Jai Opetaia was born on 30 June 1995 and is an Australian professional boxer.
37 Facts About Jai Opetaia
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Jai Opetaia held the International Boxing Federation title from 2022 until 2023, before vacating the title due to a disagreement with the IBF.
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Jai Opetaia was born in Sydney, New South Wales and is of Samoan heritage.
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Jai Opetaia comes from a boxing family of four generations on his father's side and three generations on his mother's side, as well as sharing notable relations to Australia's greatest ever football goal scorer Tim Cahill and former New Zealand international rugby league player Ben Roberts.
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Jai Opetaia grew up on the Central Coast of New South Wales.
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In mid-2020, Jai Opetaia relocated his training base to the Gold Coast in an attempt to further his career and secure a world title boxing bout, a dream that would become a reality two years later in front of his new hometown fans at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.
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Less than a month after his 16th birthday, Jai Opetaia travelled to Kazakhstan to compete in the 2011 Junior World Championships and would win the gold medal in the light heavyweight division by defeating Germany's Melvin Perry 5:3 in the final.
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Jai Opetaia's victory marked the first time an Australian had won a junior boxing world championship.
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In doing so, Jai Opetaia became the youngest boxer to ever make an Australian Olympic team.
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In 2014, at the age of 19, Jai Opetaia made the decision to end his amateur career in pursuit of a professional career.
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Jai Opetaia was scheduled to face Daniel Ammann for the vacant WBC-OPBF and Australian cruiserweight titles on July 15,2017.
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Jai Opetaia won the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout.
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Jai Opetaia was next scheduled to face Frankie Lopez for the vacant IBF Youth cruiserweight title on October 21,2017.
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Jai Opetaia won the fight by a first-round technical knockout.
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Jai Opetaia made his first Australian Cruiserweight title defense against Benjamin Kelleher on January 17,2018.
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Jai Opetaia won the fight by a third-round technical knockout.
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Jai Opetaia fought for yet another regional title on April 7,2018, when he was set to face Lukas Paszkowsky for the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific cruiserweight title.
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Jai Opetaia won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.
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Jai Opetaia made his first WBO Asia-Pacific cruiserweight title defense against Kurtis Pegoraro on June 29,2018.
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Jai Opetaia fought Navosa Ioata for the vacant WBA Oceania interim cruiserweight title on May 15,2019, and won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout.
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Jai Opetaia made his first title defense two months later, on July 27,2019, against Nikolas Charalampous, while fighting for the vacant WBO Global cruiserweight title.
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Jai Opetaia made the first defense of these two titles, and fought for the inaugural IBF Asia-Oceania cruiserweight title, against Mark Flanagan on November 16,2019.
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Jai Opetaia won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout.
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Jai Opetaia was scheduled to defend his IBF Asia-Oceania and WBO Global cruiserweight titles in a rematch with Benjamin Kelleher on October 22,2020.
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Jai Opetaia won the fight by a sixth-round technical knockout.
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Jai Opetaia was scheduled to challenge the reigning IBF, The Ring and lineal cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis on 6 April 2022.
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Jai Opetaia was expected to face mandatory challenger Mateusz Masternak in early 2023, but was forced to undergo left shoulder surgery on February 1,2023.
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Jai Opetaia's team requested an immediate purse bid in lieu of a negotiation period.
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Jai Opetaia defeated Thompson by TKO in the fourth round and made the first successful defense of his belt.
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On December 23,2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jai Opetaia was expected to make the second defense of his IBF cruiserweight title against Ellis Zorro.
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Jai Opetaia won the fight by knockout in the first round.
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Jai Opetaia was expected to face Mairis Briedis for the vacant IBF cruiserweight championship on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk.
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Jai Opetaia defeated Briedis in the rematch by unanimous decision to become a two-time world champion and two-time IBF cruiserweight champion.
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Jai Opetaia made the first defense of his IBF cruiserweight title during his second reign against Jack Massey at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 12 October 2024, winning by stoppage in round six.
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Jai Opetaia faced David Nyika in defense of his IBF cruiserweight title on January 8,2025.
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Jai Opetaia won the fight and defended his title by knockout in the 4th round.
37.
In March 2025, Matchroom Boxing announced Jai Opetaia would make a second consecutive defence in Australia against 34 year old Italian boxer Claudio Squeo, with the bout taking place on 13 May at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach.