IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia will face Brandon Glanton for the inaugural Zuffa Boxing Cruiserweight World Championship on March 8 at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Zuffa Boxing announced today.
Fighting out of Gold Coast, Australia, Opetaia (29-0, 23 KOs) signed with Zuffa Boxing last month, marking the first major signing for the new boxing promotion helmed by UFC CEO Dana White. He will now compete for the promotion's first world title against Glanton (21-3, 18 KOs).
Zuffa Boxing hasn't mentioned or recognized Opetaia's IBF title in the announcement. The expectation is that it will also be on the line, although there has been no official word from Opetaia or the IBF on the matter.
Opetaia is widely regarded as the best cruiserweight in boxing. He is coming off a brutal eighth-round knockout of Huseyin Cinkara in December, his fourth consecutive knockout win. He signed with Zuffa Boxing after voicing his frustration with being unable to land a unification fight with the division's other champions. Now he'll get the opportunity to make history as Zuffa Boxing's first champion.
Fighting out of Atlanta, Glanton has come up short in fights against Chris Billam-Smith, Soslan Asbarov and David Light. He stopped Marcus Browne in his most recent fight last October and has never been knocked out. Opetaia will mark a significant step up in competition for Glanton.
