Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis may have shared another 12 brutal rounds together, but the pair were all smiles following their titanic battle in Saudi Arabia.
Opetaia, 28, reclaimed his cruiserweight title in Riyadh on the judges scorecard but was forced to hang on in the latter rounds with his veteran rival coming on strong in search of a decisive knockout.
The Australian, who defeated Briedis on the Gold Coast to first win the title in 2022, was hospitalised with a broken jaw after that bout and once again visited hospital after his second bout against the Latvian.
And in the early hours of Sunday morning, Opetaia and Briedis both received medical attention, and they each saw the funny side of being back in hospital together.
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Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis shared a hospital selfie after their brutal fight
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The Australian and Latvian shared another 12 brutal rounds together in Saudi Arabia
Briedis shared a selfie of himself with a bandage on his nose while Opetaia was sat in a bed in the background. Both men were grinning.
Opetaia reclaimed the belt he took off Briedis in 2022 but was forced to give up earlier this year, when he fought Ellis Zorro in Saudi Arabia against the organisation’s wishes.
The Gold Coast-based 28-year-old’s victory snapped a run of recent title-fight losses by Australian quartet Tim Tszyu, George Kambosos Jnr and Moloney twins Jason and Andrew.
With Cristiano Ronaldo among the celebrities in the front row, Opetaia was in cruise control in the first half of the fight.
In the sixth round he rattled Briedis with a short left hook then a straight left that appeared to break his nose.
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Opetaia secured victory on the judges scorecards to reclaim his cruiserweight title
The tough Latvian dropped to 28-3, his only losses by points decisions to Opetaia twice and Usyk.
Earlier, Queensland-based New Zealand Olympic bronze medallist David Nyika improved to 9-0 with a business-like stoppage of previously undefeated German Michael Seitz.
Cruiserweight Nyika pounded the body of his opponent, who eventually succumbed in the fourth round.
