Jai Opetaia is ready to take on Dmitry Bivol, though he concedes the clash might have to go ahead at a catchweight.
The 25-year-old Australian operates at or just below the 200lb threshold in his own cruiserweight division, while WBA champion Bivol is held back by the 175lb light heavyweight limit.
Both boast unbeaten records, and Bivol must first negotiate his undisputed clash with Artur Beterbiev on October 12.
However, speaking to BoxingScene , Opetaia said he had been offered the chance to take on the WBA champion.
“That’s a fight that can be made as well,” he said. “Even if we were to do it at a catchweight or something like that. These types of fights are definitely fights I would take with open arms. I would never say no to that sort of stuff, but that’s all talk as well, until it actually happens.
“But my goals now – I want to fight for the other belts, unification fights, but until the Bivol fight happens or anything else crosses my path, I’m locked in on the other belts.
“I think that’s an awesome fight [Beterbiev-Bivol]. I’m really excited to watch that. I’m a massive fan of Bivol. I never even thought about fighting him until I went there [to Saudi Arabia] and the Sheikh was like, ‘You fight him?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever, bro’.
“We went over to that Day of Reckoning and that was my first time on the big scene, rubbing shoulders with great fighters, and the Sheikh was just getting individual photos of all the fighters, AJ’s there; [Joseph] Parker; Deontay Wilder; massive names, and then he calls Bivol over to take a photo and then, while they’re talking, he says, ‘You can fight him’.
“And I was like, ‘Whatever bro’.
“Out of respect, I shook his [Bivol’s] hand and said, ‘I respect you as a fighter’. I do. I feel he’s a great fighter and it’s a fight I would love to be a part of. It’s one of those boxing matches that I feel people would watch over and over again. It becomes that chess match. It would be good.”
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