As the -1700 favorite walking into the ring, lineal and Ring cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia was all but certain to become the first Zuffa Boxing champion on Sunday. But he still needed to fight the fight against Brandon Glanton.
Twelve rounds later, Opetaia had the Zuffa belt around his waist and both the Ring and IBF cruiserweight championship belts in his hands. Opetaia of Sydney, Australia (30-0, 23 KOs) did what he needed to do in his American debut in Las Vegas, winning a shutout decision over Glanton of Atlanta (21-4, 18 KOs).
Surprisingly, Opetaia becomes the first Australian male boxer to win a championship fight in Las Vegas.
Glanton didn’t win a single round and had two points deducted, one for holding and one for low blows. Opetaia had a point deducted for holding as well, leaving all three scorecards reading 119-106.
Nevertheless, Glanton has never been knocked down or stopped. He denied Opetaia the flashy stoppage win and showed solid fundamental skills. In the early rounds, he was cutting off the ring beautifully in his attempt to pin Opetaia on the ropes and unload. For a former college football player who came to boxing late, Glanton can hold his head high.
But as the rounds rolled by, Opetaia began finding his range, putting combinations in place with the right hooks and uppercuts that had drilled, dropped, and stopped 23 opponents.
“I thought I would be a bit uncomfortable in that pocket, to be honest,” said Opetaia, whose corner didn’t like him standing there.
Though he was dripping blood from the mouth, Glanton was not going to give Opetaia the satisfaction of the knockout. The Australian came close with a monster uppercut in the last round, but he had to settle for the win without it.
“I had him wobbled. I tried to find that shot. I tried to let it come. It didn’t come,” said Opetaia. “Shout out to Brandon, he really is bulletproof,” said Opetaia. “I’m here to do a job, and I’m onto the next fight.”
Opetaia: Undisputed Remains The Goal
Opetaia made it clear he will eventually move to the heavyweight division, but not before he becomes the undisputed cruiserweight champion. He took a step backward through no fault of his own as the IBF chose to strip him of the title he earned in a spat with Dana White and Zuffa Boxing.
Opetaia said it will not dissuade him. “There’s been a lot of white noise, a lot of stuff on social media, but I’m just hoping it gets worked out and we can still chase that goal. I have not lost track of it, and I never have. I’ve been stripped once before. I’ve been stripped again. I’ll get the belt back, and I’ll become undisputed.”
Dana White Has His Say And Then Some
It was not the last word on the subject. In his post-fight remarks, Dana White commented on the move by the IBF to strip Opetaia of his title over the conflict with the Zuffa Boxing belt being awarded by an organization the IBF doesn’t recognize. In response to a question on the last-minute timing of the ruling, White said it was by design.
“It’s pretty clear what they’re doing and what’s going on. I see lawsuits coming, that’s what I see,” said White
“When you think about it, (Opetaia), I think he’s fought for the IBF title, like 11 times or something like that. He’s defended it, broke his jaw in two places one time and finished the fight. And that’s the way they’re going to do it.
“It’s very, very odd and very unprofessional. We’ll see how this thing plays out,” said White. “Whoever we end up signing before I ever got into the game, these kids had goals and dreams and ambitions, things they wanted to accomplish in boxing, and we want to help them with that.” White pointed out that Zuffa Boxing was fully cooperative with the IBF, and Opetaia paid a $75,000 sanctioning fee.
Opetaia said the controversy and the media attention it generated had worn him out.
“The media killed me. This is my last interview, and I’m turning my phone off. Enjoy it while you’ve got it,” laughed Opetaia.
White Outlines Ambitious Plans for Zuffa Boxing
White made no secret about his plans for Zuffa Boxing after crowning its first champion on Sunday.
“I was expecting a lot more from boxing, period, than what I’ve seen. This sport is broken for a reason. Everybody is a bunch of rinky-dink, I mean, it’s the most fucking rinky-dink thing that I have ever seen in my life. I don’t know why I expected more from any of these people, but boy, let me tell you what: shit is about to get good,” grinned White.
White said the model for Zuffa Boxing is built on the UFC blueprint. “There’s no secret to the game plan here. It’s exactly where we’re doing.”
Asked about the blowback over the Conor Benn signing by Zuffa, White said, “When’s the last time there was a middle class in boxing, right? You have the haves and you have the have-nots. That’s it. Why is it a bad thing when guys make more money?” said White, promising fighter pay would increase.
“Obviously, we just got a great television rights deal. I promise you that fighter pay is going to be just fine over the next seven years,” concluded White.
White said he intends to sign every top fighter, naming names, including current heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk, and multi-division champion Shakur Stevenson.
Undercard Results
Both undercard bouts on the main card saw opponents grinding it out in touch fights, with both winners finding their way to late-round TKO wins.
Welterweight Ricardo Salas of Mexico City (23-2-3, 17 KOs) was comfortably ahead on the scorecards against Jesus Saracho, both in Mexico and training in Auburn, Washington (16-3-2, 12 KOs), when the damage done was finally too much for referee Robert Hoyle. He called a halt to the action at 2:05 of round 8. Salas was given the performance of the night.
Super lightweight Vlad Palin of Los Angeles via Belarus (24-2, 16 KOs) was thoroughly dominating Shinard Burch of Hamilton, New Jersey (22-4-1, 18 KOs), winning all eight rounds before he got the TKO at 2:29 of the ninth round.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist and the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). She is the Managing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.