Opetaia moves up to meet one of boxing’s biggest punchers
Deontay Wilder will fight Jai Opetaia on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 11. The unbeaten cruiserweight will box at heavyweight for the first time, and his opponent is a former WBC champion who is still regarded as one of the hardest hitters the sport has produced.
Opetaia, a former IBF titleholder, has been dominant at 200lbs. His promoter, Dana White, did not dress up the risk. “It’s a very dangerous fight for him considering where he sits in his division right now,” White told Sky Sports. “But he’s a fighter; he’ll fight anybody, even at heavyweight with a guy who hits as hard as Wilder does.”
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Wilder is 41. He had a trilogy with Fury, and a fight with Joshua was close to being made before he lost to Joseph Parker. His most recent outing was a points win over Derek Chisora at The O2 in April, a fight he had to grind out.
For Opetaia, the heavyweight detour is a side trip. White expects him to go back to cruiserweight afterwards, where David Benavidez is the opponent he wants most. Benavidez and Opetaia are widely seen as the two best fighters in the 200lb class, and White said Opetaia is eager to get that fight sorted. In the meantime he wants to stay busy, whatever the weight.
The headline act is Fury against Joshua, the all-British heavyweight showdown that has been talked about for years.
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