Deontay Wilder has reportedly agreed to a deal to fight Jai Opetaia on the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua undercard on Dec. 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Boxing Kingdom broke the news on X on Nov. 2, and Bloody Elbow followed with the details. Opetaia currently holds the Ring Magazine, WBA Regular and Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight titles.
The matchup first surfaced as a suggestion in October, and plenty of people treated it as a strange idea that would go nowhere. Now there’s reportedly a signed deal behind it. The bout is expected to take place at heavyweight, so Opetaia will move up from the 200-pound cruiserweight limit to meet Wilder in his own territory. The Australian has fought at heavyweight before, but not since 2017.
This will be Wilder’s second fight of the year. He came back after more than a year away to headline a Misfits Boxing card against Derek Chisora and won a split decision. The win didn’t quiet anyone. Wilder is 41, and the performance against Chisora prompted a fresh wave of fans asking him to retire. He’s responding by signing up to fight a reigning world champion on the biggest card of the winter.
The Cardiff setting carries some history for him, too. Wilder and Fury have shared a ring three times. Fury won two of those fights, and the other ended in a draw that still gets replayed whenever anyone argues about the best heavyweight fights of the era. Now Wilder fights underneath Fury on a night when Fury is chasing his own legacy against Joshua.
Bloody Elbow framed the stakes plainly. Opetaia carries the clear technical edge, while the heavyweight setting gives Wilder’s one-punch power its best possible chance to matter. A win over a sitting champion could push Wilder back toward the heavyweight title picture. For Opetaia, a win over a name as famous as Wilder would do a lot for his marketability, and it could put him on the radar of Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk has recently said he intends to drop back down to cruiserweight and has named David Benavidez as a possible opponent, so Opetaia has every reason to want his name in that conversation before the matchups get settled.
My take: I like Opetaia here, and I don’t think it’s especially close over a full fight. The question is how much heavyweight-level punishment he’s willing to absorb while he solves the puzzle, because Wilder only needs one clean right hand and has built a whole career on that math. The Chisora fight went to the cards and the judges split on it, which tells me the 41-year-old version of Wilder is landing that shot less often than he used to. A sharp, disciplined cruiserweight champion who keeps his chin tucked and wins the exchanges should get the decision or a late stoppage. If Opetaia gets greedy and stands in the pocket trying to prove he belongs at heavyweight, then Wilder gets the one moment he’s been fishing for since his last big win. Dec. 11 in Cardiff will show which version of Opetaia shows up.
