{"id":921167,"date":"2026-10-08T23:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T23:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921167\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T23:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T23:20:16","slug":"jai-opetaia-eyes-deontay-wilder-for-heavyweight-entry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921167\/","title":{"rendered":"Jai Opetaia Eyes Deontay Wilder For Heavyweight Entry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deontay Wilder could give Jai Opetaia<\/a> a big name for his heavyweight entry, with Mike Coppinger of The Ring reporting that the matchup is being explored for the December 11 Tyson Fury<\/a>\u2013Anthony Joshua undercard in Cardiff.<\/p>\n

The appeal is easy to see. Opetaia would get a former heavyweight champion on a Netflix card, giving him a chance to introduce himself to viewers who haven\u2019t followed his cruiserweight career. Wilder would have an opportunity to beat a smaller fighter whose ambitions would depend on surviving his right hand.<\/p>\n

What Opetaia would learn from the fight is another question. Wilder\u2019s knockout threat makes him dangerous, but his style would test particular parts of Jai\u2019s game. Avoiding a long right hand while outboxing Wilder wouldn\u2019t tell us how Opetaia responds to a heavyweight who crowds him, works his body and makes him fight at a sustained pace.<\/p>\n

Jai\u2019s movement and quicker combinations could leave Wilder waiting for an opening while rounds slip away. Opetaia would have opportunities to attack the body and change angles against an opponent who needs room to deliver his best punch. If Jai could control that distance, the fight might look favorable for him for long stretches.<\/p>\n

That would still require discipline. Wilder wouldn\u2019t need to match his output to hurt him, and Opetaia\u2019s willingness to attack could bring him within reach. A successful combination wouldn\u2019t be an invitation to stay there and throw another.<\/p>\n

The commercial reward could be greater than the sporting evidence. A win would put Opetaia\u2019s name into heavyweight conversations immediately, especially if he stopped Wilder. Yet it would leave unanswered how he fares against opponents who can combine size, physical pressure and a steady supply of punches.<\/p>\n

Those are the tests that would follow if Jai intends to pursue a heavyweight title. Wilder could help him secure those opportunities, but beating him wouldn\u2019t complete the argument that Opetaia belongs among the division\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

The proposed fight remains under discussion. If it comes together, Opetaia would have a chance to turn his cruiserweight success into wider recognition, with Wilder getting the chance to wreck those plans with one punch.<\/p>\n

Share this article<\/p>\n

About the authorBoxing 24\/7 Wire<\/p>\n

Boxing247.com is an independent boxing news publication covering the sport since 2001. It provides original reporting, fight analysis, schedules, results, and informed coverage of major fighters and events worldwide, backed by more than 25 years of professional boxing journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deontay Wilder could give Jai Opetaia a big name for his heavyweight entry, with Mike Coppinger of The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-921167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921167","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=921167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}