“You know, that fight’s easy to make on our side. You know what I mean? I’ve been ready,” said Jai Opetaia to The Ring.

“I just hear excuses and this and that. Reach out. How bad do you want to fight? How bad do you want to be undisputed at cruiserweight? That’s an easy fight to make. There’s all these little excuses and stuff, but it is what it is, man.”

Benavidez stopped Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez earlier this month to capture the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles, while Opetaia still holds The Ring championship and remains tied up in an ongoing dispute involving the IBF.

Opetaia did not go into detail about the specific excuses he believes are holding the fight back, but he made it clear he expects Benavidez to head in another direction instead of risking a unification fight against him.

“I think he’s going to take a different path, and I think he’s going to take a smarter path, to be honest,” said Jai about Benavidez.

When asked if he believes Benavidez wants the fight, Opetaia made his view clear.

“Yeah, I don’t.”

The 29-year-old later softened the criticism slightly, saying he understands the business side behind Benavidez potentially chasing other options at light heavyweight or heavyweight instead of staying at cruiserweight.

“I’m not a disrespectful dude. I don’t disrespect other fighters. But that’s an easy fight to make if he wants it,” said Opetaia.

Opetaia is currently waiting on final confirmation for a proposed fight against WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelyan, while also keeping an eye on the upcoming fight between Chris Billam-Smith and Ryan Rozicki, whose winner could become another future target.