Jai Opetaia will return to the ring on the 8th of June against Claudio Squeo in Australia.
Jai Opetaia, now 27-0 after his knockout win over David Nyika in January, is set for another challenge as he faces undefeated 17-0 Italian Claudio Squeo.
Opetaia, the IBF cruiserweight champion, has long been searching for a tough test or a unification fight, and it seems with Squeo, despite his record, he has neither.
Claudio Squeo’s opponents have a combined record of 149-167
Claudio Squeo, 17-0, moved up the rankings as any boxer does, facing lower level opposition that gradually increases in ability, skill, and difficulty.
However, in his first 10 fights he faced just two opponents with winning records, one was a 14-11-2 journeyman who he KO’d in two rounds, and the other was a 3-1 fighter he beat in his debut.
Even in his most recent fight, Squeo faced a 16-18-2 fighter, who he stopped in two.
His best and perhaps only somewhat impressive win comes against 17-2-1 Niklas Rasanen, who he beat for a vacant European title.
Even in this fight, though, Squeo was dropped, and it is hard to see how he poses any threat to Opetaia.
Only two of Jai Opetaia’s opponents have made it to the final bell since 2016
Since 2016, nine years ago, Opetaia, who wasn’t paid til his 20th fight, has stopped 20 men, and beaten two others on points.
The first was 18-2 Nikolas Charalampous, who dug deep to make it to the final bell, despite losing every round.
Just three fights later, in 2022, Opetaia faced world champion Mairis Briedis, who called out Jake Paul, who he defeated on points to claim the title. Opetaia broke his jaw in the Briedis fight, but powered through.
Two years after that, he faced Briedis again, and the result was no different.