Jai Opetaia Fends Off Late Rally By Mairis Briedis, Scores Repeat Win To Defend RING Championship
Jai Opetaia nearly avoided the drama he had to experience the first time around.
The Ring cruiserweight king was in control for nine rounds but forced to hold on late in a repeat points win over
Latvia’s Mairis Briedis. Scores were 118-110, 119-109 and 117-111 for Opetaia in their rematch Saturday evening at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Opetaia defended his RING championship and regained the IBF belt, which was stripped from him last December.
Much of the bout proved a far cry from when Opetaia dethroned Briedis in their memorable July 2022 meeting. Opetaia fought more than ten rounds with a broken jaw that night to win the Ring, lineal and IBF championship.
Briedis hadn’t fought since the end of his third title reign. He looked every bit the part of an inactive 39-year-old for much of their second act. Sydney’s Opetaia boxed brilliantly for much of the night and controlled the action with his jab and crisp left hand.
Opetaia had Briedis in trouble in round four. Several left hands found the mark and busted open Briedis’ nose. A similar pattern played out in the sixth, as there grew concern for the former three-time titlist.
Action slowed in the second half of the fight. Opetaia was content to box and not press the action as a decision victory was all but imminent. Briedis was a far cry from any of his title stays but flashed championship resilience and grit.
That came into play late in round ten.
A left hand by Opetaia found its mark, as had been the case throughout the fight. Briedis braved the sequence and managed to bust open Opetaia’s nose. Opetaia slumped to the canvas, though ruled off as a slip as he survived the round.
Briedis landed the more telling blows in the final two rounds. Opetaia stood his ground in the eleventh but wisely circled the ring in the twelfth. Briedis connected with a looping right hand but could not put together a sustained attack to pull off the improbable comeback.
Opetaia (25-0, 19 knockouts) made his third successful championship defense. He is now also a two-time IBF titlist, though he never lost the belt in the ring.
The decision to proceed with a December 23 fight with Ellis Zorro—at this arena—came in lieu of an ordered rematch with Brieidis. The IBF acted accordingly and removed the title from his possession.
Opetaia knocked out Zorro in the first round and then entered talks for a second fight with Briedis (28-3, 20 KOs). They were due to meet on February 17 at Kingdom Arena as the co-feature to the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk undisputed heavyweight championship. The entire show was postponed by three months when Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) suffered a cut during the end of training camp.
Opetaia will seek out the winner of the June 15 Chris Billam-Smith vs. Richard Riakporhe rematch, for Billam-Smith’s WBO cruiserweight title. He also spoke of a potential shot at the WBC bridgerweight title, which Lukasz Rozanskidefends versus Lawrence Okolie this Friday in Rzeszow, Poland.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
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