Opetaia vs Briedis II

Who won Opetaia vs Briedis II?

Jai Opetaia beat Mairis Briedis by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest on Saturday, May 18th, 2024, at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.

The scorecards were announced as 117-111, 116-112, 116-112 in favor of winner Jai Opetaia.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Cruiserweight division, which meant the weight limit was 200 pounds (14.3 stone or 90.7 kg).

This contest was for the unified cruiserweight championship of the world, with the IBF, and The Ring belts on the line.

Opetaia was making his 5th defense of the The Ring Cruiserweight Championship. He won this belt against Mairis Briedis in July 2022. He had held this belt for 2 years, 10 months and 19 days.

He was also making his 3rd defense of the IBF World Cruiserweight Championship. He won this belt against Mairis Briedis in May 2024. He had held this title for 1 year and 3 days.

This fight appeared on the undercard of Tyson Fury losing to Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC World Heavyweight, WBO World Heavyweight, WBA Super World Heavyweight and IBF World Heavyweight championship. Also on the undercard Joe Cordina lost to Anthony Cacace for the IBF World Junior Lightweight belt, Agit Kabayel defeated Frank Sanchez for the WBC World Heavyweight title, Sergey Kovalev was defeated by Robin Sirwan Safar, Mark Chamberlain beat Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab, Isaac Lowe defeated Hasibullah Ahmadi, and Daniel Lapin was victorious over Octavio Pudivitr.

Opetaia vs Briedis II stats

Back in May 2024, Jai Opetaia stepped into the ring with an undefeated record of 24 wins, zero losses, and 0 draws.

Mairis Briedis made his way to the ring with a record of 28 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws.

Jai Opetaia was the younger man by 11 years, at 28 years old.

Opetaia had a height advantage of 2 inches over Briedis. That also extended to a 1-inch reach advantage.

Jai Opetaia fought out of the southpaw stance, while Mairis Briedis was an orthodox fighter.

Opetaia was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 6 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2015, 5 years and 9 months later than Briedis, whose first professional fight was in 2009. He had fought 55 fewer professional rounds, totaling 124 compared to Briedis' 179.

Jai Opetaia went into the fight ranked number 4 by the IBF at cruiserweight.

Mairis Briedis was ranked number 3 by the IBF in the 200lb division.

Opetaia vs Briedis II form

Opetaia remained undefeated as a professional, stopping 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Ellis Zorro on December 23, 2023, by knockout in the 1st round in their The Ring Cruiserweight championship fight at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Prior to that, he had won against Jordan Thompson on September 30, 2023, by technical knockout in the 4th round in their IBF World Cruiserweight and The Ring Cruiserweight championship fight at Wembley Arena, Wembley, United Kingdom.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Mairis Briedis on July 2, 2022, by unanimous decision in their IBF World Cruiserweight and The Ring Cruiserweight championship fight at Gold Coast Convention Centre, Queensland, Australia.

Before that, he had defeated Daniel Russell on December 4, 2021, by technical knockout in the 3rd round at Fortitude Music Hall, Queensland.

He had won against Benjamin Kelleher on October 22, 2020, by technical knockout in the 6th round at Fortitude Music Hall, Queensland.

Briedis had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Jai Opetaia on July 2, 2022, by unanimous decision in their IBF World Cruiserweight and The Ring Cruiserweight championship fight at Gold Coast Convention Centre, Queensland, Australia.

Prior to that, he had defeated Artur Mann on October 16, 2021, by technical knockout in the 3rd round in their IBF World Cruiserweight championship fight at Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Yuniel Dorticos on September 26, 2020, by majority decision in their IBF World Cruiserweight and The Ring Cruiserweight championship fight at Plazamedia Broadcasting Center, Munich, Germany.

Before that, he had won against Krzysztof Glowacki on June 15, 2019, by technical knockout in the 3rd round in their WBO World Cruiserweight championship fight at Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia.

He had beaten Noel ‘Gevor’ Mikaelian on November 10, 2018, by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at UIC Pavilion, Illinois, United States.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Jai Opetaia had been fighting more than Mairis Briedis.

Going into this contest, Jai Opetaia had last fought 4 months and 25 days ago, while Mairis Briedis' last outing had been 1 year, 10 months and 16 days ago.

Opetaia's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 6 months and 26 days, which means he had been fighting approximately every 8 months and 17 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 26 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 5.2 rounds on average.

Briedis' last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 6 months and 8 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 7 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 42 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 8.4 rounds on average.

What time did Opetaia vs Briedis II start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 9:00 PM UTC at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was 5:00 PM EST or 2:00 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 10:00 PM BST in the UK.

Who broadcast Opetaia vs Briedis II?

Opetaia vs Briedis II was broadcast on DAZN PPV UK in the UK, while the fight was broadcast in the United States by ESPN+ PPV.

What were the odds on Opetaia vs Briedis II?

Jai Opetaia was a 1/5 (-500) favorite going into the contest, while Mairis Briedis made his way into the ring at 9/2 (+450) with oddsmakers.