By Ken Hissner: At the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Australia, before a large crowd Saturday over ESPN+ presented in the Main Event IBF World Cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis of Latvia was upset in a brutal, bloody fight to the top-ranked Jai Opetaia of Australia over 12 rounds.
In the Main Event IBF World Cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis, 28-1 (20), #199, of Riga, Latvia, southpaw Jai Opetaia, 21-0 (17), #198 ½, of Gold Coast, New South Wales, Australia, 12 rounds.
In the first round, there was little action, with Briedis wrestling Opetaia to the canvas halfway through the round. Briedis suffered a cut on the right eyebrow late in the round. In the second round, the aggressor Opetaia had a good round but possibly had his jaw broken. In the third round, it was close, with Briedis landing a right uppercut knocking the head of Opetaia back in the final seconds of the round.
In the fourth round, Opetaia had Briedis hurt with a solid right uppercut from the southpaw challenger drawing blood from the nose of Briedis, who went to the wrong corner at the end of the round. In the fifth round, Opetaia continued doing enough damage having blood flowing from the nose of Briedis, whose best punch was the last one of the round, a right on the chin of Opetaia, who took another round.
In the sixth round, the challenger Opetaia uses his jab to draw blood from the nose of Briedis, who halfway through the fight may be seeing his title changing hands. At the end of the first minute, Briedis rocked Opetaia with a right on the chin, having him holding on. It was the best round for the champion up to this point.
At the end of the first minute, Opetaia landed a right hook to the chin of Briedis, starting the blood flowing. Halfway through the round, a right uppercut from Opetaia on the chin rocked Briedis. In the tenth round, Briedis landed a right uppercut on the chin having Opetaia holding on in bad shape by the end of the first minute of the round. Briedis may need a knockout and had a big round.
In the eleventh round Briedis, also with a cut on the bridge of his nose, landed well with the right uppercut while Opetaia, whose jaw is swollen and possibly broken, did enough to keep it close, losing the round. In the twelfth and final round, Briedis continued having Opetaia holding throughout the round, being hurt inside with Briedis’s right uppercuts.
Briedis also cut on the right eyebrow at the end. Referee Chris Flores had his hands full.
Scores were 116-112, 115-113, and 116-112, with this writer 115-113 for Opetaia.
In a rematch of the first won by Mazoudier by split decision, WBA Oceanis Super Welterweight champ Joel “Cama KO” Camilleri, 22-8-1 (10), #153 ¾, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, lost a split decision to Koen “Malicious” Mazoudier, 9-2 (4), #153 ¼, of Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia, over ten hard-fought rounds.
In the first two rounds, there was no feeling out between the two of them. Mazoudier started out better, but by the halfway mark, Camilleri finished stronger. In the fourth round, the aggressor Mazoudier landed several rights to the chin of Camilleri in the final minute, having Camilleri on the run.
In the fifth round, at times, Mazoudier would turn southpaw. It was usually Camilleri causing clinches that Referee John Watson did a good job of breaking. In the seventh round, Mazoudier continued finishing the stronger of the two. The right eyelid of Camilleri had a small cut in the final seconds of the round. In the eighth round’s halfway point, Camilleri wrestled Mazoudier to the canvas. Mazoudier continued having an edge at this point.
In the ninth round, Mazoudier had Camilleri holding more than usual, looking to stop him due to a cut. In the tenth and final round final thirty seconds, Mazoudier landed a solid right to the chin having Camilleri in trouble right to the bell.
Scores were 98-92 Mazoudier, 96-95 Camilleri and 99-92 Mazoudier with this writer 97-93 Mazoudier.
Oceanis Light Heavyweight champ and WBA ranked No.11 and IBF No. 9 southpaw Faris “Le Fox” Chevalier, 13-2 (7), #174 ½, of Paris, France and Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was upset losing a split decision to southpaw Conor Wallace, 9-1 (6), #174 ½, of Newry, North Ireland, UK, and, Queensland, Australia, over ten rounds for the WBA Oceanis and vacant IBF Pan Pacific titles.
In the first round, it was all Chevalier, the shorter of the two countering well until the final seconds when Wallace landed a combination to the chin of Chevalier. In the second round, Wallace did well using his reach, having Chevalier on the defense. In the third and fourth rounds, Wallace continued on the attack having a good round against the world contender Chevalier.
In the sixth round, Chevalier became the aggressor drawing blood from his nose of Wallace with left hands. In the seventh round, Chevalier came back well again, landing his left to the chin of the taller Wallace. In the eighth round’s final seconds, Wallace landed a hard left to the chin of Wallace, possibly to steal the round.
In the ninth round, Chevalier was trying to make it a closer fight looking behind while Wallace had slowed down. In the tenth and final round, Chevalier tried for the stoppage, but Wallace’s reach kept him from mounting enough offense to take the win in the eyes of the crowd.
Scores were 96-94 Chevalier, 98-92 Wallace, and 98-92 Wallace, with this writer 97-93 Wallace. Referee Paul Tapley.
Middleweight Issac “Headsplitter” Hardman, 13-1 (11), #160, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, knocked out Beau “The Momma’s Boy” Hartas, 6-2 (4), #159 ½, of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, at 2:49 of the first round of a scheduled ten rounds.
In the first round, Hardman had the better of it, and in the final fifteen seconds, a vicious lead right from Hardman on the chin and down went Hartas flat on his face with Referee Paul Tapley immediately waving it over.