Zuffa Boxing’s intention to do things differently and better in the sport is being immediately put to the test by its union with cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.

“You have a fighter who has it all,” former welterweight titleholder Paulie Malignaggi said on Thursday’s episode of ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” “Make him a star.”

Australian southpaw Opetaia, 30, captured the IBF belt in 2024 and has knocked out or stopped six of his past seven opponents to improve to 29-0 with 23 knockouts as he heads to Sunday’s Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight title fight at the UFC Apex.

“He’s the best cruiserweight in the world,” trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards said on Thursday’s show.

Despite his dominance, Opetaia has struggled to draw crowds.

After seeing their union end and watching Opetaia move to Zuffa Boxing, his former promoter, Eddie Hearn, said the fighter wasn’t a big ticket seller.

Maybe that’s because of the division he fights in – which has long lagged in popular fighters – or Opetaia’s distance from boxing’s biggest markets.

But as “BoxingScene Today” analyst and former 140lbs belt holder Chris Algieri said, Opetaia’s success, look and charisma make him ripe to increase his star power as his Zuffa debut versus Atlanta’s Brandon Glanton, 21-3 (18 KOs), arrives in Sunday’s main event on Paramount+.

“They’ll let him do what he does with their tremendous marketing arm,” Algieri said.

While the 200lbs division lacks attractions, Zuffa Boxing head Dana White has said it’s possible that his circuit’s best fighters will be placed in Saudi Arabia financier Turki Alalshikh’s “Ring” cards, meaning showdowns with the likes of unified champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, WBC titlist Noel Mikaelian and May title challenger David Benavidez are possible.

“Let’s see if Zuffa can recalibrate him,” Malignaggi said. “Dana White has been called the best promoter in the world by [Zuffa broadcaster] Max Kellerman. Opetaia’s now changing over to a team promising a lot of things.

“This is the litmus test for Zuffa – a guy with all the potential in the world, not selling. Make it work.”

The analysts discussed how some fighters scuffle in their efforts to build fan bases, as Terence Crawford and Floyd Mayweather Jnr did before leaving Top Rank.

“Jai is a bona fide world champion,” Malignaggi said. “Let’s see if Zuffa lives up to the hype or if they’re like everyone else. … This was always going to come to a head.”

The newly expanded “BoxingScene Today” also addressed comments by new featherweight titleholder Bruce Carrington calling out undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue to press for global stardom by fighting in the US, along with thoughts on a Xander Zayas-Josh Kelly junior middleweight title unification.

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.