Opetaia, Zurdo, Jack & more: Cruiserweight division gears up for unification

The top of the cruiserweight division could change this weekend, when WBC champion Badou Jack defends his title against Noel Mikaelian. With the rest of the division seemingly converging, could we see a unified, and even undisputed champion at 200 pounds in the near future?

Jai Opetaia retained the IBF cruiserweight title and Ring Magazine belt (Getty Images)

Badou Jack will defend his recently re-inherited WBC world title against previous holder, Noel Mikaelian, on the Canelo-Scull undercard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 3 live on DAZN PPV.

Since the departure of undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk, the cruiserweight landscape has been in flux. So, who are the players at the top of the division and who is lining themselves up to be the next king of the cruiserweights?

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Badou Jack

Badou Jack started his career as a super middleweight in 2009, where he won the WBC title in 2014 against Anthony Dirrell. Two years later, he would fight to a majority draw with James DeGale while attempting to unify the division.

A brief foray into the light heavyweight division saw him win the WBA (Regular) belt against Nathan Cleverly in 2017 and challenge Adonis Stevenson for his WBC world title in 2018. But once again Jack fell short with another draw.

Two further losses in the light heavyweight division followed against Marcus Browne and Jean Pascal before the Swede decided to move to cruiserweight. A string of five wins landed Jack in an underdog world title fight with Ilunga Makabu. ‘The Ripper’ upset the bookies by knocking Makabu out in the twelfth round to claim his second WBC world title.

Now 41 and coming off a two-year layoff that saw him vacate his belt in a failed move to bridgerweight, Jack re-inherited his WBC strap at the end of last year. He defends that belt this weekend with the aim to have one final run at unifying the cruiserweight division.

Jai Opetaia

Jai Opetaia currently holds the Ring Magazine and IBF world titles and is ranked as the number one cruiserweight in the world, according to BoxRec.

The Aussie has quickly risen through the ranks as a cruiserweight with an impressive record of 27-0 and 21 knockouts - he claimed the IBF world title in 2022 by beating Mairis Briedis over twelve rounds in a statement win against a two-time champion of the division.

Since capturing his world title, Opetaia has dispatched all-comers - including a rematch with Briedis. He has a defence scheduled against Claudio Squeo in June. If he comes through this, that will put himself on a unification collision course with the recently crowned champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.

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Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez

‘Zurdo’ Ramirez is another of the cruiserweight champions who began his career at a lower weight division, making his debut in 2009 as a middleweight. His world title success would only begin once he entered the super middleweight division, claiming the WBO title against the experienced two-weight world champion Arthur Abraham.

Light heavyweight was next and although he could not claim a world title, he pushed himself against the best the division had to offer in Dmitry Bivol who outpointed the Mexican, forcing him to push his ambitions up another weight class.

Two successive wins at cruiserweight were enough to land ‘Zurdo’ a shot at Chris Billam-Smith and his titles. Ramirez would outpoint ‘The Gentleman’ to claim the WBO and WBA cruiserweight world championships.

Currently running parallel to Opetaia, with a defence scheduled in June, Ramirez will be hoping that a fight with the Australian knockout artist is next.

Chris Billam-Smith

As the recently deposed WBO cruiserweight champion, it would be remiss to not mention Chris Billam-Smith.

Debuting in 2017, ‘The Gentleman’ has been a lifetime cruiserweight and has climbed his way to the top of the division claiming national, European, and intercontinental titles along the way.

Billam-Smith’s career suffered an early set back when he lost a split decision to his rival Richard Riakporhe, which he would be unable to avenge for five years. Years of hard work finally paid off for ‘The Gentleman’ in 2023 when he challenged for the WBO world title held by fellow Brit Lawrence Okolie. The performance of a lifetime saw Billam-Smith claim his first world title.

After losing his world title to ‘Zurdo’, Billam-Smith wanted to be fighting for a world title again as soon as possible. A decisive bounce back win on April 26 against Brandon Glanton has put him back in the conversation and put his undisputed dream back on track.

Who’s up next?

Viddal Riley, just last week, announced himself as a cruiserweight contender to watch out for, beating Cheavon Clarke, moving to 13-0 and claiming the British cruiserweight title on the undercard of Eubank Jr vs Benn.

Roman Fress is also slowly positioning himself in the picture as one of the next in line for a chance at a world title, holding a record of 22-1 and fighting six times in the last two years. The German recently claimed the WBC international cruiserweight title, putting his name in the conversation at world-title level.