Крузервейт жингийн аварга Жай Опетая есдүгээр раундад өрсөлдөгчөө зогсоосноор аваргын бүсээ амжилттай хамгаалж, ирэх онд Дэвид Бенавидезтэй тулалдах боломжоо нээлээ.
Өнгөрсөн бямба гарагт болсон тулаанд Опетая эхнээсээ тооцоотой довтолж, өрсөлдөгчөө аажмаар шахах тактикийг баримталсан юм. Тулааны явцад тэргүүнүүд мөргөлдсөний улмаас аварга хүнд гэмтэл авч, цус алдсан ч өөрийн хүчирхэг зүүн гараар өрсөлдөгчдөө ноцтой хохирол учруулсаар байлаа. Микаэлян хамгаалалтад анхаарч, дөрөвдүгээр раундад хүнд цохилтод орсон ч эргэн сэргэж, долдугаар раундад аваргыг хүнд байдалд оруулж чадсан юм.
Шийдвэрлэх есдүгээр раундад Опетая ойрын зайнаас хүчтэй цохилтуудыг дараалан гүйцэтгэж, өрсөлдөгчөө зогсоосон. Шүүгч тулааныг зогсоосноор Опетая аваргын бүсээ хамгаалсан бол тулааны дараа Дэвид Бенавидез рингэнд гарч ирснээр хоёр тамирчин ирээдүйд учраа таарахаар тохиролцлоо.
Опетая спортын төлөө их зүйл хийсэн Бенавидезийг хүндэтгэж байгаагаа илэрхийлэн тулааныг албан ёсоор хүлээн зөвшөөрөв. Бенавидез ч мөн өөрийгөө энэ жингийн жинхэнэ “мангас” хэмээн тодотгож, аваргын бүсийн төлөөх тулаанд бэлэн байгаагаа мэдэгдлээ. Одоогоор Zuffa Boxing энэхүү томоохон тулааныг зохион байгуулах гэрээг эцэслэн шийдвэрлэхээр ажиллаж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Jai Opetaia defended his titles with a nasty ninth round standing knockout over Noel Mikaelyan but the bigger moment may have come just a few minutes later when he stared down David Benavidez in hopes of setting up a showdown between them next year.
As the top cruiserweight in the sport, it was no surprise tha Opetaia got the job done on Saturday as he chipped away at Mikaelyan until he finally got the finish. But then Opetaia invited Benavidez into the ring and the two fighters showed nothing but respect and agreed it’s time for them to meet in the ring for real.
“He’s done a lot for the sport,” Opetaia said about Benavidez. “What better fight to make. Let’s get it on.”
For his part, Benavidez was quick to accept that challenge with hopes that he can add yet another title to his resume in the near future.
“There can only be one monster in this division,” Benavidez said. “I’m the person they call when you’ve got to kill the boogeyman.”
Prior to the Benavidez callout, Opetaia first had to defend his title and he showed aggression early on but there were two clash of heads that left the champion with swelling and blood coming from the cuts. Still, Opetaia was undeterred as he looked to set up his left hand, which accounts for many knockouts on his resume.
Mikaelyan wasn’t putting together much offense but he was doing a good job defensively and circling away from Opetaia’s power hand to avoid any serious damage. Mikaelyan did manage to clip Opetaia with a stiff short right hand on the inside in the third round but the champion was quick to react and fire back with one of his own.
In the fourth round, Opetaia clipped Mikaelyan with a hard left hook on the inside followed by a stiff uppercut that had the Armenian cruiserweight on wobbly legs for a moment. Opetaia attempted to follow up but Mikaelyan recovered quickly to reset in the center of the ring.
The offensive output from Opetaia was methodical but not overwhelming but Mikaelyan wasn’t giving him much to work with during the exchanges.
In the seventh round, Mikaelyan blasted Opetaia with a stiff left hand that had the champion badly wobbled as the fighters were jockeying for position in the ropes. The referee eventually separated them and Opetaia was immediately on the attack, although this time Mikaelyan looked like he was trying to set up another shot to hurt the champion.
Opetaia continued chipping away until the ninth round when he clipped Mikaelyan with a short-inside punch that rattled the challenger. As soon as he saw Mikaelyan was hurt, Opetaia just unloaded on him with a series of shots in succession including a brutal left hand that basically put Mikaelyan out on his feet.
The referee swooped in to stop the fight with Mikaelyan unable to continue as Opetaia celebrated his latest title defense.
Now Zuffa Boxing is set up for potentially one of the biggest fights in the sport if a deal can get done to book Opetaia vs. Benavidez in the near future.
