Jai Opetaia and David Benavidez have agreed to fight each other next May. The two cruiserweights shook hands inside the ring following Opetaia’s victory over Noel Mikaelian on Saturday (September 12) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
- Australia’s Opetaia (30-0, 23 KOs) defeated fellow two-time world champion Mikaelian of Armenia by ninth-round TKO.
- Three-division world champion Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs) last fought in June, when he stopped Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in six rounds to claim the unified WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles.
When his fight with Mikaelian was announced in August, Opetaia called out Benavidez, saying he was running and hiding.
‘There can only be one monster’
“I mean, cuz I respect him,” Opetaia said during his post-fight interview when asked why he wanted to fight Benavidez. “You know, he’s done a lot for the sport. It’s been awesome. You know, and what better fight to make? How exciting. You know, respectfully, let’s get it on.”
Benavidez, who entered the ring, said, “let’s do it right here. Cinco de Mayo. Next year.”
“All right, done. Done,” Opetaia responded.
After the two shook hands, Benavidez said, “Respect. Respect. This is a great fighter right here, the strong fighter, but there can only be one monster in this weight division.”
‘Give the fans a hell of a fight’
“That’s why I respect this man so much,” Benavidez said about Opetaia wanting to fight him. “You know, he’s a boogeyman of the division. But I’m the person they call when it’s time to kill the boogeyman. And this man, this is a great fighter, but we’re going to give the fans a great fight.”
When asked how he would beat Benavidez, Opetaia said, “I will find out in the time, but he said it now. He’s not taking it back. Let’s go.”
Benavidez added, “I like this man. He looks like he likes war. I’m the exact same way, so we’re going to give the fans a hell of a fight.”
Opetaia said, “We live for these moments. We live for them. Let’s go.”
- Further details for the clash between Benavidez and Opetaia are expected to follow in due course.
In Saturday’s main event, Ryan Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs) of Victorville, California, dominated and stopped Britain’s Conor Benn (25-2, 14 KOs) in the second round to retain his WBC welterweight title.