On September 30th, IBF Cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia won an optional defense against Jordan Thompson after receiving an exception for his mandatory obligation from the IBF. A condition of the exception was that the winner of  Opetaia vs. Thompson would defend against former champion Mairis Briedis by January 30, 2024. The IBF has scheduled the Opetaia vs. Breidis purse bid to take place on Tuesday, November 21st. As set forth in a subsequent letter from the IBF, if a purse bid takes place, the split will be 80% for Opetaia and 20% for Briedis. 

 

The IBF wrote: 

 

On October 2nd, the IBF received an e-mail from Chris Meyer of Wassermann Boxing on Briedis requesting that the IBF exercise the authority granted pursuant to Rule 9. D. of the IBF Rules Governing Championship Contests to change the purse bid split to 50% for the champion, Opetaia, and 50% for Briedis. On October 5th, the IBF received an e-mail from Tom Dallas of Matchroom Boxing on behalf of Opetaia objecting to the split proposed by Meyer and requesting that the IBF not deviate from the 85/15 Purse Bid split described in Rule 10.E. [...]

 

On October 9th, the IBF Board of Directors participated in a teleconference to discuss the request to modify the purse bid split. A majority of the Board of Directors voted that the purse bid split shall be 80% for Opetaia and 20% for Briedis.

 

PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE OF THE CRUISERWEIGHT DIVISION:

 

WBC / NOV. 4, 2023:  There is a new WBC cruiserweight champion as Noel Mikaelian (27-2, 12 KOs) stopped the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ilunga Makabu (29-4, 25 KOs) one minute into the third round. After flooring Makabu in the second round, Miami’s Mikaelian, by way of Armenia, flustered the former champion with a barrage of punches. The title was recently vacated by Badou Jack. Mikaelian said about his knockout victory: “I didn’t expect the knockout so early, but I knew my hand would be raised (in victory) at the end of the night. I’m so happy. I waited two years. I was so close to winning that belt and this time I didn’t want to leave any doubts.” Mikaelian noted the significance of his win: “I had a great camp…I’m the first German to win a world championship on American soil in 90 years, since Max Schmelling.”

 

WBO / MAY 28, 2023... In a crazy fight in Bournemouth, England, Chris Billam-Smith won the WBO cruiserweight champion from his fellow Brit, good friend and former sparring partner Lawrence Okolie. Billam-Smith scored thee knockdowns and Okolie was penalized two points for non-stop holding. But the championship rounds saw Okolie furiously pressing for a knockdown and Billam-Smith dealing with a bad cut over his left eye. Despite Okolie's late rally, when the final bell sounded, the three knockdowns and two point deductions seemed impossible for the champ to overcome, but there was one more plot twist to come. When the first score was read by the ring announcer, Billam-Smith was shocked to hear 112-112. Sanity prevailed as the other two judges favored Billam-Smith by 116-107 and 115-108. As the majority win was revealed, Billam-Smith broke down in tears and described how he was sick during the week. He also dedicated the win to his mother who was battling breast cancer. During his post-fight interview, Okolie acknowledged his loss but revealed that he had a rematch clause that he planned to invoke.

 

WBA / NOV. 22, 2022... Arsen Goulamirian retained his WBA cruiserweight championship this weekend against Aleksei Egorov with a unanimous decision victory at La Palestre in Le Cannet, France. The Armenian native and French national came off a nearly three-year layoff and came away with a win on the cards by scores of 116-112 and 117-111 (twice). Inactive since 2019, this was Goulamirian's mandatory fight. Goulamirian (27-0) went from strength to strength in the bout and improved as the rounds went by. He faced a very active opponent in the early rounds but was able to figure out his Russian foe to come on strong at the end of the bout. Egorov’s record stands at 16 wins and 3 losses including the World Series of Boxing. [Goulamirian would remain inactive for more than a year].