News reached The Ring that the premier cruiserweight in the world Mairis Briedis will face his IBF mandatory challenger Jai Opetaia in Australia on one of two dates in late March.

Briedis, who claimed The Ring championship against Yuniel Dorticos in September 2020, is excited about taking his titles on the road.

“We’re going to Australia,” Briedis (28-1, 20 knockouts) told The Ring. “As far as we’ve been told there is huge interest from Australia in the fight. It’s going to be a pay-per-view event.

“[Australian] people are excited to have the best cruiserweight in the world fight an unbeaten Aussie, it should be fun times.”

The 36-year-old became the first Latvian to win a world championship when he outboxed Marco Huck (UD 12) to claim the vacant WBC title in 2017. After successfully defending it against Mike Perez (UD 12) in the quarter-final of the WBSS, he lost a close decision against Aleksandr Usyk (MD 12) in a unification bout.

He won Season 2 of the elimination tournament, by scoring wins over Noel Gevor (UD 12), Krzysztof Glowacki (TKO 3) and Dorticos (MD 12). The rugged boxer-puncher most recently turned back the challenge of Artur Mann (TKO 3).

Opetaia was a top amateur in Australia and represented his country at the 2012 Olympics and 2014 Commonwealth games. He turned professional in 2015. The 26-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) all the while taking his record to (21-0, 17 KOs).

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