Jai Opetaia remained true to his word and committed to the second-day rehydration weight check, although it was no longer required under the current terms of Sunday’s main event.
The lineal and RING cruiserweight champion tipped the scales at 210.6lbs, well under the maximum 214lbs limit in accordance with IBF’s rehydration rules for title fights and final eliminators. Opetaia, 29-0 (23 KOs), will meet Brandon Glanton, 21-3 (18 KOs), in a scheduled 12-round clash atop Zuffa Boxing 04 on Paramount+ from the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
For now, the unbeaten Australian southpaw holds the IBF cruiserweight title. However, the New Jersey-based organization withdrew its sanctioning from the fight on Friday due to the status of the inaugural Zuffa title also being at stake.
Because of the abrupt ruling, Opetaia is at risk of losing the title for the second time – and outside the ring on both occasions. Per Rule 5.H, “An Unsanctioned Contest is a fight which the IBF has not formally approved for sanction or where sanction has been formally withdrawn. If a Champion participates in an unsanctioned contest within his prescribed weight limit, the title will be declared vacant whether the Champion wins or loses the bout.”
BoxingScene has yet to confirm whether Glanton also participated in the process, although the first-time title challenger was no longer obligated to do so given the IBF’s withdrawal.
Per IBF rules, sanctioned cruiserweight fights carry a 14lbs rehydration max for the second-day weigh-in. A 10lbs cap is applied to fights at junior welterweight all the way down to strawweight.
As for Opetaia’s soon-to-be-changed status, the matter has added a new chapter to the political tug of war between Zuffa Boxing and the sanctioning bodies.
Zuffa officials have reportedly wired fees to the IBF in excess of $85,000 for the belt to be at stake this Sunday, along with the RING Magazine championship and its own newly created title.
According to documents obtained by BoxingScene, the IBF agreed to sanction the fight on March 5 – only after Opetaia’s team assured the sanctioning body that the Zuffa belt at stake was just “a trophy or token of recognition” and not to be classified as a unification fight.
The promotion has strongly indicated otherwise. To that point, other outlets have claimed that IBF president Daryl Peoples got caught in his feelings over the presentation of its belt during Friday’s final pre-fight press conference.
By that time, the promotion was made aware of all the fees attached to the main event.
A total of $75,300 in sanctioning fees was applied to the main event:
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$45,000, to reflect three percent of Opetaia’s reported $1,500,000 fight purse
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$6,000, to reflect three percent of Glanton’s reported $200,000 fight purse
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$22,000 assigned as a promoter fight sanction
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$2,300 assigned to Levi Martinez, the IBF-appointed supervisor.
Martinez was since informed to abandon the event, after being flown in first-class and provided a hotel suite, per IBF rules covering travel and lodging arrangements.
The remaining $10,000 is strictly applied to the referee and judges, all of whom were appointed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Referee Allen Huggins (New Jersey) is due $3,100; judges Eric Cheek (Nevada), David Sutherland (Oklahoma) and Patricia Morse Jarman (Nevada) will earn $2,300 each for their role as ringside scorers.
Those fees are standard set by the Nevada commission, regardless of the IBF’s status. Similar fees were paid to the assigned officials for Saturday’s UFC 326 main event at nearby T-Mobile Arena.
