Jai Opetaia vs Mairis Briedis Preview May 18th, 2024
Unbeaten Lineal Cruiserweight Champion Jai Opetaia of Australia will be fighting for the vacant IBF Belt in Saudi Arabia this Saturday, May 18th when he takes on Mairis Briedis of Latvia in a rematch. Opetaia won the titles via a unanimous decision over Briedis in a slugfest in July, 2022 and defended the IBF Belt by stopping Jordan Thompson in the fourth round last August. He was then stripped of the IBF Crown for failing to fight Briedis in a mandatory defence and defended the Lineal Title in December by halting Ellis Zorro in the first round. Briedis had captured the IBF Title with a majority decision over Yunier Dorticos in the final of the World Boxing Super Series in September, 2020 and also held the WBC Diamond Cruiserweight Crown and IBO versions in the past. This is his first time back in the ring since losing to Opetaia. The 12-round fight can be seen live on DAZN pay per view in most nations as well as ESPN+ PPV on the undercard of the Usyk vs Fury fight while those in the UK and Ireland can also pick it up on TNT Sports Box Office.
**Watch live on DAZN this Saturday. Your first month is free.
Opetaia vs Briedis Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Mairis Briedis +450
- Jai Opetaia -700
My Pick
The 28-year-old southpaw Opetaia climbs through the ropes with a perfect mark of 24-0 with 19 Ko’s and obviously carries quite a bit of power in his punches with a current knockout ratio of 79 per cent. However other than Briedis, he’s fought limited opposition up to now as his biggest wins were over the likes of Zorro, Thompson, Daniel Ammann, Frankie Lopez, Kurtis Pegoraro, Mark Flanagan and Benjamin Kelleher.
Opetaia of Sydney, is a good-sized cruiserweight as he stands 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 76-inch reach and has boxed 102 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015 following a pretty successful amateur career. Opetaia represented his homeland at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England as a heavyweight but was edged in his first bout.
He was an Australian National Champion in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and won a gold medal at the 2011 World Junior Championships. He won gold at the 2012 Oceanian Olympic Qualifier as well as bronze at the 2012 World Youth Championships and boxed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Since turning pro Opetaia has also won the vacant Australia-New South Wales State Heavyweight Title along with the vacant OPBF, Australian, WBO Global, WBO Asia Pacific, WBA Oceania, IBF Pan Pacific, IBF Asia Oceania, and IBF Youth Cruiserweight Belts.
The 39-year-old Briedis is also a pretty heavy hitter with plenty of skills and climbs through the ropes with an impressive 28-2 record with 20 Ko’s. He’s gone the distance in seven of his last nine fights but overall, 71.4 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage. Briedis also enjoyed a fine amateur career and fought over 70 times as a kick-boxer. The former champion measures 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 75-inch reach so gives up an inch in both height and reach and has boxed 155 rounds since making his pro debut in 2012.
Briedis’ biggest wins have been against Dorticos, Marco Huck, Mike Perez, Olanrewaju Durodola and Krzysztof Glowacki and he also stopped heavyweight Manuel Charr back in 2015. His only other pro loss came via a majority decision at the hands Oleksandr Usyk in January, 2018 when Usyk was the WBO Cruiserweight boss at the time. Briedis had won the vacant WBC crown and IBO Title a year earlier when he beat Huck by unanimous decision. However, he gave up the IBO strap as he refused to pay the sanctioning fees. He then defended his WBC belt against Perez before running into Usyk, who of course is now the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO Heavyweight Champ after beating Anthony Joshua.
Prediction…
Opetaia suffered a jaw injury in his fight against Briedis and was out of action for over a year but hasn’t had a problem since coming back. Briedis hasn’t fought in close to two years and that’s not going to help him especially at the age of 39, which is 11 years older than Opetaia. The first fight between these two was a classic as both men were hurt at times and didn’t hold any punches back. If this contest is half as good as that, fans are in for a treat. Opetaia has improved since that battle while Briedis has been inactive and I believe Opetaia will prevail once again in a close and exciting fight.
Opetaia has improved while Briedis has been inactive.
Play: Opetaia -700 @ BetOnline.ag
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Jai Opetaia betting • Mairis Briedis betting