The cruiserweights have a visitor.
Oleksandr Usyk (25-0), the man who cleaned out the heavyweights, wants to drop back down for one final run at 200 lb. His advisor told The Ring's Mike Coppinger the big target is David Benavidez (32-0), the WBA and WBO champion. AAP reports the vacant IBF belt would come first.
Only one problem.
That IBF belt has a queue — and it runs through Queensland !
New Zealand's David Nyika, trained by Noel Thornberry in Gatton, is the IBF's No. 1. He was ordered to fight No. 2 Viddal Riley for the vacant title. That fight is now on hold.
Why? Jai Opetaia.
The Aussie was stripped by the IBF after his Zuffa Boxing debut, and he has taken them to court to get it back.
And here's the twist. Opetaia has wanted Usyk since the 2012 London Olympics, where both boxed and Jai was barely 17.
Fourteen years later, Usyk is finally heading to Jai's division… and the belt that could make it happen is stuck in a courtroom.
Team Nyika isn't waiting around. "I've reached out to Usyk's management, they know we're certainly interested," Thornberry told AAP. Nyika, he says, would take it "in a heartbeat".
And a little warning for the great man: "Historically, no-one goes well when they come back in weight."
Meanwhile Opetaia is eyeing a heavyweight cameo against Deontay Wilder next month, with a possible Benavidez unification next May. Benavidez first meets WBC champion Michal Cieslak on December 5.
Usyk. Opetaia. Benavidez. Nyika.
One division. Somebody is getting squeezed.
Stay tuned !
🇺🇦 USYK · 🇳🇿 NYIKA · 🇦🇺 OPETAIA · 🇲🇽🇺🇸 BENAVIDEZ
🥊 Cruiserweight | 200 lb
#Usyk #Opetaia #Nyika #Benavidez #Cruiserweight #VSPPromotions
