Jai Opetaia poses with both championship belts during a portrait session at Wickedbodz on April 26, 2023 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Ring cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (24-0, 19 KOs) could be forgiven for being sick of the thought of Mairis Briedis (28-2, 20 KOs).
A rematch with the 39-year-old Latvian veteran has been on the cards ever since Opetaia overcame a late rally from Briedis and two separate fractures to his jaw to wrest the IBF title away from the champion via unanimous decision on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia in July 2022.
Previous efforts to pair up the 28-year-old Australian southpaw and Briedis again proved fruitless until they were offered the main support slot on the undisputed heavyweight title fight between Ring champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) and Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 18.
But even this card suffered a delay when the original date of February 17 was pushed out by three months after Fury suffered a cut over his right eye during a sparring session late in camp.
Despite the setbacks, Opetaia’s focus has never wavered.
“This is still a progress fight in my eyes,” Opetaia told The Ring. “We’re still moving forward. I’m on a massive card being a part of one of the biggest fights of this decade, the Usyk-Fury card, boxing in the co-main event. It’s huge. The fight is a world title on its own even if we weren’t fighting for the belt, you know what I mean? Just to be on that card is huge and I feel like it’s all just progress.”
Preparing for war. #TeamOpetaia 🇦🇺🇼🇸 pic.twitter.com/A3xfxN7Xiw
— Jai Opetaia (@jaiopetaia1) April 30, 2024
Opetaia was unable to immediately capitalize on his title winning effort against Briedis. Surgery to fix his broken mandible was followed by another surgery on his shoulder to repair a small muscle tear. After 15 months on the sidelines he finally returned to action at London’s Wembley Arena in September last year. Opetaia proved he hadn’t missed a beat, dropping the six-foot-six Jordan Thompson three times before stopping him in the fourth. Three months later he was at it again, blasting out Ellis Zorro with a booming left cross to the chin in the opening round in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
With each victory, Opetaia has made the boxing world sit up and take notice, even if his last two opponents are not what you would consider world beaters. The rematch with Briedis, who The Ring ranks as the number one contender to Opetaia’s crown, will provide the opportunity for the champion to prove, once again, that he is the class of the 200-pound division.
“To be honest, I don’t feel any extra pressure to what I normally have on me,” Opetaia said. “We always have that pressure to perform well and look good in the ring. It all just comes down to my preparation and how I’ve trained for the fight.
“I know I’ve ticked every box and I know I’ll be walking into that ring with a perfect camp under my belt, so the rest just falls into place.”
Rematches have a funny way of springing surprises. Sometimes boxers are wary of their opponents. Other times, familiarity breeds contempt.
Opetaia admits he is not sure how Briedis will approach the fight. The only thing he knows is that he will be ready to make any adjustments necessary to impose his will on his opponent.
Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis slug it out during their Ring Magazine and IBF cruiserweight title fight in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Peter Wallis/Getty Images)
“I’m curious to see how he comes out,” he said. “Every fighter, when they fight me, they bring a different approach. They have their game plan and stuff and that’s when I have to adapt to it, how aggressively they’re going to come out. They’ve got to give me stuff to work off. I’m excited and like I said, I’ve been training so hard I feel like I’ve got an answer for every question they ask. I’m pumped.”
Briedis has not fought since his grueling first fight against Opetaia that saw him box the last eight rounds with a broken nose. There is no doubt his is a top class operator who has achieved almost all there is to achieve in his 16 year pro career, but the question remains how much he has left in the tank after an almost two-year layoff and with his 40th birthday just around the corner.
“Briedis has been up the top for a long time,” said Opetaia. “He’s probably one of the best cruiserweights of this decade. He has only ever lost to me and Usyk. He’s been such a great fighter for such a long time. He’s won the Muhammad Ali trophy, he’s a three-time world champion, so I’m not taking anything away from him and I’m definitely not expecting an easy fight here. I’m expecting another war. I’ve been training for 12 rounds of war.
“I personally think he can dig deep when he needs to. Like I said, he’s been around for a long time, but he’s a decorated fighter. I feel like this fight is going to be his last fight. Whether he wins or loses – don’t get me wrong, I’m going in there to win – but I feel like this is his last fight so he’s going to leave it all in the ring. He wants to go out with a bang and I’m expecting that. I’m expecting him to come out aggressive straight away, but even if he doesn’t, I can adapt to anything he brings.
“I’m definitely not taking him lightly. I know he is going to come out firing.
“Anyone who steps in that ring has to be in good condition. They know I train hard. I do all my talking in the gym and in the ring. They know when they fight me they have to come correct, so I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
For Opetaia, the extra time in the gym has been a blessing rather than a curse. Under the watchful eye of his boxing trainer Mark Wilson and his strength and conditioning coach Mark Mathie, Opetaia pushes himself to dark places, forever looking to refine his technique and improve his fitness. It’s the one percenters that count.
“We just adapt,” said Opetaia of the fight postponements thay have at times stalled his career. “We’re used to it. We’ve had so many pull outs and things that haven’t gone to plan that if something changes we sit down with the team, we write a new program and we go from there.
“The extra time doesn’t hurt us. We’re not running out of time like these other cruiserweights are. I’m levelling up evey day. You are yet to see the best of me. These other guys, I feel like they’re maintaining what they have for the last couple of years. Their bodies are getting weaker while mine is getting stronger.
“I’m not worried about that stuff. I’m a couple of years younger than anyone else who is on that sort of level that they’re putting my name up against, you know what I mean? People my age are sort of the up and comers. I’m excited, I’m pumped, I’m ready.”
Bigger, fitter, faster, stronger. That could spell trouble for Briedis on May 18.
