Lineal cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia is set to make a swift comeback less than three months after his last bout. He will face Huseyin Cinkara, the mandatory challenger to his IBF world title. This news was confirmed by Australian boxing broadcaster Ben Damon. The highly anticipated fight will take place at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.

Opetaia's Recent Fights and Titles

Opetaia, with an impressive record of 26-0 (20 KOs), last fought on October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In that fight, he made a voluntary defense against Jack Massey and achieved a sixth-round stoppage. This was his third consecutive appearance at the Kingdom Arena. The upcoming fight with Cinkara will be his first time performing in front of his home crowd as he lives in the nearby city of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. He won his first world title and the lineal championship there in his first fight with Mairis Briedis in July 2022.After making one defense of the IBF belt, Opetaia vacated it to face Ellis Zorro in December 2023. He then rematched Briedis this May, with the vacant IBF title on the line, and emerged victorious with another unanimous decision.

Challengers and IBF Rules

The 29-year-old Opetaia is now choosing to hold on to the title, especially with the possibility of a unification bout on the horizon. The top challenger for his throne is Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, who has already unified, now holding both the WBA and WBO belts after his clear unanimous decision over Chris Billam-Smith last weekend.Huseyin Cinkara, 22-0 (18 KOs), became the IBF's mandatory challenger after winning an eliminator in April by knocking out Armend Xhoxhaj in just four minutes.Opetaia's team had requested an exception from the IBF to defend the IBF belt against Massey. The IBF approved this request under multiple conditions, such as the fight between Opetaia and Massey not taking place later than October 12, the winner of that fight must defend the IBF title by January 20, 2025, and the IBF will not grant any more exceptions for defending against the cruiserweight mandatory challenger. Generally, IBF rules prohibit consecutive voluntary defenses.David Greisman, who has been covering boxing since 2004 and is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod, is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.