IBF cruiserweight champ, Australian Jai Opetaia now has an opponent for his next defense coming in March and under the new Zuffa Boxing boxing promotion. He will fight veteran American contender Brandon Glanton.
IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, who became the first current champion and therefore, noteworthy name to sign with upstart promotion Zuffa Boxing last month, now has an opponent for his first defense coming in March.
Insider Dan Rafael reported that the hard punching, Australian Opetaia will meet American veteran Brandon Glanton on March 8th to be broadcast by Paramount+ from the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.
Opetaia, 29-0, 23 KOs, who's made multiple defenses of the IBF belt, officially announced in late January that he has signed with the newly launched Zuffa, committing to compete in their monthly fight series. Glanton, 21-3, 18 KOs, is out of Georgia and lost a decision to prominent cruiserweight Chris Billam Smith of England last April.
You can hear Rafael and me discuss the Opetaia pending Zuffa debut off our podcast here:
Zuffa, the newest entrant into the U.S. — and potentially global — boxing promotion landscape, made immediate waves on Friday night by unveiling the signing of the IBF cruiserweight world champion. That announcement marked a significant early win for the fledgling company, which began its slate of regular cards back on January 23rd. That card was headlined by an undefeated junior middleweight Callum Walsh of California, who easily outpointed veteran, former world title challenger, Carlos Ocampo.
Back to Opetaia, the unbeaten, heavy-handed Aussie is the most high-profile fighter to join the promotion to date. Zuffa is the brainchild of Saudi Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh and UFC President Dana White, combining deep financial backing with proven promotional experience.
The 30 year old Opetaia last competed in December, successfully defending his Ititle with a devastating eighth-round knockout of Huseyin Cinkara in Broadbeach, Australia. That victory marked his fourth consecutive title defense via knockout, a streak that dates back to October 2024.
Opetaia also shares a prior connection with Alalshikh, having fought three times on Riyadh Season cards in Saudi Arabia. Those appearances included his rematch victory over Maris Briedis by decision in May 2024. His three most recent bouts, however, have all taken place in his native Australia.
As for the reported opponent for March, the 33 year old Glanton comes off a December decision win in Nigeria over journeyman Marcus Browne.
It had been speculated that Opetaia would fight WBC cruiserweight champ Noel Mikaelian in a unification fight in the Zuffa debut. Mikaelian, 28-3, 12 KOs, iss an Armenian but lives and trains in Southern California. And, he just won the WBC belt by decision in December over veteran Badou Jack.
It's obviously still possible that Opetaia and Mikaelian could meet later in the Summer on a subsequent Zuffa card, as well.