Cruiserweight Showdown
Last night’s Zuffa Boxing/Paramount +/DAZN Co-Main Event between Ring Magazine/Zuffa Boxing Cruiserweight Champion Jai Opetaia (31-0, 24 Kos) and WBC Cruiserweight Champion Noel Mikaelian (28-4, 12 Kos) was quite interesting at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Noel, none for his durability and good boxing mind, came in this bout with the utmost confidence and stood his ground as best he could but quickly found out that there are levels to this boxing sh*t and when entering that squared circle opposite of Jai Opetaia, you are bound to find out the hard way.
Jai is rated as the best in the Cruiserweight Division. His skill set do the talking inside that squared circle. That being said, Jai boxed and broke down Noel round by round. Noel did his best to survive and fought back gracefully but eventually succumbed at the hands of the superior combatant. Jai was simply too good and too strong to deterred inside that squared circle.
The pace the combatants were fighting at was simply too much for Noel to keep up with. Noel’s defence was suffering for it and cost him dearly in the ninth round as he got pressed with a barrage of well-placed punches that dropped him into the ropes forcing a standing 8 count where the referee felt Noel hadn’t regained enough of his senses to continue and decided to waive the bout at the 1:30 mark of the round.
With this win, Jai administered Noel his first TKO of his career, retained his Ring Magazine/Zuffa Boxing Cruiserweight Championship Titles but was robbed of receiving Noel’s WBC Cruiserweight Title due to the politics of the sanctioning body. Unbelievable!
Only time will tell who will be the last man standing above the Cruiserweight Division when Jai Opetaia and David Benavidez finally collied, but until then, congratulations Jai on another impressive win.
Blaze