Jai Opetaia stormed into the Knockout of the Year conversation with a devastating late entry.
Opetaia retained his IBF cruiserweight title with a brutal eighth-round knockout win over Huseyin Cinkara in the early hours of Saturday morning at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.
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Opetaia (29-0, 23 KOs) countered a right from Cinkara with a powerful left hand over the top that crushed Cinkara onto the canvas. Cinkara was motionless for a couple of minutes and required medical assistance immediately after.
It was a savage finish from Opetaia in a fight that didn’t go all his own way.
The Australian was troubled by Cinkara in Round 2 when a right-hand counter from the German rocked Opetaia to his boots. Cinkara presented the most adversity Opetaia faced since his rematch with Mairis Briedis in May 2024.
Cinkara (23-1, 19 KOs) had success countering Opetaia throughout the contest, with the IBF champion struggling with Cinkara’s accurate right hands. Cinkara also caused damage to Opetaia’s eye with his jab.
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Opetaia invested in the body from the opening bell and the work started to pay dividends in the mid-rounds as Cinkara was clearly tired and losing the speed that he had early doors.
As Cinkara continued to fatigue, Opetaia was able to pin him onto the ring ropes with more regularity, and from then on it was only a matter of time until he produced the highlight-reel finish.
Opetaia, unhappy with his performance, called for unification fights with unified champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Badou Jack in his post-fight interview. Ramirez has signed to fight David Benavidez on May 2 in Las Vegas, while Jack defends his title in a rematch with Noel Mikaelyan next week.
Elsewhere on the card, 2024 Australian Olympian-turned star heavyweight prospect Teremoana Teremoana (9-0, 9 KOs) knocked out German Garcia Montes (9-7, 9 KOs) in the opening round. It was the sixth consecutive first-round knockout for Teremoana, who extend his winning record to nine — all inside-the-distance.
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Check out Opetaia vs. Cinkara results and highlights below, as well as Uncrowned’s play-by-play of the main card.
Fight Card
Cruiserweight: Jai Opetaia def. Huseyin Cinkara via eighth-round KO | Watch video
Super Middleweight: Max McIntyre def. Jed Morris via fourth-round TKO
Super Lightweight: Jake Wyllie vs. Paul Fleming declared split draw (93-97, 100-90, 95-95)
Heavyweight: Teremoana Teremoana def. German Garcia Montes via first-round KO | Watch video
Super Welterweight: Ben Mahoney def. Winston Hill via sixth-round KO
Bantamweight: Jason Moloney def. Herlan Gomez via fourth-round TKO
Live coverage is over45 updates
Darshan Desai
Darshan Desai
Jai Opetaia counters Cinkara’s right hand with a brutal left hand, and Cinkara is down and out.
That was a devastating KO. Cinkara is showing no signs of movement, and the paramedics are immediately at his side. It was a terrific finish from Opetaia after a tough test.
Darshan Desai
Left from Opetaia connects to open Round 7. Opetaia is finding a home for left hands in this round. When Opetaia looks to land hard power shots up close, Cinkara makes Opetaia miss and finds a counter. Opetaia needs to finish this fight to the body or at long range because he is struggling to follow up on successes at close range. Cinkara’s gas tank left him about three rounds ago, but he is fighting on heart and instinct and still giving Opetaia problems. HARD left downstairs from Opetaia to end the seventh.
10-9 Opetaia, 69-64 Opetaia
Darshan Desai
Jai Opetaia’s right eye is swollen, courtesy of Cinkara’s jab. Nice left hand from Opetaia forces Cinkara’s head back early in the sixth. Cinkara makes Opetaia miss with his following attack and counters. Strong left from Cinkara. Opetaia with a three-piece. Lefts to the body from Opetaia are consistent and doing their part in breaking Cinkara down. Clean crushing left hand lands for Opetaia to end the first half of this world title fight.
10-9 Opetaia, 59-55 Opetaia
Darshan Desai
Opetaia is caught by a long right hand early in the fifth. The Aussie just fell short with an overhand left. Now Cinkara is forced onto the ring ropes by a left. Short-right counter catches Opetaia just before the one-minute mark. Opetaia is trying too hard to get a finish, and he is paying the price for it. HARD left lands for the champion. Cinkara slipped the left that time. The commentary team continues to admire Cinkara’s counter-punching as Opetaia walks forward. The German looks exhausted now, though.
10-9 Opetaia, 49-46 Opetaia
Darshan Desai
Nice right by Cinkara to open the fourth, but Opetaia comes straight back with a power punch of his own. Cinkara walked Opetaia into a right hand in the final minute; it didn’t have much steam behind it, though. The crowd is rallying behind Opetaia as he looks for a big punch. Cinkara is unable to cope with the footwork of Opetaia for the most part, but he is doing a good job of keeping Opetaia honest.
10-9 Opetaia, 39-37 Opetaia
Darshan Desai
Into the third round. Has Opetaia recovered? He begins on the front foot. Opetaia is using his right to keep Cinkara’s mind busy. Nice right hook-left hand two-piece for Opetaia before the halfway point in the third. Cinkara is starting to feel these power shots from Opetaia now, and that body work from the Aussie is clearly paying off. Cinkara spent much of the second half of that round on the ring ropes, with Opetaia landing big bombs.
