(Photo by Zuffa Boxing)
Jai Opetaia’s quest to become undisputed champion remains intact – for now.
BoxingScene has confirmed that the IBF will continue to look into the unbeaten Australian southpaw’s case, with the possibility that he will not be relieved of his title reign. Opetaia, 30-0 (23 KOs), moved forward with his clash on March 8 versus Brandon Glanton, 21-4 (18 KOs), despite the IBF withdrawing sanctioning from the Zuffa Boxing 04 Paramount+ headliner.
Opetaia handily defeated Glanton via unanimous decision, though at the time the bout was deemed in violation of IBF Rule 5.H, discouraging reigning titlists from participating in unsanctioned bouts. However, his comments during his post-fight interview and the post-fight press conference stressing his commitment to pursue undisputed status swayed IBF officials at least from terminating his title reign for a second time.
“The status of the IBF cruiserweight title remains in deliberation,” the IBF said in an update obtained by BoxingScene. “Jai Opetaia made comments during the post-fight press conference that have led the organization’s leadership to question whether he was made completely and fully aware by his advisors of the decisions he needed to make when committing to the bout against Brandon Glanton.
“The organization intends to look further into this matter.”
Sanctioning for the bout was finally granted on March 5, after assurances from Opetaia’s team that the Zuffa belt was merely a trinket and a trophy, and that it was not an actual unification bout. Communication was conducted between the sanctioning body and Sean Gibbons, who served as a go-between for Opetaia and his team.
All parties were on the same page, to the point where Gibbons’ Knucklehead Boxing wired to the IBF a payment of $73,000 – covering the sanctioning fees for the reported purses of Opetaia ($45,000) and Glanton ($6,000), along with the promoter’s fee ($22,000).
Zuffa sources leaked that it had paid in excess of $80,000, though – as previously reported by BoxingScene – intentionally misleading others by including the due fees to referee Allen Huggins ($3,100) and judges Eric Cheek ($2,300), David Sutherland ($2,300) and Patricia Morse-Jarman ($2,300). Officials for bouts conducted in Nevada, as well as their assignment fees, are appointed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and have nothing to do with the sanctioning bodies.
However – as…
2026-03-10 17:58:36
