{"id":890117,"date":"2026-09-13T04:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T04:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/890117\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T04:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T04:59:10","slug":"aussie-jai-opetaia-lands-huge-ko-as-ryan-garcia-destroys-conor-benn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/890117\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie Jai Opetaia lands huge KO as Ryan Garcia destroys Conor Benn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aussie cruiserweight Jai Opetaia scored a brutal ninth-round KO victory over Armenian Norair Mikaeljian in Las Vegas on Sunday (AEST).<\/p>\n

The unbeaten Sydney-born star, 31, was the chief support to Ryan Garcia\u2019s win over Conor Benn at the T-Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n

Be the first to know when news breaks. Download our new app<\/a><\/p>\n

And he produced a statement performance, winning almost every round before landing a huge left hook that staggered Mikaeljian against the ropes.<\/p>\n

IBC 05: Hardman v Camilleri | Wednesday September 23 from 7pm AEST | The World\u2019s fastest growing combat sport returns with a showdown for the ages, as Isaac Hardman takes on veteran boxer Joel Camilleri in the Gold Coast. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\n

The referee gave a standing count, before he waved off the fight as Opetaia celebrated a 31st consecutive professional victory.<\/p>\n

Following his win, he called American David Benavidez into the ring \u2014 with the pair agreeing to a fight in May next year.<\/p>\n

Following Opetaia\u2019s stoppage, Garcia made light work of British challenger Benn to defend his WBC welterweight crown.<\/p>\n

An explosive start resulted in Garcia landing a huge straight right to drop Benn in the second.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

The Brit, who is the son of legendary fighter Nigel Benn, got back to his feet but was met by a barrage of punches on the ropes as the referee stepped in to end the contest.<\/p>\n

Like Opetaia, Garcia used his post-fight interview to call out his next opponent.<\/p>\n

He wanted Teofimo Lopez to get in the ring with him, but Lopez was blocked by security.<\/p>\n

That appears to be the next showpiece welterweight fight as Garcia re-establishes himself as the major draw in the division.<\/p>\n

Check out how the fight card unfolded via the blog below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aussie cruiserweight Jai Opetaia scored a brutal ninth-round KO victory over Armenian Norair Mikaeljian in Las Vegas on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":890118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[459751,459736,390985,140769,459764,459739,444776,459758,391203,459760,459773,459761,410715,459769,459735,88040,459765,459741,459755,64,43336,459746,459767,63,16805,802,459732,30027,64938,459748,459733,400310,459771,400267,459752,459734,459749,400308,459766,459770,459738,459742,2623,459753,427699,300066,194032,459740,44,204060,38065,459763,239139,37653,459768,450019,85,8825,103377,384566,382348,459750,459772,459745,459756,347190,459737,382541,46675,459747,459774,459754,376757,378484,2974,400295,459762,459757,410513,459759,459744,54798,420681,459743,41313],"class_list":["post-890117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-s-sensational-finish","tag-s-stoppage","tag-s-win","tag-140769","tag-7pm-aest","tag-a-31st-consecutive-professional-victory-following","tag-a-barrage","tag-a-brutal-ninth-round-ko-victory","tag-a-fight","tag-a-huge-left-hook","tag-a-huge-straight-right","tag-a-second-round-ko","tag-a-showdown","tag-a-standing-count","tag-a-statement-performance","tag-aest","tag-almost-every-round","tag-american-david-benavidez","tag-armenian-norair-mikaeljian","tag-au","tag-aussie","tag-aussie-cruiserweight-jai-opetaia","tag-aussie-jai-opetaia","tag-australia","tag-benn","tag-boxing","tag-british-challenger-benn","tag-conor-benn","tag-garcia","tag-growing-combat-sport-returns","tag-hardman-v-camilleri","tag-his-feet","tag-his-next-opponent-he","tag-his-post-fight-interview","tag-his-statement-tko-victory","tag-his-wbc-welterweight-crown-an-explosive-start","tag-his-wbc-welterweight-title-the-brit","tag-his-win","tag-huge-ko","tag-isaac-hardman","tag-kayo-sports-the-referee","tag-knockout-carnage","tag-las-vegas","tag-legendary-fighter-nigel-benn","tag-light-work","tag-lopez","tag-main-event","tag-mikaeljian","tag-news","tag-opetaia","tag-order","tag-our-new-appand","tag-punches","tag-ryan-garcia","tag-security-that","tag-september-23","tag-sports","tag-sunday","tag-teofimo-lopez","tag-the-ages","tag-the-biggest-stars","tag-the-blog","tag-the-chief-support","tag-the-contest-like-opetaia","tag-the-division-check","tag-the-fight","tag-the-fight-card","tag-the-first","tag-the-gold-coast","tag-the-huge-main-event","tag-the-major-draw","tag-the-next-showpiece-welterweight-fight","tag-the-pair","tag-the-referee","tag-the-ring","tag-the-ropes","tag-the-ropes-ibc-05","tag-the-second-american-superstar-ryan-garcia","tag-the-son","tag-the-t-mobile-arena-be","tag-the-unbeaten-sydney-born-star","tag-the-world","tag-two-rounds","tag-veteran-boxer-joel-camilleri","tag-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=890117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/890118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=890117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=890117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=890117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}