every moment.
"The last five years has been absolutely insane," he said with a disbelieving shake of the head.
"I've been fighting since I was eight years old. You know, I've always known that world titles were coming. But with the media and getting flown around the world and stuff like that, it's a big change in my life.
"Even just changing the people's life around me and trying to take them out of the struggle and trying to take a bit of stress off people that I love - it's the fruits of the labour. It's a young boy's dream to take care of their parents.
"But I've still got a lot of hard work ahead of me. I'm not getting ahead of myself, I'm very far from comfortable."
Listen to the full interview below:
