Jack (left) and Adonis Stevenson battled to a draw in 2018. They have 30-days to negotiate what looks an intriguing fight. THE FUTURE: The WBA called for Dorticos to get a shot at their champion Arsen Goulamirian earlier this month. His career has been blighted by inactivity since, fighting just twice since. He bounced back in Season 2 of the WBSS with a win over Mateusz Masternak (UD 12) and won the vacant IBF title at the expense of Andrew Tabiti (KO 10) but lost in the final to Briedis (MD 12) in September 2020. The 37-year-old impressively took out fellow power-puncher Dmitry Kudryashov (TKO 2) and was upgraded to full WBA titleholder before losing a shootout to then-IBF titleholder Murat Gassiev (TKO 12) in a unification bout. THE PAST: The big-punching Cuban won his first 21 bouts, however, his career lacked direction until he took part in Season 1 of the WBSS. THE FUTURE: Stepped aside to let Opetaia face Thompson under the proviso that he faces the winner, so you’d imagine they’ll met next in early 2024. He had been due to return in the summer but an injury curtailed those plans. He marked time by easily beating Artur Mann (TKO 3) before dropping his titles to Opetaia (UD 12). He beat Yuniel Dorticos (MD 12) in the final to pick up the prestigious Muhammad Ali trophy as well as the Ring magazine championship. Quickly got back to winning ways, signed up for Season 2 of the elimination tournament, and scored wins over Noel Gevor Mikaelyan (UD 12) and Krzysztof Glowacki (TKO 3). After successfully defending against Mike Perez (UD 12) in the quarter-final of the WBSS, he lost a close encounter against Oleksandr Usyk (MD 12) in a unification bout. THE PAST: Briedis became the first Latvian to win a world championship when he outboxed Marco Huck (UD 12) to claim the vacant WBC title. THE FUTURE: Tabbed to face Mairis Briedis in a rematch next, though a unification would supersede that. He suffered a badly broken jaw against Briedis and took 14-months to recover but when he did he looked as good as ever taking out Jordan Thompson (TKO 4). He boxed very well early and held off the Latvian’s late surge to claim a hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision. It was an opportunity Opetaia didn’t let pass. However, he got his big break when his team where able to bring The Ring and IBF titlist Mairis Briedis to Australia last July. The 28-year-old southpaw claimed the national and OPBF cruiserweight titles and holds wins over middle-level opposition including Mark Flanagan (TKO 8) and Benjamin Kelleher (TKO 6). ![]() THE PAST: Opetaia was a top amateur in Australia and represented his country at the 2012 Olympics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games before turning pro in 2015. ![]() The recent impressive return of Ring champion Jai Opetaia hopefully will help ignite the division again as there are good fights to be made. As always, please enjoy the debate and respect other people’s opinions. ![]() Next up is cruiserweight, which has been somewhat stagnant this year.
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