Results from Australia where Cruiser Champ Jai Opetaia Starched Another Overmatched Foe

Jai Opetaia continued his rampaging run through the cruiserweight division with a devastating eighth-round knockout of Huseyin Cinkara tonight in Broadbeach, Australia. Opetaia ended the contest with a perfectly placed left hand that left Cinkara splattered over the lower strands of rope. There was no need for the referee to count. Cinkara required medical attention before leaving the ring. The official time was 0:56 of round eight.

Opetaia, an Australia native currently residing in Broadbeach, was making the sixth defense of his IBF belt. Although he’s been matched soft since winning the title, excepting his rematch with Mairis Briedis, he’s widely considered the best cruiserweight on the planet. He was a 40/1 favorite over Cinkara, a 40-year-old German of Turkish descent nicknamed The Hurricane.

Cinkara rocked Opetaia in the second round with a pair of right hands but Opetaia, who historically fights well when hurt, quickly regained control and by round four started breaking him down. Cinkara looked gassed-out by the sixth and it became obvious that he wouldn’t make it to the final bell.

Opetaia, who finished with a welt under his right eye, advanced to 29-0 (23 KOs) but wasn’t pleased with his performance. He has been chasing WBA/WBO belt-holder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, but that match won’t happen anytime soon. Ramirez reportedly has a fight in the works with David Benavidez conditional on Zurdo winning his “tune-up” with Robin Safar. It was the first pro loss for the overmatched Cinkara (23-1).

Other Bouts

Paul Fleming (29-1-2) and Jake Wyllie (18-2-1) fought to a draw in a 10-round junior welterweight contest. The scores were all over the map: 100-90 (Wyllie); 97-93 (Fleming) and 95-95.

A 2008 Beijing Olympian, Fleming, an indigenous Australian, was moving up two weight classes after suffering his first defeat, a 12^th-round stoppage by the undefeated Filipino Charly Suarez, a future world title challenger. But he was the underdog to Wyllie, 12 years younger at age 25, who had acquitted himself well in defeat to George Kambosos, a fight he took on short notice.

Junior middleweight Ben Mahoney improved to 16-0-1 (9 KOs) with a fourth-round KO of Fiji’s Winston Hill (7-1) who was counted out on his fourth trip to the canvas.

Former world bantamweight title-holder Jason Moloney stemmed a two-fight losing streak with a fourth-round stoppage of Herlan Gomez. The well-traveled Moloney (28-4, 20 KOs) knocked Gomez to the canvas with a flurry of punches in the opening round. After Gomez was rocked by another flurry in the fourth, the one-sided match was halted. A 26-year-old Filipino, Gomez declined to 14-3.

Matchroom heavyweight Teremoana Teremoana, a Paris Olympian (he was eliminated by two-time gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov), made short work of 37-year-old German “Bon Bon” Garcia. A combination climaxed by a short left hand knocked Garcia down hard late in the opening round and the match was halted. The well-touted Teremoana (9-0, 9 KOs) has answered the bell for only 11 rounds. Mexico’s Garcia (9-7) had been stopped three times previously.

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