Jai Opetaia’s drama with the IBF can have taken one other turn as he now claims he shouldn’t be being stripped of his cruiserweight title.
On Friday, the sanctioning body released an announcement that he was breaking their rules by competing for the Zuffa Boxing belt, and consequently his fight with Brandon Glanton can be ‘unsanctioned’. Nevertheless, he had followed all rules as much as that time, and insisted on being handed the belt after winning.
The IBF charged a reported $80,000 in sanctioning fees with no discussions yet as to a refund. He also participated in a fight day weigh-in to be certain that he complied with their rehydration clause for champions.
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Jai Opetaia claims he has been told he’s not stripped of IBF title belt
On Friday at their pre-fight press conference, Zuffa Boxing proudly displayed the IBF belt alongside their recent Zuffa title and the famed Ring Magazine belt. Nevertheless, the sanctioning body allegedly were upset with the position of their strap and hours later they released a damning press release.
They claimed that Jai Opetaia can be stripped of the belt once he stepped within the ring to compete for the brand new belt, making this fight unsanctioned. Nevertheless, he insisted on following all protocols and when he won, continued declaring his interest in becoming undisputed champion.
“It’s a bit frustrating but I’m not going to take a seat here and badmouth the IBF,” Opetaia insisted during his post-fight press conference. “It’s not my style to badmouth anyone but I actually hope they [change their minds].
“I got told after the fight, about five minutes ago, that as of now I’m actually not stripped. I don’t know if that’s correct, fake news! I truthfully don’t know what’s happening, there’s been a lot noise happening in the skin and stuff like that.
“I’m just attempting to do my thing, I’ve respected the belt, I’ve done every thing in my power to maintain the belt, I’ve got it on the stage right away, I had it at my weigh-in, I had it all over the place and abided by their rules, so I’m slightly unsure but I’m really hoping they will just put the nonsense aside.
“The meat isn’t between me [and them], it’s not the fighter it’s the skin that’s causing conflict and I’m the just one suffering. So it’s very very frustrating, but at the identical time f— it’s what it’s. What can I do but train hard and wait for the subsequent one?”
Dana White tore into IBF after Jai Opetaia fight
Dana White is way from probably the most diplomatic of figures, and he was not shy about tearing into the sanctioning body after the fight. He repeated a story of an IBF official arriving in Vegas, demanding a $200 per diem after which immediately flying home.
And he feels that there may very well be lawsuits consequently of the IBF’s actions, telling the press: “He paid his sanctioning fees, they flew a man out here they usually’re saying they were disrespected on the press conference?
“The belt was in front of him the whole time and he held it in his hand when he did the face-off. The Zuffa belt was in the center because no person had it! He had the opposite two belts they usually were fighting for that one.
“It’s pretty clear what they’re doing and what’s happening and I see lawsuits coming, that’s what I see. He wanted this, he desired to fight for the belt and when you concentrate on it I feel he’s fought for the IBF title 11 times or something, defended it.
“He broke his jaw in two places one time and finished the fight and that’s the way in which they’re going to do it? It’s very odd and really unprofessional so we’ll see how this thing plays out.”
White also teased that he might consider the IBF were never going to sanction the fight and that their late confirmations were premeditated