IBF cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia is baffled that WBO title holder Chris Billam-Smith will not take a seven-figure offer to fight him on the Artur Beterbiev–Dmitry Bivol undercard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 12.
Opetaia (25-0, 19 KOs) reclaimed his vacant title in a rematch with Mairis Briedis in May, scoring a unanimous decision victory as the chief support on Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s undisputed heavyweight title showdown.
“Turki Alalshikh has made an offer to both of us to make that fight happen,” Opetaia said exclusively to FightsATW. “I’m ready to fight. It’s good money. I’m sure it is the best money he will get anywhere else. Riyadh Season is generating the best money anywhere. Why wouldn’t you want to take it? He also gets to fight me for two belts when everyone else has one. I got the Ring Magazine and the IBF. It’s a no-brainer in my eyes, but I can’t force people to take a fight.”
Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) overturned a career lone defeat against domestic rival Richard Riakporhe just seven weeks ago in London. A collision between Opetaia and Billam-Smith is largely considered the best fight in the cruiserweight division.
“I just feel that at this stage of my career, anything other than a unification fight isn’t progressing,” Opetaia explained. “I want to unify the division. I want to be the undisputed champion. I can’t stay in the same position. I want to move forward. I’m not saying Chris Billam-Smith is an easy fight, it’s not what I’m saying, and it is not why I am calling him out. I don’t think he is a bad fighter at all. Like I said, I’m just chasing unification fights.”
Armenia’s Norair Mikaeljan is the current WBC champion, and Gilberto Ramirez became the WBA belt holder, defeating Arsen Goulamirian in March.
“If we are not unifying the division, then what are we doing?” Opetaia continued. “We want to progress, and we want to get better. I’m not doing this to disrespect anyone or chase easy fights. I’m doing what any fighter should be doing. I want that WBO ASAP. If that can’t happen, then I will go for the rest of them. Anyone that is not participating in Riyadh Season are missing out.
“The politics are a real sticky situation when you start looking into it. I let my team deal with all that and focus on what I got to do. I thought the fight with Billam-Smith was going to be a lot easier to make than I thought, to be honest with you. These are the biggest fight nights out there. Look at the one they just had in LA. This Bivol-Beterbiev card is going to be huge. I think it’s crazy you wouldn’t jump at the chance to be a part of it.”
Billam-Smith told Boxing News in response to Opetaia’s callout that “I’m going to be ready in November/December.”
“I’ve got no doubt that I’ll be able to find a fight for October because there are a lot of fighters ready to jump at the chance,” Opetaia added. “This is what we chase as fighters, fighting on these huge shows. All we do is train and wait for these opportunities. I want to collect all these belts and don’t want to move up to heavyweight until I unify the whole division.
“There was some talk of Bivol moving up. That is a fight that can easily be made down the line, but all these things are just talk until it happens. My main focus has to be collecting these belts. Who knows what the future holds? Last time when I relinquished my IBF belt, I would never have thought I would have done that. It all worked out, but the business of boxing is just so strange. I gave up my world title to fight on a bigger stage and get my name out there, and it just worked.”
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