Opetaia rocks Mikaelian by 9th-round TKO, faces off in ring with Benavidez

Jai Opetaia (31-0, 24 KOs) defeated WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian (28-4, 12 KOs) by TKO at 1:30 of the ninth round on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, when referee Harvey Dock stopped the fight after Mikaelian was unable to continue against the ropes. Opetaia defended his Ring and Zuffa cruiserweight titles but did not capture Mikaelian's WBC belt due to a promotional dispute involving Don King Productions. Following the fight, undefeated WBA champion David Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs) entered the ring and proposed a title unification bout in May.