{"id":322548,"date":"2023-08-10T00:51:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T00:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=322548"},"modified":"2023-08-10T02:00:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T02:00:11","slug":"aussie-world-champion-fumes-as-rival-withdraws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=322548","title":{"rendered":"Aussie world champion fumes as rival withdraws"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jai Opetaia<\/a> now looks set for a rematch against Mairis Briedis in his first title defence after the IBF ordered the Aussie to face the man he beat to claim the belt last year.<\/p>\n

The Queenslander has endured a slippery slope since defeating\ufeff Breidis<\/a>, from injury, to brushes with the law and a switch in promoters.<\/p>\n

And in recent months the cruiserweight champion has failed to secure an opponent after signing a co-promotional agreement with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom.<\/p>\n

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The IBF and The Ring champion (22-0) was left frustrated on Wednesday after unbeaten British fighter and mandatory challenger, Richard Riakporhe (16-0), withdrew hours before the purse bid deadline.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

It was the second time in as many months an opponent withdrew at the 11th hour\ufeff, after Pole Mateusz Masternak also pulled out in June.<\/p>\n

"Richard Riakporhe had the opportunity to fight the IBF and Ring Magazine champion for a load of money via purse bid and someone has talked him out of going through with the purse bid in a few hours," Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn told iFL TV.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/jaiopetaia1\/status\/1689041341383159808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>\"Jai<\/p>\n

"The fact is, the team didn't have the money to make the bid and you're afraid to lose the purse bid again.<\/p>\n

"The purse bids were this afternoon. Were you not prepared to wait two hours to find out how much Matchroom were willing to pay you?<\/p>\n

"It's unbelievable. It makes me sick that fighters are losing out on these kinds of opportunities."<\/p>\n

\"Jai<\/p>\n

Riakporhe released a statement, pointing the finger at Opetaia's management for the deal falling through, saying he signed on to fight twice in two different locations before the champ's management pulled both offers.<\/p>\n

For Opetaia, it means yet another frustrating delay in his bid to get back in the ring.<\/p>\n

"Normally fighters dream of fighting for the world title, so to be given an opportunity and pull out makes no sense to me," Opetaia said.<\/p>\n

Now the IBF has called for Opetaia to face Breidis again, with both men remaining inactive since their bout in 2022.<\/p>\n

Their last fight was brutal, with the Aussie walking away with a broken jaw and Breidis a broken nose.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Both parties have until September 8 to cut a deal or the bout will go to a purse bid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jai Opetaia now looks set for a rematch against Mairis Briedis in his first title defence after the IBF ordered the Aussie to face the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":322550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322548"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322554,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322548\/revisions\/322554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/322550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=322548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=322548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}