Jai Opetaia’s next opponent has been revealed, with the undefeated Australian set to face Claudio Squeo on May 13 on the Gold Coast.
Opetaia (27-0) will be putting his IBF and The Ring cruiserweight titles on the line in a voluntary defence, with one eye surely on a hotly anticipated unification bout with Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
Squeo (17-0) is also yet to taste defeat in his pro career but is taking a significant step up in class for this bout.
The Italian is ranked by the IBF at 14 in the cruiserweight standings and does not feature in The Ring’s top 10.
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Optetaia vs. Squeo fight confirmed
Opetaia has labelled his upcoming bout with Squeo as a “stay busy” fight, with the hope of securing a unification shot by the end of the year.
“It’s bull—-. The best should be fighting the best,” Opetaia told DAZN after his Squeo bout was confirmed.
“I’ve got two belts, he (Ramirez) has got two belts – I want to push for this fight.
“It just doesn’t make sense to me why it’s not getting over the line … the only reason to me would be he’s ducking.
“We’re really pushing for these unification fights but I can only do so much.
“This is another ‘stay busy’ fight which I’m not taking lightly.”
Opetaia’s road to cruiserweight unification
Speaking to Sporting News in February, the current IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion revealed Turki Alalshikh has personally told him he intends to make the fight happen.
“Every time I see his excellency, Turki Alalshikh, I always hit him up and say, ‘Unification?'” Opetaia said.
“He told me personally, ‘We’ll make that fight happen by the end of the year,’ so I’ve been told it’s going to happen this year.”
Opetaia, who recently defended his world titles on the Gold Coast in January, immediately called out Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez afterwards, who currently holds the WBA and WBO titles in the cruiserweight division.
Ramirez has a 47-1 professional boxing record, where his only career loss to date is to Dmitry Bivol, and is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya, as part of Golden Boy Promotions.
“Every time I see Oscar De La Hoya, I’m always hitting him up, and ask, ‘When we are fighting?'” he added.
“Oscar always says, ‘We are going to make it happen.'”
When did Opetaia last fight?
Opetaia made an active start to 2025, successfully defending his cruiserweight titles against David Nyika, courtesy of a vicious fourth-round knockout.
The Gold Coast-based southpaw took on Olympic bronze medallist Nyika in early January on three weeks’ notice, after his original opponent, Huseyin Cinkara, was forced to withdraw after suffering a broken ankle during camp.
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