Jai Opetaia

Jai Opetaia is the unbeaten Australian southpaw who has spent four years as one of the best cruiserweights in the world and now moves up to heavyweight to face Deontay Wilder. Born in Sydney on 30 June 1995, he stands 6 ft 2 in with a 76-inch reach and has stopped 24 of his 31 professional opponents.

From junior world champion to the Olympics

Opetaia won gold at the 2011 Junior World Championships in Astana, the first Australian to win a junior world title, and took bronze at the 2012 Youth World Championships. At 17 he became Australia's youngest Olympic boxer at London 2012, losing his opening heavyweight bout 12-11. He turned professional in August 2015 and is trained by his father, Tapu.

World champion who kept losing his belt outside the ring

He won the IBF and Ring cruiserweight titles by outpointing Mairis Briedis on the Gold Coast in July 2022. In December 2023 the IBF ordered a mandatory rematch with Briedis instead of sanctioning his fight with Ellis Zorro, and the title was declared vacant; he knocked Zorro out in the first round anyway. He beat Briedis again in Riyadh in May 2024 to win the IBF title back.

In January 2026 he signed with Dana White's Zuffa Boxing and in March won the inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight title on points against Brandon Glanton in Las Vegas. The IBF had withdrawn its sanction for that fight and vacated his title, a decision he is challenging in court. In September he stopped Noel Mikaelian in the ninth round at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to stay unbeaten at 31-0.

Next: Deontay Wilder in Cardiff

On 4 November 2026 Netflix confirmed Opetaia against the former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder as the co-main event of the Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua card at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Friday 11 December. It will be his first heavyweight fight since 2017.