Jai Opetaia retains IBF and The Ring titles after 4th round KO

Original Article by Simon Smale

• Jai Opetaia knocked out Jordan Thompson early in the fourth round at Wembley Arena in the weekend.
• Opetaia who received a message of well wishes from Samoa’s Minister of Sports before the fight, has moved to 23-0 with 18KOs, while Thompson falls to 15-1.
• The height difference was painfully obvious as the fighters touched gloves pre-fight, the 198cm Thompson towering over a crouching and swaying Opetaia.

Opetaia who received a message of well wishes from Samoa’s Minister of Sports before the fight, has moved to 23-0 with 18KOs, while Thompson falls to 15-1.

The disparity in ringcraft was just as clear though, with Opetaia’s superior skill level allowing him to dominate.

Opetaia used his straight left to good effect early in the first round, darting in to pick off single shots to head and body.

Then, a powerful right rocked the giant British fighter to send him staggering back into his own corner.

Opetaia launched a sustained attack, pummelling Thompson against the ropes, only for the bell to save the 30-year-old Englishman.

Thompson is down at the fourth round to end the fight.

The defending champion bamboozled Thompson by switching from southpaw to orthodox, moving in and out of range during the second, but really stepped up the pace in the third.

“I felt like this was Jordan Thompson’s fight night. I feel like they made it about him. It was nothing to do with me,” Opetaia said.

“They put me in this small ring thinking they were gunna cut me off, but that’s what happens.

“I’ve got good feet and they tried to take that away from me with this little ring.

“But you know, I’ve got the power too.

“I told them at the start they were underestimating my power and that’s what happens.”

Thompson, a former youth tennis star who made a late transition to boxing, landed a solid shot at the beginning of the third, but Opetaia responded in kind, bludgeoning the Englishman to the canvas with over two minutes remaining in the round.

Opetaia was able to land shots at will in the third, with the 30-year-old barely able to defend himself.

Another brutal left send Thompson back against the ropes, the bell again saving Thompson.

The emphatic win sees Opetaia in complete control of the cruiserweight division.

“He’s the best cruiserweight in the world,” former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew said on DAZN post-fight.

“He’s come here tonight and he didn’t even care about Jordan Thompson’s size. He put it on him. He took him apart.