Jai Opetaia and David Nyika meet in a cruiserweight world title main event on DAZN!
The first major show of 2025 brings us Jai Opetaia and David Nyika fighting for Opetaia’s IBF cruiserweight title in a DAZN main event from Gold Coast, Australia.
Prelims start at 2 am ET and the main card begins at 3 am ET, with the comments section below open for you to watch along and discuss. Bad Left Hook will start live coverage around 5-5:30 am ET for the main event and possibly more.
Opetaia (26-0, 20 KO) defends his IBF belt at home in Queensland for the first time in two and a half years. That’s when he won the title in a Fight of the Year caliber war against Mairis Briedis that left Opetaia with a devastating bilateral mandibular fracture. Opetaia is 4-0 since then, but the only real test of his talent came in a Briedis rematch last May. Today’s show was originally an IBF mandatory defense against Huseyin Cinkara, but a fractured ankle forced Cinkara to withdraw.
Into the gap steps David Nyika, a 29 year old native of New Zealand and resident of Australia, fighting for just the 11th time as a professional. Nyika (10-0, 9 KO) is just 38 days younger than Opetaia, having gone the Olympic route early in his career, ultimately winning a heavyweight bronze medal in Tokyo before really diving into the pro ranks. Nyika doesn’t have any wins on his resume anywhere near Opetaia’s level... But, Opetaia didn’t have those either before getting his big opportunity against Briedis.
The heavier the weight class, the harder it is for fighters in the Pacific Asia/Oceania region to find evenly spaced rungs to climb on the pro ladder. Opportunity may come fast, or not at all, and respect to Nyika for pouncing on this fight when Cinkara’s injury opened the door for him.
Whether we’re in for a big breakthrough or another demonstration of boxing’s old adage about levels to the game, the power and style matchup suggests a lively and explosive main event. If your time zone allows it, make sure to join us in the comments below!
