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Andreas Hale
Multiple Authors
LAS VEGAS — Jai Opetaia put together a brilliant offensive display to rout Brandon Glanton and become the inaugural Zuffa World cruiserweight champion via a unanimous decision at the Meta Apex on Sunday.
All three judges scored the fight 119-106.
Fighting out of Gold Coast, Australia, Opetaia won every round handily in his first fight on American soil but couldn’t get the knockout because of Glanton’s exceptional punch resistance.
“It was all right,” Opetaia said. “I knew Brandon was going to be tough as nails. I’m happy I got the win and enter this next chapter as the Zuffa champion.”
Opetaia (30-0, 23 KOs) had little trouble against a determined but severely overmatched Glanton (21-4, 18 KOs), throttling him with power shots and an uppercut that couldn’t miss. Glanton was reprimanded by the referee and deducted a point in Rounds 6 and 8 for holding and low blows, respectively. Opetaia was also deducted a point in Round 11 for excessive holding, but the fight was well out of hand by then.
The fight turned one-sided early as Opetaia landed brutal power shots to the head and body of Glanton. Although Glanton was getting routinely beaten to the punch, he continued to follow Opetaia but offered next to nothing offensively while absorbing a steady diet of rights and lefts. Opetaia added uppercuts to his offensive repertoire in Round 4, and that proved to be his most effective punch for the rest of the fight.
Opetaia lit Glanton up in Round 10 with a variety of heavy punches to the head and body, but his opponent refused to break. Even with a wide sizeable on the scorecards, Opetaia pursued a knockout in the final round and badly hurt Glanton with a straight left hand and combinations. But Glanton survived to the final bell and will leave Las Vegas with a moral victory.
There was more drama between Opetaia and the IBF leading up to the fight than what occurred in the ring. Opetaia entered the bout as the IBF cruiserweight champion but might be stripped of the title after the IBF refused to sanction the fight Friday, issuing a statement that it was misled that Zuffa’s championship would be little more than an item that was “characterized as a trophy or token of recognition.”
Opetaia, 30, signed with Zuffa Boxing in January with the goal to become undisputed at cruiserweight and maintained that goal in his comments after the fight.
“I’m chasing the belts,” Opetaia said. “I know there’s been a lot of white noise and stuff. 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.”