Wilder and Opetaia to fight on undercard in Cardiff — The Guardian

Former WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder will face Australian Jai Opetaia on the undercard of the Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua fight. The boxing event will take place on 11 December at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff and will be broadcast worldwide on Netflix, The Guardian reports.

Opetaia’s heavyweight debut

The 31-year-old Opetaia, who competes at cruiserweight, will move up to the heavyweight division for this bout. The Australian southpaw is unbeaten in 31 professional fights. In 2022, he won the IBF cruiserweight world title by defeating Mairis Briedis.

Opetaia represented Australia at the 2012 Olympic Games in London when he was 16 years old. The fight against Wilder will be his first appearance at heavyweight.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Wilder’s record

Wilder is 41 years old. The American held the WBC heavyweight belt from 2015 to 2020 and made 10 successful title defences before losing it to Fury. He has 45 wins, four losses and one draw, with 43 of his victories coming by knockout.

After defeats to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, Wilder continued his career by beating Tyrrell Anthony Herndon and Derek Chisora. Dana White of Zuffa Boxing said on social media that the opponents have a combined 67 knockouts.

The main event between Fury and Joshua was confirmed in September after years of unsuccessful negotiations. The undercard bouts are scheduled for Friday, while the main-event participants are expected to enter the ring at around 02:00 on Saturday so that the broadcast fits US prime time.