Deontay Wilder-Jai Opetaia confirmed for Fury-Joshua undercard in Cardiff

Deontay Wilder will face unbeaten cruiserweight Jai Opetaia at heavyweight on the Tyson Fury–Anthony Joshua card at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11.

The co-main event will mark Opetaia’s return to heavyweight, while Wilder continues his late-career attempt to work his way back into world-title contention. Opetaia is no stranger to competing above the cruiserweight limit, having weighed more than 200lbs for several fights early in his professional career, including bouts in 2017 where he tipped the scales at over 210lbs, before establishing himself at cruiserweight.

Netflix will broadcast the card live, with Fury–Joshua expected to begin in the early hours of December 12 in Britain.

Opetaia, 31, has a record of 31-0 with 24 stoppages and has established himself as the leading cruiserweight of recent years.
Wilder, the former WBC heavyweight champion, is 45-4-1 with 43 knockouts and turned 41 in October.

The American most recently earned a split-decision victory over Derek Chisora at London’s O2 Arena in April. It was a gruelling contest in which Wilder struggled to reproduce his best form consistently, but the result gave him a second successive win following his stoppage of Tyrrell Anthony Herndon.

Opetaia puts cruiserweight plans on hold

Opetaia first won the IBF and Ring cruiserweight titles by defeating Mairis Briedis in July 2022. He was stripped of the IBF belt in December 2023 after proceeding with a fight against Ellis Zorro rather than an ordered rematch with Briedis, then regained the vacant title by beating the Latvian for a second time in May 2024.

His move to Zuffa Boxing in January led to another dispute with the IBF. The governing body withdrew its sanction for Opetaia’s promotional debut against Brandon Glanton in March over Zuffa’s introduction of its own world championship. Opetaia proceeded with the fight and won on points, but was subsequently stripped of the IBF title for a second time. He later challenged the decision in federal court.

The southpaw returned in September to stop WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian in the ninth round in Las Vegas. The WBC had not sanctioned the bout as a title fight, meaning Mikaelian retained his belt despite the defeat. He was stripped shortly afterwards over an outstanding mandatory defence against David Benavidez, while Opetaia remained recognised as champion by The Ring and Zuffa.

A potential cruiserweight championship fight with WBA and WBO titleholder Benavidez had been discussed for May 2027. The WBC subsequently ordered Benavidez to face Michal Cieslak, with Opetaia designated to meet the winner.

Facing Wilder puts Opetaia’s pursuit of the remaining cruiserweight titles on hold while he tests himself against a former heavyweight champion and one of the division’s most destructive punchers.

Wilder’s route back at heavyweight

Wilder held the WBC title from 2015 to 2020 and made 10 successful defences before losing it to Fury in the second fight of their trilogy. Their first contest ended in a draw, with Fury stopping Wilder in both rematches.

A first-round knockout of Robert Helenius in October 2022 was followed by consecutive defeats to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. The loss to Zhang in June 2024 ended hopes of Wilder facing Joshua at that stage, and he has since rebuilt with victories over Herndon and Chisora.

Wilder had recently been linked with unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, but those discussions did not produce an agreement. His manager, Shelly Finkel, later disclosed that representatives working with Zuffa and Saudi boxing financier Turki Alalshikh had approached him about facing Opetaia on the Fury–Joshua bill.

The American had also discussed challenging WBA champion Murat Gassiev. On November 2, Wilder identified Gassiev as his preferred opponent, despite reports three days earlier that terms had been agreed for him to face Opetaia, although contracts remained unsigned.

The Cardiff contest was formally announced two days later, matching Wilder with a smaller but unbeaten opponent who has not fought professionally at heavyweight since 2017.

Fury and Joshua will meet in the main event, with the vacant WBA ‘super’ heavyweight title at stake.