Jai Opetaia faces David Nyika on January 8 at GCCEC on the Gold Coast, Australia. Making his home country ring appearance, the two-time IBF cruiserweight champion makes the second defense of his belt.
Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) regained the title in May, battling it out against old rival Mairis Briedis. The pair squared off for the second time following their first fight held 22 months prior, when the Australian dethroned the then-champion from Latvia by unanimous decision.
The scheduled 12-round world championship rematch also went the full distance. The Sydney southpaw took the vacant title also by UD, although the later rounds saw him in a bit of trouble. The scores were 117-111, 116-112, and 116-112.
Going up against New Zealand’s David Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs), Jai Opetaia makes the second defense of his title in his second reign. In his previous outing in October, the 29-year-old stopped Jack Massey in the sixth round.
The Opetaia vs Nyika matchup is set to see the first world title fight of 2025.
Among the undercard bouts, Australia’s Justis Huni (11-0, 6 KOs) takes on Shaun Potgieter (10-1, 7 KOs) of South Africa.