Mairis Briedis Returns To Ring In May Vs. Jai Opetaia

Mairis Briedis has his next fight set.

Briedis (28-1, 20 KOs) has been officially rescheduled to take on undefeated Jai Opetaia (21-0, 17 KOs) on May 11 in Australia, marking Briedis’ second defense of his IBF cruiserweight title.

Briedis was supposed to face his challenger on April 6, but the Latvian boxer had to withdraw due to testing positive for Covid-19.

Now, he’s set to return to the ring after previously scoring a third-round knockout over Artur Mann in October in his home country.

During the time Briedis was out, he made an unexpected callout to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, saying he wanted a fight with him. Briedis ended up getting a leg tattoo of Paul.

Meanwhile, Opetaia is credited for being an amateur standout. He represented Australia in 2012 at the London Olympics. At age 16, he became the youngest boxer to represent Australia in the Olympics.

His pro career run has yet to make much noise.

Briedis has won his last five fights since suffering his only career loss, a 12-round decision, to Oleksandr Usyk in their January 2018 cruiserweight title unification bout.