Jai Opetaia vs Jordan Thompson result as brave Manchester fighter is stopped in four in bid for world honours

Brave Jordan Thompson came up short in his bid to become a world champion when he was stopped by heavy-hitting Australian Jai Opetaia.

The Manchester cruiserweight was taking a huge step up in class to challenge for the IBF World and Ring Magazine cruiserweight titles at Wembley Arena on Saturday night. 

Thompson had won all 15 of his fights prior to the biggest fight of his life by far but was down in the third and fourth rounds with the fight waved off in the latter. 

Opetaia for his part moved his unblemished record to 23-0 with 18 knockouts. 

Thompson, 30, is a former sparring partner of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk among others, and post-fight Opetaia showed plenty of respect to his fallen challenger.

He said: "He was tough. I felt like the good ones really shook him up, but he come to fight. He had his whole country here supporting him. He showed great heart. I respect him so much. He brought good energy. Good on him.”