A championship showdown between Jai Opetaia and Gilberto Ramirez is inevitable.

It just won’t be next.

The Ring has learned that Opetaia and Ramirez will instead make separate title defenses, in lieu of a publicly discussed unification bout for The Ring championship and three major titles. Opetaia (27-0, 21 KOs) talked up the fight after his Jan. 8 knockout victory over David Nyika (10-1, 9 KOs), where he defended The Ring cruiserweight crown and IBF title.

Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1 cruiserweight contender, is more likely to instead first face mandatory challenger Yuniel Dorticos (27-2, 25 KOs). As previously reported by The Ring, the WBA informed both parties that the ordered fight was in queue.

Action was finally taken on Thursday, when the two sides were instructed to enter a 30-day negotiation period.

Ramirez is represented by Golden Boy Promotions, while Dorticos is with Caribe Promotions.

The two were previously ordered to fight last year, but the WBA honored a two-party agreement to allow Ramirez to enter an optional defense. It led to the Mexican southpaw facing and defeating Chris Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs) last Nov. 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ramirez unified the WBA and WBO titles with the victory, two belts which Opetaia hoped to add to his collection. The unbeaten Sydney native sought a unification bout either in May or June, the latter which could have anchored a discussed Matchroom Boxing-Golden Boy Promotions 5-v-5 series.

The fight will have to wait. All signs point to Ramirez proceeding with his ordered bout against Dorticos this time around.

Ramirez defeated then-unbeaten Arsen Goulamirian (27-0, 19 KOs at the time) to win the WBA cruiserweight title last March 30 at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California. The 33-year-old from Mazatlan, Mexico became a two-division titlist with the win.

Dorticos is a former two-time cruiserweight whose career has been plagued by inactivity.

The Miami-based Cuban has fought just five times since 2019. His 18-month stretch outside the ring was enough to be dropped from The Ring’s cruiserweight ratings. Nor was his 60-second wipeout of journeyman Alan Campa (19-11, 13 KOs) last June 7 enough to re-enter the top ten.

It was just enough, however, to maintain his place as the WBA’s leading contender.

Dorticos has won three straight since a Sept. 2020 defeat to Mairis Briedis (28-3, 20 KOs) in their World Boxing Super Series season two finale. The setback ended his IBF cruiserweight title reign which began 16 months earlier in a tenth-round knockout win over Andrew Tabiti.

The only other loss on Dorticos’ ledger also came in a WBSS tournament, when he was stopped by then-unbeaten IBF titlist Murat Gassiev in the twelfth round of their WBA/IBF unification bout.

Ramirez and Dorticos have until Feb. 16 to reach terms and avoid a purse bid hearing. It is doubtful that another exception could be explored, even if Ramirez and Golden Boy were immediately interested in challenging for Opetaia’s RING championship.