10-9 Opetaia, 29-28 Opetaia
Darshan Desai
Into the second frame. Opetaia lands a couple of lefts early in the round. Opetaia is on the front foot, pressuring Cinkara. Left hook counter from Cinkara, but it was a left hand from Opetaia that looked the more powerful. Opetaia continues to fire the left hand to the body to disguise the power shot upstairs. HARD left from Opetaia at the two-minute mark knocks Cinkara’s head back. Right hand counter from Cinkara and OPETAIA IS HURT! Wow!
10-9 Cinkara, 19-19
Darshan Desai
Fast feet from Opetaia early. He’s looking for a left hand down the middle from the southpaw stance. Opetaia feints with his lead hand. Cinkara isn’t biting early and is employing a similar style. Cinkara attempts a straight right, but it falls short. It was Opetaia who went for a left hand over the top that time, similarly ineffective. Straight left connects for Opetaia in the final 30 seconds. Now, to the body goes Opetaia.
10-9 Opetaia
Darshan Desai
We are ready for tonight’s main event on the Gold Coast.
Darshan Desai
Jai Opetaia defends his IBF cruiserweight title against his mandatory challenger, Huseyin Cinkara.
Opetaia (28-0, 22 KOs), widely regarded as the No. 1 cruiserweight in the world, makes the fifth defense of his world title. The Aussie defeated Mairis Briedis in a July 2022 upset to capture the IBF crown. He became a two-time champion by repeating his win over Briedis in May 2024. Saturday marks the third fight of 2025 for Opetaia.
Cinkara (23-0, 19 KOs) was scheduled to challenge Opetaia in January, but broke his ankle in training and was forced to withdraw, leading to Nyika replacing him on short notice. The German, now based in Turkey, became the mandatory challenger with a second-round stoppage of Armend Xhoxhaj in April 2024. His latest in-ring appearance came this past April, when he stopped Juan Diaz in the first round.
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 05: Jai Opetaia and Huseyin Cinkara onstage during the weigh in at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 05, 2025 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
(Matt Roberts via Getty Images)
Darshan Desai
A left hook-right uppercut-right hand over the top three-piece sent Jed Morris to the canvas in the final 40 seconds of Round 4. Morris got to his feet, but his corner called off the fight. The uppercut was the damaging blow — and it was one for the highlight reel.
McIntyre slowly broke his man down with body shots and combinations on the inside. The uppercut had worked for him a couple of times tonight, as had the left hook up close. Morris was game but ultimately outclassed.
Darshan Desai
Jed Morris was rocked by a pair of left hooks from Max McIntyre in the second half of Round 4. Morris isn’t ready to go yet, though. He is still offering resistance and trading with McIntyre.
Darshan Desai
The right-hand is finding a home for McIntyre in Round 2.
He rocked Morris with a slip, right-hand combination in the final minute, and seemed to have Morris in trouble again later in the final minute with a right. Morris still isn’t offering much in this contest. It’s been a good showing for McIntyre through six minutes.
Darshan Desai
Morris entered the contest stiff and tense. It was easy for McIntyre to land sharp shots on Morris with his left hand. Morris didn’t offer much in the opener in terms of offense — he looked a bit overwhelmed by the big stage. McIntyre invested in the mid-section on several occasions with hooks around the body.
Darshan Desai
Super middleweight prospect Max McIntyre (8-0, 7 KOs) faces Jed Morris (8-2, 7 KOs) over eight rounds.
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 05: Jed Morris​ pushes Max McIntyre as they face off during the weigh in at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 05, 2025 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
(Matt Roberts via Getty Images)
Darshan Desai
Darshan Desai
Jake Wyllie and Paul Fleming can’t be split after ten rounds on the Gold Coast. They fight to a split draw (97-93 Paul Fleming, 100-90 Wyllie, 95-95 draw). One judge absurdly gave Wyllie every round.
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 05: Paul Fleming and Jake Wyllie face off during the weigh in at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 05, 2025 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
(Matt Roberts via Getty Images)
Darshan Desai
Fleming had a nice spell in the ninth frame. He walked Wyllie onto left-hand counters and snuck the right hook in between Wyllie’s guard in the penultimate stanza. Wyllie’s pressure is constant, but he was less assertive in the ninth. This could still be a close fight as we head into the final round. Fleming has shown better durability and stamina over ten rounds than some would’ve expected. Wyllie arguably hasn’t done a good job of slowing him down with body shots and an active jab. The inside work is good from Wyllie, though.
Darshan Desai
A combination from Wyllie in the final 30 seconds of the seventh backed Fleming up onto the ring ropes. The Gold Coast home crowd really got behind Wyllie, but it was Fleming who came back with a response. The Fleming corner believes their eye-catching work in spurts has them in front against Wyllie, although the STAN commentary team and Uncrowned’s unofficial scorecard disagree. The optics of the contest are certainly favoring Wyllie as it’s Fleming who is consistently on the back foot, along the ropes and looking to hold.