The Rematch in Riyadh – Jai Opetaia vs Mairis Briedis 2 confirmed
Jai Opetaia (24-0, 19KOs) looks to be given a chance to reclaim his IBF title against Mairis Briedis (28-2, 20KOs) on 17th February, on the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk Saudi Arabia event.
The bout has been confirmed by Turki Alalshikh, the brain behind the huge ‘Riyadh Season’ cards fans have been gifted recently.
28-year-old Opetaia confirmed that he has been posing as Fury’s sparring partner, helping ‘The Gypsy King’ to prepare for his own matchup in the main event of the ‘Ring of Fire’ card.
Considering the unbeaten Australian was recently stripped of the belt for taking a fight against non-ranked Ellis Zorro in December, it seems a bit bizarre that the IBF have mandated him tofight for it again, making a mockery of their actions.
Zorro was not ranked by the IBF, who would only allow their champion Opetaia to defend the belt against their mandatory challenger in Briedis, whom the 28-year-old had initially defeated to claim the world title in July 2022.
As Briedis was not ready to fight in December, the Sydney southpaw accepted a career-high purse to perform on the festive fight card that took place one day before Christmas Eve, thus earning a wage whilst staying active. Makes sense, right?
However, as the IBF had allowed Jai to take voluntary world title defence against Liverpool's Jordan Thompson in September, whilst waiting for Briedis to be ready for the rematch, the governing body would not allow a second remission due to their strict rules and subsequently stripped him as champion.
The IBF is no stranger to controversial calls surrounding their titles, and this will only fuel the disdain that many boxing fans feel towards the sanctioning body, especially in light of recent decisions.
The IBF have hinted that they may strip the belt from the soon-to-be crowned undisputed heavyweight champion, due to a rematch clause in the Usyk-Fury contract, of which they refuse to recognise. Whilst rematches do hold up titles and potential other fights from happening, to see an undisputed word champion immediately stripped of a title is not a pleasing sight.
This cruiserweight matchup will see the two men meet for the second time. The first fight saw Opetaia outpoint his Latvian counterpart in what was a fantastic spectacle.
The first rounds were very close with lesser experienced Opetaia just edging the early stages of the fight. As the matchup progressed, the Sydney-born fighter began to pull away, landing consistently to the body, and frequently using snappy straight shots, keeping the then-champion at bay.
Entering the championship rounds, the story changed and the younger man found himself in trouble. Briedis landed big shot after big shot and it was a miracle that his opponent managed to survive to hear the final bell.
Luckily for the Australian, his hard work in the early to mid-section of the bout paid off, with him leaving the ring as the newly crowned IBF 200lbs champion, though not without suffering a painful broken jaw in the process.
To be fair to the IBF, this rematch is the fight that fans want to see for Opetaia, nonetheless, it still makes their decision to strip him of his belt seem completely unwarranted.
Briedis may look to capitalise on the leaky defence showcased by the southpaw during their first fight, and his magnitude of experience could prove too much for the Australian this time round. But the Latvian hasn't seen any fight action in 20 months, by the time fight night comes, and Opetaia has knocked out two opponents in one-sided, swift fashion since their meeting. Plus, his next training camp is being spent sparring with Tyson Fury, which will prove as invaluable experience for him.
If the Aussie can pull through then it could set him up for an exciting matchup against recent cruiserweight convert Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.