Ryan Rozicki, through his promotional company Three Lions Promotions, is calling on Dana White to throw Jai Opetaia in the ring with Canada’s brutal fight-finisher.
The clear No.1 in the 200-pound division, Opetaia became Zuffa Boxing’s tentpole signing and makes his debut for the upstart, Las Vegas-based organization on Mar. 8 when he takes on Brandon Glanton at the UFC’s studio Meta APEX.
Opetaia, the IBF and Ring Magazine champion, contends with Glanton for the inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight belt just one day after Rozicki returns to the boxing ring for the first time in 15 months, against Gerardo Mellado in a 10-round main event in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
And Three Lions exec Daniel Otter, together with Rozicki himself, want dibs on Opetaia should they both prevail in their respective fights next month.
“Jai and his team know who I am,” said Rozicki in a statement sent to Boxing Social. “I have been knocking on that door for years.”
“They obviously don’t want the fight; it is what it is.”
He continued: “Right now, I’m focused on my Mar. 7 bout. Then, I’m coming to take what’s mine! I’m going to be the cruiserweight champion of the world.”
Otter added: “We tried numerous times to get that fight with Jai. I’m sure Dana White will like [Opetaia vs. Rozicki]. He makes his guys take on the best.
“Ryan has a fight next month, the day before Jai. Let’s see what happens after those fights. I am confident that Ryan has what it takes to stop Jai.
“To be frank, I think that because of the styles of both fighters, Ryan gets him out of there early. No disrespect to Jai and his team, but Ryan is cut from a different cloth. Everyone will find out soon enough.”
Nicknamed ‘The Bruiser’, Rozicki has a 95% knockout ratio with 19 finishes from 20 wins against just one loss, to Oscar Rivas in 2021, which he has since rebounded from with a succession of thumping knockout wins until his last fight — a majority draw to Yamil Alberto Peralta for the WBC interim cruiserweight belt.
Rozicki’s fight with Mellado caps a four-fight card from Otter.
