It’ll soon be back-to-back U.S. appearances for Australia’s Jai Opetaia, who has landed the co-feature slot on one of the biggest boxing cards in 2026.
Opetaia, the reigning Zuffa cruiserweight champion, will defend his title against Noel Mikaelian on the Sept. 12 Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn undercard at the T-Mobile in Las Vegas.
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Mikaelian is the reigning WBC cruiserweight world champion. The status of that title was not clarified in Tuesday’s announcement, although Mikaelian did assert his intention to defend his crown.
“When I step into the ring on September 12 against Jai Opetaia in Las Vegas, I intend to defend my world championship,” Mikaelian said in a press release.
Opetaia (30-0, 23 KOs), a former two-time IBF cruiserweight champion, routed Brandon Glanton in his Zuffa Boxing debut in March.
Mikaelian (28-3, 12 KOs) was last in action this past December when he dethroned Badou Jack of his WBC belt.
Mikaelian was ordered to put his WBC belt on the line against unified WBA and WBO cruiserweight champion David Benavidez in May. Although it is rare for a sanctioning body to order their champion to face another titleholder, Benavidez’s status as reigning WBC light heavyweight champion allowed him to successfully request mandatory status for the WBC cruiserweight title.
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With Mikaelian instead taking the fight with Opetaia, he is expected to be stripped of his WBC world title, however the WBC’s rules are inconsistently enforced and therefore it is currently unclear whether he will be relinquished of the belt.
Benavidez’s and Mikaelian’s respective promoters, Sampson Lewkowicz and Don King, did strike a deal for their fight, but Mikaelian has chosen to sign with Zuffa Boxing and fight Opetaia instead. King is understood to claim a legally binding contract with Mikaelian and is expected to sue.
As was the case when then-IBF champion Opetaia announced his fight with Glanton earlier this year, more drama is thought to come between the sanctioning bodies, Zuffa Boxing and Opetaia’s quest for undisputed as a result of Tuesday’s announcement.
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