On Wednesday morning, at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Queensland, Australia, the IBF Cruiserweight Champion Jai Opetaia will face David Nyika. Nyika, who is from New Zealand but currently resides in Australia, has a record of 10-0 in his professional boxing career, including nine knockouts.
Opetaia last fought on the undercard of Beterbiev vs. Bivol in October. He knocked out Jack Massey in the sixth round and continues to prove he is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world at 29 years old. This is the first time that Opetaia will defend his IBF title in his homeland since he beat Mairis Briedis in July 2022 in the same arena. Nyika went 2-0 in 2024 while knocking out both opponents. He has finished each of his previous seven opponents.
In this bout, Opetaia is the smaller fighter. Nyika has a significant four-inch height (6’6″ vs. 6’2″) advantage and a two-inch reach (78″ vs. 76″) edge over the champion. Although the physical differences may seem extreme, Opetaia remains a massive favorite to retain his championship. Opetaia is -1100, while Nyika is the +650 underdog on DraftKings Sportsbook.
One of the fastest-rising prospects in the heavyweight division, Justis Huni, is taking on Shaun Potgieter in the co-main event. Huni, 25, is 11-0 with six knockouts in his boxing career. He is fighting in his home country for the third straight time. Huni finished 2024 3-0, with his last two victories coming by knockout. He is an even bigger favorite than Opetaia, being -2500, while Potgieter is +1100.
Potgieter is 10-1 with seven knockouts and is on a seven-fight win streak after suffering his first career loss in March 2022. According to BoxRec, this is a significant mismatch, with Huni ranked No. 16 while Potgieter is No. 105 in the heavyweight division.
This card has an early start time since it is taking place in Australia. The main card begins on DAZN at 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 8, with the Main Event ringwalks expected to occur at 7:00 a.m. ET.
Full Card
(C) Jai Opetaia vs David Nyika
IBF cruiserweight title
Justis Huni vs Shaun Potgieter
Heavyweight Bout
Ben Mahoney vs Fan Zhang
Super Welterweight Bout
Max McIntyre vs Abdulselam Saman
Super Middleweight Bout
Billy McAllister vs Jordan Towns
Light Heavyweight Bout
Teremoana Jr vs Osasu Otobo
Heavyweight Bout
Taylah Gentzen vs Shauna Browne
Super Lightweight Bout
Tony Ingram vs Runqi Zhou
Featherweight Bout
Kodi Shallali vs Albert Tu’ua
Middleweight Bout
Jai Williams vs Jag Guthmann-Chester
Super Featherweight Bout
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.
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