Jai Opetaia

Opetaia was scheduled to face Daniel Ammann for the vacant WBC-OPBF and Australian cruiserweight titles on July 15, 2017.[11] He won the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout.[12] Opetaia was next scheduled to face Frankie Lopez for the vacant IBF Youth cruiserweight title on October 21, 2017.[13] He won the fight by a first-round technical knockout.[14]

Opetaia made his first Australian Cruiserweight title defense against Benjamin Kelleher on January 17, 2018. He won the fight by a third-round technical knockout.[15] Opetaia fought for yet another regional title on April 7, 2018, when he was set to face Lukas Paszkowsky for the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific cruiserweight title. He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.[16] Opetaia made his first WBO Asia-Pacific cruiserweight title defense against Kurtis Pegoraro on June 29, 2018. The fight was simultaneously a fight for the vacant IBF Pan-Pacific cruiserweight title. He won the fight by a second-round knockout.[17]

Opetaia fought Navosa Ioata for the vacant WBA Oceania interim cruiserweight title on May 15, 2019, and won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout.[18] Opetaia made his first title defense two months later, on July 27, 2019, against Nikolas Charalampous, while also fighting for the vacant WBO Global cruiserweight title. He won the fight by unanimous decision.[19] Opetaia made the first defense of these two titles, and fought for the inaugural IBF Asia-Oceania cruiserweight title, against Mark Flanagan on November 16, 2019.[20] He won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout.[21]

Opetaia was scheduled to defend his IBF Asia-Oceania and WBO Global cruiserweight titles in a rematch with Benjamin Kelleher on October 22, 2020.[22] He won the fight by a sixth-round technical knockout.[23]

Opetaia was scheduled to challenge the reigning IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis on 6 April 2022.[24] The bout was postponed on February 16, as Briedis tested positive for COVID-19.[25] The bout was rescheduled for 11 May, and was expected to take place at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.[26] The bout was once again postponed on April 8, as Opetaia suffered a rib injury,[27] and rescheduled for July 2.[28] Opetaia won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 116–112, 116–112 and 115–113.[29] During the fight, Opetaia badly broke his jaw in two places. Unable to give an interview following the match, he was instead taken directly to the hospital to undergo surgery to repair the fractures.[30]

Opetaia was expected to face mandatory challenger Mateusz Masternak in early 2023, but was forced to undergo left shoulder surgery on February 1, 2023.[31] He requested a 60-day medical extension from the IBF before entering into negotiations with Masternak, which was granted on February 18.[32] The two camps failed to come to terms despite the extension and a pursed bid was called by the sanctioning body for July 15, 2023.[33] Masternak withdrew from the bid a day before it was supposed to take place. The IBF removed Masternak's mandatory status the very next day and ordered Opeteia to face the #2 ranked cruiserweight contender Richard Riakporhe instead.[34] Riakporhe himself withdrew from the negotiations on August 8, 2023, shortly before a scheduled purse bid hearing.[35]

The IBF designated former champion Mairis Briedis as the next mandatory challenger on August 10, 2023. The sanctioning body ordered the two to enter into negotiations that very same day.[36] Opetaia's team requested an immediate purse bid in lie of a negotiation period.[37] The sanctioning body indefinitely suspended the purse bid hearing on August 22.[38] This allowed Opetaia to enter into negotiations with Jordan Thompson for a voluntary title defense that took place at the Wembley Arena in London, England on September 30, 2023.[39] Opetaia defeated Thompson by TKO in the fourth round and made the first successful defense of his belt.[40]