The Australian will fight Maris Briedis on the undercard of the fight for the undisputed heavyweight title.
Former IBF world cruiserweight champion Jay Opetaya said that he has been following the career of the WBO/WBA/IBF/IBO title holder in heavyweight for a long time Alexandra Usika and wants to fight a Ukrainian one day.
“I would like to fight Usyk. I’ve been watching him for a long time. I was a 17-year-old teenager during the 2012 London Olympics, where a Ukrainian won gold. I’ve always been in the shadows, I’ve always been very close and now I’m starting to come into my prime.”
“I’m not a little kid anymore. Now they know. I’m on their radar. It’s a good feeling. The tendril was always on top of where I was. To fight him, I would love it.”
Opetaya will fight Maris Briedis on the undercard of Usik’s fight with WBC champion Tyson Fury. Let us note that the Australian defeated the Latvian boxer in 2022, performing with a broken jaw.
The unification fight between Usik and Fury will take place on May 18. The referee in the ring for the reporting match will be Mark Nelson.
The list of other fights that will take place as part of the boxing evening in Saudi Arabia is also known. Among them is the fight between Ukrainian Daniel Lapin and Portuguese Octavio Pudivitra for the WBA Continental light heavyweight title.
The event will be hosted by Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The WBC proposes to reform the judges for the reporting fight, increasing their number to 5-6 people. Penalties for boxers who refuse to fight are $10 million.
WBC President Mauricio Suleiman announced that an agreement had been concluded between the boxers for a re-fight. The WBO is also ready to sanction the second fight. It was reported that the fate of a possible rematch depends on the holding of the first fight. Fury said there was a mandatory rematch clause in the contract. Subsequently, it became known that the second meeting in the ring between the Ukrainian and the British was scheduled for October 12-13.
Suleiman also presented a special WBC belt for which Usyk and Fury will fight. Its design uses the colors of the Ukrainian and British flags. Pope Francis has already blessed the World Boxing Council belt that will be on the line in the title fight.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
