Jai Opetaia put himself in line for the winner of Gilberto Ramirez and David Benavidez on Friday, calling for a title shot after the two Mexican fighters meet for the WBA and WBO cruiserweight belts on May 2. Opetaia, who is 25-0, said he wanted the winner and pushed the pressure back on both men with a direct challenge.
“Hey, you talk about fighting the best, this and that. Don’t talk about it. I’m right here. The winner out of Zurdo vs. Benavidez, let’s go,” Opetaia said. Ramirez, 47-1, and Benavidez, 29-0, are due to meet in a bout that could reshape the division, even as Opetaia makes his case from outside the belt picture.
The bid comes after the IBF stripped Opetaia of the cruiserweight title following his move to Zuffa Boxing, and after he took a non-title sanctioned fight. That leaves him chasing the winner without a belt to carry into the negotiation, a reality Jose Benavidez Sr. said has changed the timeline from their side.
“That ship has kinda sailed now that Opetaia doesn’t have the [IBF belt] because what are we gonna fight for, the Zuffa belt? I think the thing that happened with Opetaia, it pushed that fight back longer than it has to be. We were probably thinking [it would happen] in a year,” Benavidez Sr. said. He added that they now may be looking at “two, three years,” and said they would have to see what happens with Zuffa Boxing before the matchup becomes possible.
The delay is sharpened by the paths already being discussed around both men. Benavidez has said he could move back down to 175 pounds to target Dmitry Bivol or go up to heavyweight. Ramirez has said he could end his boxing career within the next two fights. For Opetaia, that makes the callout both urgent and uncertain: he wants the winner now, but the fighters holding the titles may already be looking elsewhere.