JAI OPETAIA will finally face Huseyin Cinkara 11 months after their fight was first announced.
The unbeaten 30-year-old Australian makes the fourth defence of his second reign as IBF cruiserweight champion on Saturday, December 6, at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre in Queensland – the same venue that was due to host Opetaia-Cinkara back on January 8. An ankle injury forced “The Hurricane” to miss out on his first world title shot, but he now gets a second chance before the year is out.
Opetaia, 28-0 (22 KOs), kept the January date alive by instead taking on New Zealand’s David Nyika. The champion had little trouble with the late replacement, scoring a fourth-round stoppage in the dominant fashion he has repeatedly shown against sub-world level opposition.
Forty-year-old Cinkara arrives with an unbeaten record but limited pedigree. The German-based Turk, 23-0 (19 KOs), has yet to face a world-class opponent in his nine-year, 23-fight career. He returned from a year-long layoff in April with a first-round TKO over 34-year-old Venezuelan Juan Diaz, having previously stopped Armend Xhoxhaj in two rounds. Xhoxhaj holds a win over Roman Fress, while Chris Billam-Smith has since been ordered to fight for the WBC Interim cruiserweight belt.
Heavyweight Justis Huni leads the undercard against an opponent still to be announced. The 26-year-old Australian was on his way to a career-best victory against Fabio Wardley earlier this year before being dramatically knocked out in the 10th round in Ipswich.
Local talents Max McIntyre, Ben Mahoney, and Jack Gregory are also set to feature.
Opetaia says he is relishing a return to the Gold Coast Convention Centre, a venue where he has already enjoyed success on three occasions.
“The Gold Coast Convention Centre is home turf and I won’t be losing in front of my fans,” Opetaia said. “The atmosphere is always electric on fight night and this event will be no different.”
The champion will hope that after a stop-start 2025, the big fights he has been chasing will finally land in 2026.
