Jai Oeptaia retains lineal crown, setting up meeting with David Benavidez

Jai Opetaia retained his lineal cruiserweight crown with a ninth‑round stoppage of Noel Mikaelian at T‑Mobile Arena on Saturday night, setting the stage for a future showdown with David Benavidez. The 31‑year‑old Australian southpaw halted Mikaelian at 1:30 of the ninth round after a combination that prompted referee Harvey Dock to halt the bout. The victory came in the co‑feature to Ryan Garcia’s WBC welterweight title defense versus Conor Benn. After the fight, Opetaia welcomed Benavidez, the WBA and WBO 200‑pound champion, into the ring for a respectful face‑off during which they agreed to meet. Benavidez, an undefeated three‑division titlist, had previously stripped Gilberto Ramirez of his belts on Cinco de Mayo at the same venue with a sixth‑round stoppage. ““I respect him. He’s done a batch for the sport,” Opetaia told interviewer Max Kellerman astir a bout with Benavidez to roars from the crowd.” ““What amended combat to make.”” ““Let’s bash it close here, Cinco de Mayo adjacent year. This is simply a large combatant close here,” Benavidez said to garner much cheers. “That’s wherefore I respect this antheral truthful much. He’s the boogeyman of the division. … He’s a large fighter. We’re going to springiness the fans a large fight.”” On the undercard, Da’Mamazion Vanhouter (13‑0, 10 KOs) posted an uncompetitive first‑round stoppage of Nigerian veteran Raphael Akpejiori (19‑4, 18 KOs) at the 1:58 mark, with referee Robert Hoyle calling the halt. Vanhouter, 21, of St. Petersburg, Florida, who debuted professionally at 154 pounds, dropped Akpejiori twice en route to the finish. Said Vanhouter, a victor by first‑round stoppage in six of his past seven fights and a -2000 favourite against Akpejiori, loser of three of his past four bouts: “If I didn’t privation to beryllium the best, I wouldn’t beryllium here. … Onto the next. … I privation to spell rounds. If they springiness maine rounds, it’s bully