Jai Opetaia suffers suspected broken eye socket, Huseyin Cinkara fractures neck in Saturday night’s war
World champion Jai Opetaia has suffered a suspected broken eye socket while his opponent Huseyin Cinkara fractured his neck in their brutal boxing war.
Jai Opetaia has suffered a suspected broken eye socket while his rival Huseyin Cinkara has fractured his neck in a frightening postscript to their boxing war on the Gold Coast.
Opetaia reaffirmed his status as the top cruiserweight in the world, retaining his IBF and Ring Magazine belts with a savage eighth-round stoppage of Cinkara on Saturday night.
But the highlights-reel KO was not without pain for both men, with Opetaia and Cinkara rushed to hospital in the wake of their slugfest at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.
ONE-PUNCH KO 💥
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) December 6, 2025
The moment Jai Opetaia wiped out Huseyin Cinkara to retain his Ring and IBF cruiserweight world titles 👠pic.twitter.com/uCNmORktPr
It is understood Opetaia sustained major damage to his right eye, which was badly swollen, while Cinkara will remain in Australia for up to three days after being knocked out by the ferocious Australian.
The 40-year-old German, who suffered his first loss in 24 fights, has been cleared of paralysis after Opetaia’s crunching left hand fractured his T1 vertebrae and left him with brain bruising.
“The doctors say he will make a full recovery which is a relief,” said Cinkara’s Australian-based interpreter Fidel Tukel, also a boxing trainer on the Gold Coast.
“He is going to stay for two or three days, he has a brain bruise and a fractured vertebrae in the T1 region.
“He hurt his neck with the way he landed.
“He got hit hard, as soon as he got hit, he hit his head on the ropes right at the top of the vertebrae. The ropes are hard and he has bounced off that and hit his head on the floor.
“The vertebrae (damage) was from the ropes and the brain bruise was from hitting the floor.
“We were waiting in hospital for six hours before he could get diagnosed.
“The poor bloke was freaking out, he can’t speak English, but he has been admitted and is now resting.”
The unbeaten Opetaia chalked up his 29th consecutive victory but it wasn’t a perfect performance, with Cinkara almost dropping the defending champion with a crunching right hand in the second round.
Australia’s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer overcame the early scare to finish the job, icing Cinkara with a brutal left hand late in the eighth frame.
Opetaia, 30, is desperate to unify the division but he concedes he must improve to defeat WBC champion Badou Jack and ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, who holds the WBA and WBO belts.
“I fought like s***,” Opetaia told Stan after the fight. “I needed some humble pie and I got it. I’m f***ing pissed off.
“I need to get better and I will.”
Opetaia’s manager Mick Francis hit out at suggestions the Gold Coast-based world champion was complacent.
“I wouldn’t say it was disappointing,” he said.
“Jai is hard on himself.
“There is no way it was disappointing.
“It goes to show, he has knocked these guys out time and time again, he is dangerous, and that’s why he is the most feared fighter in the world.
“Jai wants to unify the titles.
“I am so proud of this kid, he deserves to be the big rockstar of Australian boxing.”
Opetaia’s trainer and father Tapu said the Cinkara war was just what his son needed as he eyes more formidable challenges against Jack and, potentially, David Benavidez, who has stepped up from light heavyweight to fight Ramirez.
“Jai is fine. He is down on himself but he will be alright,” Opetaia Sr said.
“It was OK.
“It’s a learning process for Jai and the things he shouldn’t be doing. He (Cinkara) came over to fight. We knew he was a warrior from the way he came out, but Jai got the job done.
“I said, ‘Keep your fucking hands up’ (after Cinkara nearly dropped Opetaia).
“Once he calmed down and got back to boxing properly, everything fell into place.”
Originally published as Jai Opetaia suffers suspected broken eye socket, Huseyin Cinkara fractures neck in Saturday night’s war
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