We are now just four weeks out from the historic undisputed heavyweight title clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk and the undercard has been officially confirmed.
The boxing businessmen in Saudi Arabia impressed fans with a star-studded bill on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ event back in December and it appears that the Kingdom has delivered again, with two further world title bouts added to the February show.
Jai Opetaia (24-0) vacated his IBF Cruiserweight Title to fight Ellis Zorro back in December, and now he will fly out to Riyadh once again, where he will rematch the man he defeated to become a world champion, Mairis Briedis (28-2), who has not stepped through the ropes since their meeting in July 2022 and will be keen to avenge his second career defeat.
Meanwhile, Joe Cordina (17-0) will make a second defence of his IBF Super-Featherweight Crown, which he managed to retain over the distance against Edward Vasquez back in November.
The Welshman will seek to maintain his championship status and undefeated record against Belfast’s IBO World Champion, Anthony Cacace (21-1), who fights outside of the United Kingdom for the first time.
As expected, light heavyweight legend Sergey Kovalev (35-4-1) will return to the ring against Sweden’s Robin Safar (16-0), after reports leaked last week. However, fans did not expect to see featherweight contender and cousin of Tyson Fury, Isaac Lowe (24-2-3) on the card, as he faces Afghanistan’s 23-year-old prospect, Hasibullah Ahmadi (16-1).
Unbeaten heavyweights Bakhodir Jalolov (14-0) and Moses Itauma (7-0) both seek to extend their impressive runs since turning professional, with opponents yet to be announced despite Itauma being ordered for a fight with English Heavyweight Champion, Solomon Dacres, which may be made to wait.
Finally, New Zealand’s eye-catching six-foot-six cruiserweight challenger, David Nyika (8-0) will aim to add an eighth knockout win, against an opponent that is yet to be named.
The must-see night of boxing will commence with the hotly-anticipated showdown between Fury (34-0-1) and Usyk (21-0) on February 17, live on TNT Sports Box Office.