Jai Opetaia vs Huseyin Cinkara Preview Dec. 6th, 2025
Undefeated Lineal, Ring Magazine and IBF Cruiserweight Champion Jai Opetaia of Sydney, Australia clashes with unbeaten Huseyin Cinkara of Germany this Saturday, Dec. 6th in Broadbeach, Australia. Opetaia won the titles via a unanimous decision over Mairis Briedis in a slugfest in July, 2022 and defended the IBF Belt by stopping Jordan Thompson in the fourth round 14 months later. He was stripped of the IBF Crown for failing to fight Briedis in a mandatory defence and defended the Lineal Title in December, 2023 by halting Ellis Zorro in the first round. Opetaia then met Briedis in May, 2024 in a rematch for the vacant IBF Belt and beat him by unanimous decision. He defended the Titles by stopping Jack Massey in the sixth round in October, halting David Nyika in four rounds this January and then stopping Claudio Squeo in the fifth round in his last outing in May. Cinkara last fought in April when he stopped Juan Diaz in just 162 seconds.
Opetaia vs Cinkara Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Huseyin Cinkara +1250
- Jai Opetaia -3300
My Pick
The 30-year-old southpaw Opetaia climbs through the ropes with a perfect mark of 28-0 with 22 Ko’s and obviously carries quite a bit of power in his punches with a current knockout ratio of 78.6 per cent. However other than Mairis Briedis, he’s fought limited opposition up to now as his biggest wins were over the likes of Jack Massey, Ellis Zorro, Jordan Thompson, Daniel Ammann, Frankie Lopez, Kurtis Pegoraro, Mark Flanagan and Benjamin Kelleher.
Opetaia is a good-sized cruiserweight as he stands 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 76-inch reach and has 129 of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2015 following a pretty successful amateur career. Opetaia represented his homeland at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England as a heavyweight but was edged in his first bout.
He was an Australian National Champion in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and won a gold medal at the 2011 World Junior Championships. Opetaia also captured gold at the 2012 Oceanian Olympic Qualifier as well as bronze at the 2012 World Youth Championships and boxed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Since turning pro Opetaia has also won the vacant Australia-New South Wales State Heavyweight Title along with the vacant OPBF, Australian, WBO Global, WBO Asia Pacific, WBA Oceania, IBF Pan Pacific, IBF Asia Oceania, and IBF Youth Cruiserweight Belts.
As for Cinkara, he resides in Turkey and is an advanced 40 years of age. He carries around a perfect record of 23-0 with 19 Ko’s so also has quite a bit of power in his arsenal with his knockout ratio clocking in at 82.6 per cent. He’s fought just 67 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016 following his amateur days due to that power. Cinkara also has good size for a cruiserweight as he measures 6-feet-3-inches tall with an unlisted reach which gives him an inch edge in height over Opetaia.
Cinkara has fought exclusively in Europe as a pro against limited opposition. He captured the German Cruiserweight Title in 2018 by stopping Yury Bykhautsou in the sixth round and won the IBO Continental Belt in 2021 when he stopped Erdogan Kadrija after six rounds. Cinkara then added the vacant WBC Asian Cruiserweight Crown in 2023 with a 10-round unanimous decision over Vaclav Pejsar. Yes, he has a great record and apparent power but just 11 of his 23 opponents entered the ring with a winning record.
Prediction…
Cinkara has never fought outside of Europe and has never faced a top-10 contender so he’s taking a big leap upwards in class this weekend. And to further stack the odds against him, he’s 40 years old. He is unbeaten though and possesses plenty of power so has a puncher’s chance. It could be argued that Opetaia hasn’t exactly been taking on the cream of the crop in the cruiserweight division either and he really needs to give the fans what they want by stepping up the competition, even if it means vacating his belt. The best bet here is a win by Opetaia and a stoppage is likely.
Opetaia’s a class above the 40-year-old Cinkara.
Play: Opetaia -3300 @ BetOnline.ag
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Huseyin Cinkara betting • Jai Opetaia betting