“Undisputed. Don’t take your mind off undisputed. We’re chasing unification fights. If we don’t get one by the tip of the 12 months, I’ll be very f***ing dissatisfied,” Opetaia told Rg.org.
He signed with Zuffa in January, and inside weeks, he was stating what the deal must produce before December. Most champions spend the early stretch of a partnership talking about opportunity and belief. Opetaia did something else. He named the consequence and attached it to a window.
The cruiserweight division doesn’t crawl for anyone. Opetaia is unbeaten through 29 fights and holds the IBF, Ring and lineal recognition. At 29, he’s in his prime, and prime years don’t wait while recent promotional ventures establish their footing. That is Zuffa’s first real test run in boxing, and Opetaia is its most completed titleholder. That makes the timeline greater than a private goal. It becomes a part of how this project shall be judged contained in the sport.
His upcoming defense against Brandon Glanton under the Zuffa banner is a start line. A unification fight requires way more coordination, including cooperation across promotional lines and sanctioning bodies. Those talks can crawl, and sometimes they don’t move in any respect. Opetaia’s tone suggests he understands that reality and is unwilling to drift right into a holding pattern.
Once a champion places a date on a goal, it becomes harder to administer expectations quietly. Fans keep track, and the topic comes up again because the months pass. The timeline is not any longer private.
Fighters rarely apply that form of pressure this soon after signing. By doing it now, Opetaia has made his position clear before the 12 months settles into routine defenses. If December arrives with no unification, the benchmark won’t must be interpreted. It was already stated.