Jai Opetaia has retained his IBF and Ring Magazine cruiserweight world titles after defeating Claudio Squeo on Sunday.
The Australian placed his world titles on the line in a bid to secure a unification fight and after stopping his Italian opponent in the fifth round, appearing to break his opponent’s jaw.
Opetaia, 29, now closing in on a blockbuster bout with WBO and WBA cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramirez, once again calling out the Mexican fighter following the fight.
‘Next fight is Zurdo Ramirez,’ he said.
Opetaia has previously called out the WBA and WBO title holder on several occasions but on Sunday revealed that Ramirez has agreed to a fight.
‘He’s mentioned me, he’s told me he’ll fight me next up. So let’s get it on. I’m chasing that belt.
‘I believe I’m the best boxer in the cruiserweight division and that’s all I want to prove,’ he added.
When pressed on whether Ramirez was running scared of him, Opetaia responded: ‘I’m not here to bad mouth him. I’m not here to beat him down or anything. He’s not here to defend himself. But the fight is easy to be made.’
‘We are ready. Whenever you call we are ready. Let’s do it.’
On Sunday, he showed his intent, utilising his size and patience to defeat Squeo.
He looked focused as he stalked his opponent around the ring in the opening two rounds, with Opetaia getting stuck into his 34-year-old opponent, in the second round.
The Aussie landed a brilliant uppercut on his opponent in the third before landing some brutal combinations to the Italian’s head and body.
Squeo began to tire and found himself on the canvas at the beginning of the fourth round following a blow to his lower abdomen.
And as the Gold Coast crowd bayed for the 6ft 2in Aussie southpaw to secure the win in the fifth round, Opetaia stepped into the middle of the ring and unloaded a belting right hand on the chin of Squeo, who could not recover.
The Italian hunkered down in the corner of the ring and took a moment to recover.
The referee began to count but the Italian could not muster a second comeback from the floor and the fight was waved over with Opetaia extending his unbeaten streak.
The Australian showed his class after the fight was waved, immediately sensing his opponent was in some trouble, before advancing over to Squeo, wrapping his arm around him and walking him back towards his corner.
More to follow…
