Australian suffers minor injury during training
Jay Opetaia, photo – Getty Images
The fight between IBF cruiserweight champion Jay Opetai (27-0, 21 KOs) and undefeated Italian boxer Claudio Squeo (17-0, 9 KOs) has been rescheduled for June 8.
The fight was originally scheduled to take place on May 13 in Gold Coast, Australia. However, Jay suffered a minor injury during training. The exact nature of the injury has not been disclosed.
“Being the animal that Jay is in the ring, he doesn't take his opponents lightly. He wants to be 100 percent fit… We have pushed the fight back three weeks on doctor's orders to make sure Jay is in top condition for the fight,” said the Australian's manager Mick Francis.
Let us recall that in January, Jay knocked out David Nyika (10-1, 9 KOs) in the same city of Gold Coast in Queensland. The Australian was supposed to defend his belt against German boxer Hussein Jinkara, but their fight fell through, and Jinkara was replaced at the last moment by a New Zealand fighter.
Squeo knocked out Colombian Orlando Estrada in his last fight in October 2024. The 34-year-old Italian is ranked No. 14 in the latest IBF cruiserweight rankings.
Opetaia had previously expressed his desire to fight WBC, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Promoter Eddie Hearn has spoken in favor of the potential fight, but noted that the Australian still has to earn such an event by having a few more major fights.