The co-main event for the highly anticipated heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua has been confirmed, with unbeaten cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia moving up to heavyweight to face former WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder on Friday, Dec. 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The 12-round bout was announced Wednesday by Saudi Arabian financier Turki Alalshikh and Zuffa Boxing CEO Dana White, adding further intrigue to an event already billed as the biggest boxing match in British history.
Opetaia (31-0, 24 KOs), a 2012 Australian Olympian and current "Ring" and Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight champion, will give up four inches in height and seven inches in reach to the 41-year-old Wilder (45-4-1, 43 KOs), who owns a 95% knockout rate. White highlighted the combined 67 knockouts between the two fighters, calling it a must-watch crossroads bout.
The Fury-Joshua main event will air live worldwide on Netflix. The card is promoted by Saudi entertainment company Sela in association with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions and Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Sport, with Zuffa Boxing producing the event for Alalshikh and "The Ring" after a legal dispute moved the fight from its original New York venue.
Opetaia, 31, won the inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight title by outpointing Brandon Glanton in March and stopped WBC titleholder Noel Mikaelian in September. Wilder, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, captured the WBC heavyweight title in 2015 and defended it 10 times before back-to-back losses to Fury. After recent defeats to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, Wilder rebounded with wins including a split decision over Derek Chisora in April.
