Stakes are high for Wednesday as Jai Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) puts his IBF and The Ring cruiserweight world titles on the line against late replacement David Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre Australia, and live on DAZN.
Here, DAZN lists the keys to victory for each fighter.
Jai Opetaia’s keys to victory
Make early deposits to the body
Jai Opetaia does an excellent job of launching his left hook to the body early. The power shots as early deposits work to slow opponents down where the Australian could then look to compound David Nyika’s problems. Plus, given Nyika’s 6-foot-6 frame and penchant for standing a bit too upright, Opetaia should feast by targeting the body.
Piece together body-head combinations
If Opetaia could make good on early body shots, look for him to start making them body-head combinations.
Watch Opetaia’s past fights, including his sixth-round TKO destruction of Jack Massey from October, and you’ll see how brilliantly and smoothly the champion pieces together body-head combinations.
He does this within the first few rounds and Nyika will immediately be in trouble.
Work in the uppercut
There’s a quiet storm of a rhythm that Opetaia operates in and what usually follows the body work and body-head combinations is the Australian launching his slicing uppercut to more devastation.
He’ll have an open lane to do so against a taller Nyika, so now it’s just about him timing the weapon to explosive results to retain his titles.
(Riyadh Season)David Nyika’s keys to victory
Assert the jab
During their FACE OFF segment for DAZN, the challenger reaffirmed his belief that he could knock Nyika out. To that, Opetaia believes that Nyika is bluffing and more prone to try to box.
If the latter is true, Nyika would be aided by asserting his jab. Doing so would let the New Zealander rack up points and possibly rounds if he could stay away from the champion’s fiery work. Plus, it would allow Nyika to use his three inches of reach as the taller fighter.
Mix in some lateral movement
As aforementioned, Nyika has a habit of standing too upright with his 6-foot-6 frame and that might not bode well against Opetaia who’s quick with his hands.
Therefore, Nyika doesn’t have to change what brought him here, but a bit of lateral movement after landing his jabs would be wise as it could keep him from being carved up by the champ's combinations.
Look for that big right hand
If Nyika is going to make good on his vow to try to knock the champion out and is actually willing to make this a gunfight, he’s going to need to take chances with his right hand.
That means the right hand must follow the jab and be uncorked with bad intentions for him to pull off what would be a shocking upset.
Watch Opetaia vs Nyika on Wednesday live on DAZN
Jai Opetaia and David Nyika's fight card and the DAZN live broadcast will begin at 8am GMT; 3am ET; 6pm AEST on Wednesday.
Opetaia and Nyika will then step into the ring at 12pm GMT; 7am ET; 10pm AEST.
In Australia and New Zealand, watch the fight on DAZN PPV as a one-off cost. For the UK, US and rest of the world, this fight is part of the regular DAZN subscription.
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