World Title Fight: The next encounter between Chris Billam-Smith and Richard Riakporhe might be for the world championship.
The IBF cruiserweight champion, Jai Opetaia, hasn’t fought since prevailing over Mairis Briedis to claim the gold in July. In that fight, he injured his jaw, and, according to reports, his shoulder has lately had treatment.
The IBF may declare its cruiserweight title vacant if he fails to schedule a defence of his title against mandatory challenger Mateusz Masternak in a timely manner.
The IBF’s top-rated cruiserweight challenger is Poland’s Masternak, who is followed by London’s Riakporhe at number two and Bournemouth’s Billam-Smith at number three. If the IBF title is declared vacant, those challengers would be in the mix to compete for it.
Opetaia’s injury and impending shoulder surgery have made recent headlines. “I don’t know if he’ll be out for a long time or not. I’m just waiting for news on that because clearly, that for us has been the purpose the whole time,” Billam-Smith told Sky Sports.
“Hopefully we’ll wait and see, but if he’s unable to defend it in May, I think it’s only fitting he becomes champion in recess and we compete for the crowns.”
Although Masternak is the favourite to win that championship, a compromise to have him step aside could be achieved.
“It’s not impossible,” according to Billam-Smith. “I hope that’s not coming from my purse!
“Richard and I would fight for it in the ideal fight, but Masternak stands in our way.
“It’s definitely a possibility, and I think me versus Richard for the world title would be a massive, huge battle. We both want to compete for a world championship in the upcoming battle, and who better to compete against than each other?
“In any case, our careers are interwoven. At some point, it will occur. So why not for an open world championship? That would be amazing.”
Ben Shalom, the promoter for BOXXER, described how such a cruiserweight scenario would develop.
“We’re interested to see if Opetaia can hold off Masternak and keep his belt. I am aware that it is planned to occur in February or March. The IBF might not approve that if it waits until early April,” according to Shalom.
“We’re keeping a tight eye on the Opetaia scenario, and he needs to fight quickly if he wants the title to stay intact.
“I think we’ll find out this week what will happen with Jai, and then Richard and Chris and I can decide,”
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