Australian cruiserweight sensation Jai Opetaia will take on Mairis Briedis in a rematch of their all-out battle on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s heavyweight showdown against Oleksandr Usyk on February 17.
Opetaia produced the performance of a lifetime to overcome Briedis in 2022 and win the Ring and IBF cruiserweight world titles on the Gold Coast.
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However, Opetaia was forced to vacate his IBF world title in controversial circumstances when he took a fight against Ellis Zorro on the undercard of Anthony Joshua v Otto Wallin late last year.
Briedis was meant to fight Mexican star Gilberto Ramirez for the vacant IBF title, but the latter will instead take on WBA champion Arsen Goulamirian.
The IBF has not confirmed if the rematch between Opetaia and Briedis will be for the title.
Opetaia won’t be the only Australian competing on the recently announced cards in Saudi Arabia, with Justis Huni to also fight in the Gulf nation.
Huni will fight on the undercard of the highly-anticipated battle between Joshua and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou on March 8.
Huni’s opponent is yet to be announced, but the Queenslander will be feeling confident about his chances after comprehensively out-pointing Andrew Tabiti in his overseas debut last October.
Fighting on the undercard of Joshua and Ngannou means Huni has a golden chance to enhance his reputation given the number of eyeballs that will be trained on the card.
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Joshua said on Tuesday he is hoping a fight against ex-mixed martial arts fighter Ngannou will lead to a shot at becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Former heavyweight world champion Joshua will face Ngannou in just his second professional bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 8.
Three weeks prior to that fight, Fury takes Usyk in Riyadh for the right to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999.
Joshua won all three of his fights in 2023 as he bids to return to the top of the heavyweight division, with his most impressive performance coming in a fifth-round stoppage of Otto Wallin last month.
Cameroon-born Ngannou only made his professional boxing debut in October, when he knocked down WBC champion Fury before losing a close decision.
“Every fight leads to somewhere, so this fight is my everything and we will see where it leads me,” said Joshua as the fighters faced off at a press conference in London.
“I have got to take his mind and his spirit, it will be explosive. We can both trade and it will be a good fight.”
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn did not hide from his ambitions for the former Olympic champion.
“If you can imagine the winner of this fight against the winner of Fury v Usyk, it’s been a long dream of Anthony and his team to be undisputed.” Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou has another shot at one of the biggest names in the sport after nearly ending Fury’s unbeaten record.
“I’m going to come as an underdog to win the fight. I will get this done, I’m just a beginner,” said Ngannou.
“I will come out better and that’s how I see things. I prepared for a hard fight. The Fury fight is in the past and I will take this more serious than before because there’s more on the line, the undisputed.
“I will do something nobody has done before and I have the tools to do that. It will not be an easy fight, but a possible one (to win).”