Two proud men leaned into each other, forehead to forehead.
Two undefeated men with impeccable pedigrees in the amateur and professional ranks locked eyes as hundreds of people looked on, each fighter’s entourage behind them, king-maker Eddie Hearn smiling as he stood between them.
This was the prelude that everyone wanted on the stage at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The nice guy David Nyika (10-0), taking this fight on with just three weeks’ notice after Hüseyin Cinkara broke his ankle in training, against the “best cruiserweight in the world” Jai Opetaia (26-0).
This was no faux show of bravado from Nyika.
He stood looking down at the defending champion, looking him up and down before engaging.
He believes an upset of epic proportions is on.
David Nyika has knocked out nine of his 10 professional opponents. (AAP: Photosport/Brett Phibbs)
“It’s great. I think that you want to see that,” Eddie Hearn told ABC Sport after the weigh-in.
“I love that kind of stuff but I like it when actually someone looks real with it as well, and he [Nyika] looked real, like he’s talked to himself into it.
“Manifestation is something that you can talk yourself into, ‘This is always meant for me,’ but the reality is when you make that walk tomorrow night, you find out very quickly if it’s real or not.
“He’s a very good fighter with a very good pedigree. It’s not like he’s just a guy who’s turned pro over here and had 10 fights.
“He’s a very good fighter, but he’s fighting the best cruiserweight in the world.”
Opetaia stands 10 centimetres shorter than Nykia’s 198cm, with a reach that also gives up a few centimetres.
But there are few fighters as good in the world as Opetaia.
Those trifling physical attributes won’t worry him.
In a time when Australian boxing is on the up and up, Opetaia arguably stands alone at the top.
Widely acknowledged to be the best cruiserweight in the world, Opetaia looked dispassionately at Nyika, coldly sneering at his fellow 29-year-old.
Jai Opetaia is the IBF and The Ring world cruiserweight champion. (Getty Images: Richard Pelham)
Opetaia has dismissed all his challengers until now, and told spectators on the Gold Coast to “get your popcorn” ahead of the bout, but he will be wise to be wary of Nyika.
His two Commonwealth Games gold medals, his 2021 Olympic bronze and the fact that he has stopped nine of his 10 opponents to date prove that he is no joke.
But promoter Hearn is already looking forward to what Opetaia can do next, should he claim victory.
“[He’s] got to fight Zurdo, pick up all the belts, then take on Usyk,” Hearn said, referring to WBO and WBA unified champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez and former undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“He’s probably the only guy who I think can truly compete with Usyk.
“But he’s got to prove his credentials against the entire division.
“I think if you look at what Usyk did, he was obviously undisputed at cruiserweight, then went on and became undisputed heavyweight. If Jai can become undisputed cruiserweight and steps up, that’s a thrilling fight.”
In the current era of boxing, it’s a fight that can be made too, as long as Saudi billionaire and boxing’s benefactor Turki Alalshikh wants it to happen.
Eddie Hearn says Turki Alalashikh (right) has been great for boxing. (Getty Images: Mark Robinson)
“He’s just a massive boxing fan,” Hearn said of Alalshikh.
“He’s not a casual, so he’s not just interested in the heavyweights and stuff like that. He knows about great fighters.
“I think it’s refreshing to work with someone that obviously wants to put a lot of money in but at the same time loves the sport and knows boxing.”
This fight, on the DAZN network, which has just completed a takeover of Fox Sports, will be the first of what Hearn hopes will be four fight cards that his Matchroom Sport company will promote, with details on newly signed George Kambosos’s show in March soon to be released.
“I think there’s a lot of upside here,” Hearn said.
“I really do, and the numbers are good at the moment and hopefully the numbers are good tomorrow night and we continue to invest.”
What time is the fight?
The action gets underway from 6pm AEDT on Wednesday, January 8, 2025.
There are a whopping 10 fights on the card, so it will be a while before the main event gets underway, but it is not expected to be any earlier than 9pm AEDT.
How can I watch?
The fight is available worldwide on DAZN Boxing.
In Australia and New Zealand, the fight is a $39.99 pay-per-view offering.
You can also follow all the action on the ABC Sport website in our live blog.
Who is on the undercard?
Teremoana Teremoana only lost to giant Uzbek Bakhodir Jalolov in Paris. (Getty Images: Richard Pelham)
The card is absolutely packed and features heavyweight prospect Justis Huni, rising super middleweight Max McIntyre and giant heavyweight from the Paris Olympics Teremoana Teremoana.
Here’s the full card.
Jai Opetaia (26-0) vs David Nyika (10-0) — IBF and The Ring cruiserweight titles
Justis Huni (11-0) vs Shaun Potgieter (10-1) — IBF Pan-Pacific, WBO Global heavyweight title
Max McIntyre (6-0) vs Abdulselam Saman (8-1) — IBF youth super middleweight title
Ben Mahoney (14-0-1) vs Fan Zhang (8-2-1) — IBF Pan-Pacific super welterweight title
Teremoana Teremoana (5-0) vs Osasu Otobo (11-1-1) — heavyweight
Taylah Gentzen (6-0) vs Shauna Browne (4-0) — super lightweight
Tony Ingram (6-0) vs Runqi Zhou (8-2-1) — featherweight
Billy McAllister (2-0) vs Jordan Towns (2-2) — light heavyweight
Albert Tu’ua (1-1) vs Kodi Shallali (1-1) — middleweight
Jai Williams vs Jag Guthmann-Chester — 60kg catchweight
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