'A mess': Frightening injury fallout from devastating Jai Opetaia knockout as opponent's condition revealed

Huseyin Cinkara will be in hospital for at least another two days after Jai Opetaia fractured his C1 vertebra bone and caused brain bleeding with his vicious knockout punch on the Gold Coast on Saturday night.

There was serious concern for the 40-year-old warhorse, who gave Opetaia an early scare with some heavy shots in the second round.

Opetaia was not at his technical best but still handed Cinkara his first professional loss with a dynamite left hook in the eighth round.

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Fran Bradford of Tasman Fighters said Cinkara had a contusion on the brain with a "small" brain bleed and a "slightly" fractured C1 - a ring-shaped bone that begins at the base of the skull.

No operation was needed but Istanbul-based Cinkara would remain in hospital to be monitored to ensure there were no issues with the blood vessels around the C1.

Reports that Opetaia had a fractured eye socket were incorrect and the 30-year-old Australian was out fishing with his family on Sunday.

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"He's tough mate," Opetaia's manager Mick Francis told Wide World of Sports on Monday.

"He got a good shot in that second round but he stood his ground fairly well considering the the size of that shot. That shot would have knocked down a horse, mate. It was a massive shot. He just got a bit lazy... it was a bit of a wake-up call for him."

Cinkara was swarmed by medics at Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre but was eventually able to get to his feet and congratulate Opetaia before boarding an ambulance.

"Cinkara's in a bit of a mess, he's obviously not in a good way," Francis said.

"The last four opponents of Jai have all gone to hospital in ambulances, so it's starting to become a bit of a pattern.

"The issue is that it's getting harder and harder to match him because guys are looking at what Jai is doing to his opponents. They're not really wanting to get in the ring with him."

Opetaia retained his IBF and Ring Magazine cruiserweight world titles with the frightening finish and moved to 29-0 with 23 knockouts.

But the southpaw said he "boxed like shit" and was "pissed off" with a performance that "let people down."

"He's always hard on himself," Francis said.

"And it doesn't matter what fight, he's always criticising the mistakes he makes. And he puts himself under a lot of pressure too, because he wants to deliver to his fans.

"Jai's probably one of the best boxers in the world, and I know he's the most feared fighter in the world. But he just puts way too much pressure on himself, and I think the other night he was trying a little bit too hard. He was disappointed, but he's still knocking these guys out and actually physically hurting these guys and putting them in hospital.

"Claudio Squeo was in hospital for over a week (in May), he had a full facial reconstruction. I spoke to the surgeon and he said it was one of the worst facial reconstructions he's done, it's like a guy who's been in a car accident. So he's doing this sort of stuff to his opponents and it's making it harder and harder to get guys in the ring."

Opetaia's camp will now take a keen interest in the Noel Mikaelian vs Badou Jack fight in Los Angeles this weekend.

The WBC mandated a rematch after Jack won a controversial points decision in May.

Mikaelian is the bookmakers' favourite this weekend and Francis will be cheering the German on.

"If Noel wins the fight, he's happy to go straight into Jai," Francis said.

"And that fight could happen as early as March, April, May. They want the fight. They're realistic, they're not going to hide behind ridiculous amounts of money.

"He is 35, he's ageing, so he wants to get in the ring against Jai as soon as he can. So I hope he wins the fight.

"I hope Badou Jack gets beat and at least it makes life a little bit easier for us."

Jack is also up for the Opetaia fight but his camp has signalled they would want 12 weeks preparation after Ramadan ends in late March.