Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Jai Opetaia’s manager has slammed the WBC’s conduct and tipped widespread legal action as his champion’s messy quest for unification hit another hurdle.
Australia’s unbeaten cruiserweight star appeared set to put his Ring Magazine title belt on the line against WBC champion Noel Mikaelian later this year.
But just hours after the German-Armenian called out Opetaia the WBC interjected, ordering him to instead fight WBO and WBA champion David Benavidez in a mandatory defence.
Opetaia was controversially stripped of his IBF title after debuting in March with rebel organisation Zuffa Boxing, the Dana White-led disruptor with its own world title belt not recognised by the traditional boxing bodies.
Manager and promoter Mick Francis on Wednesday criticised the WBC’s unusual order for a fellow champion to be installed as a mandatory challenger.
He claimed Mikaelian would rather relinquish his WBC belt and fight Opetaia for the Ring status than face Benavidez.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” the Tasman Fighters boss told AAP.
“How can a sanctioning body order a mandatory with a champion from another body? It’s never happened before.
“Any fighter in the WBC underneath Noel Mikaelian, what do they do?
“They get blindsided. There will be litigation everywhere from all those fighters beneath, and also Noel.”
Opetaia first won his belts in 2022 and has had eight fights since then without ever earning the chance to add to his collection, despite actively pursuing his fellow belt-holders.
Three-division American champion Benavidez beat Gilberto Ramirez in May to claim both belts.
Opetaia’s move to Zuffa contributed to halting the momentum behind a mega-fight with Benavidez.
But Francis said Benavidez’s father and trainer Jose was a key player in the WBC’s unusual move, indicating it was never a fight their camp were keen on.
And he has called their bluff, buoyed by Mikaelian’s apparent desire to fight Opetaia.
“We’ve been in really good conversations and he wants to fight Jai … he’d rather fight Jai, feels it’s a better opportunity to win, which I find crazy,” Francis said.
“So I can’t see that (Benavidez) fight happening any time soon. If the WBC is enforced, Noel will most likely vacate and still fight Jai for the Ring Magazine.”
There is also an urgency in the Opetaia camp to make the fight or face the prospect of losing his Ring belt, too.
He must fight a Ring top-five ranked opponent every two years and Mikaelian sits at No.4 in their ratings.
Francis said the organisation would not strip Opetaia as long as their efforts to secure an appropriate match-up remained.
It comes as Francis announced his latest Brisbane event for July 10, to be headlined by super middleweight prospect Max McIntyre (10-0).
The 20-year-old will fight Ukraine’s Bohdan Sobol (20-1-1) and enter the top-15 rankings with the IBF, WBC and WBA with victory.
“He’s made to be a main event; you either love him or hate him but he’s born to be a rock star,” Francis said.
“Max is going to be the face of boxing over the next 10 years.”
