Jai Opetaia is making his Zuffa Boxing debut at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas on Sunday (Paramount+, 5:30 p.m. ET), looking to reaffirm his status as the world’s best cruiserweight and strengthen his reputation as one of boxing’s most clinical finishers. Opetaia (29-0, 23 KOs), an Australian in his second reign as IBF world cruiserweight champion, is potentially making a fifth defense against Brandon Glanton (21-3, 18 KOs) with the inaugural Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight title also on the line.
That’s because Salvador Rodriguez of “ESPN KnockOut” reported this week that “the IBF has requested Opetaia to make a decision on the title he’ll be fighting for this weekend.” According to the report, the IBF said that Opetaia “can either defend the IBF title or fight for the promoter’s belt, but not both.”
Dana White, who leads Zuffa Boxing, has said he wants to “get rid of sanctioning organizations,” but Opetaia wants to unify the titles in his division, so it will be interesting to see which belt is on the line on Sunday.
Here are the key things you should know about Opetaia and his matchup with Glanton, with some insight from fellow cruiserweight Chris Billiam-Smith.
Opetaia has devastating power
Former WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith, who beat Glanton by unanimous decision last April, says Opetaia’s left hand punching power is fundamental to his success.
“He has huge power in that left hand,” Billam-Smith told ESPN this week. “He puts full force behind it, he lets it go with power that he generates and whip he gets in it. He sets it up beautifully with feet and head movement and he’s had a lot of success with it.”
Proof of Opetaia’s punching power is the X-ray image of Claudio Squeo’s jaw, which was broken in two places by a right hook in the fifth round last June. Squeo reportedly needed three metal plates to reinforce his jaw in surgery postfight.
In January 2025, Opetaia finished David Nyika in Round 4 with a left hand, just as he did to seal KO wins over Ellis Zorro and Jordan Thompson (both in 2023).
In his most recent fight in December, Opetaia produced a devastating Round 8 KO of Huseyin Cinkara, yet afterwards claimed he fought “like s—“. Opetaia was caught early on and cut before leaving Cinkara laid out on the canvas with a left hand. Cinkara was left hospitalized with a slight fracture in the neck and brain bleed — more evidence of the damage Opetaia’s left hand can inflict.
Opetaia is on a four-fight knockout streak (three of those opponents were previously unbeaten), and only Mairis Briedis has taken him the distance since July 2019.
Glanton’s strategy should be …
Avoiding Opetaia’s left hand as much as possible is certainly a good idea considering the injuries it has caused last year alone. Trying to catch the southpaw with a counter when he loads up with his left hand could pay off but is risky.
Opetaia (6-foot-2), who will be making his U.S. debut, was pushed closest by Briedis, who hurt him and won the last few rounds of their rematch in May 2024. Both suffered broken noses in that fight, and Briedis broke Opetaia’s jaw in their first fight in 2022.
If Glanton can disrupt Opetaia’s rhythm as Briedis did late on, and keep the fight at close range, land punches on the inside and maintain pressure, he could have some success. If Glanton can take it to the later rounds, could we see Opetaia pay for loading up too much with power shots to allow Glanton back into the fight? Or could he stun Opetaia early on as Cinkara did?
“I think Opetaia could stop him late on, or get the win wide on points,” Billam-Smith said. “I expect Opetaia to tire him out, and the body shots will hurt him. It’s what I targeted when I fought Glanton, and he could force a stoppage.”
Billiam-Smith believes Galnton is better than most of Opetaia’s opponents and is one of the most experienced, but can’t see him defeating Opetaia, unless the champion makes a mistake.
“I don’t think Glanton’s best chance is the later rounds, I think he’s got to catch him before the halfway point,” Billam Smith said. “Glanton is heavy-handed but I’m not sure he has the speed or timing to trouble Opetaia. I found Glanton fairly one-dimensional, a bit methodical. But if Opetaia does make a mistake, he could make him pay.”
Opetaia is No. 1 in the division, the man to beat
After six title defenses in two reigns over four years, and two wins over Breidis, the division’s previous boss, Opetaia is widely regarded as the best cruiserweight, ahead of Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
“We want unification fights, we want Ramirez, I’ve been asking for them for a long time,” Opetaia said after his last fight. But Ramirez won’t be next, as he is due to face David Benavidez in defense of his WBA and WBO titles on May 2. Noel Mikaelian, the WBC champion, does not have a fight booked.
There has been talk about Opetaia one day stepping up to heavyweight, but Billam-Smith cautions that those plans should wait.
“I think he should stay at cruiserweight because I want him to fight me!” Billam-Smith, who is a promotional free agent, told ESPN. “But he’s also not a huge cruiserweight and he would be giving away a lot of advantages by stepping up [in weight]. I don’t think he’s done at cruiserweight yet either; he’s not fought the best. He could step up and fight someone like Deontay Wilder, who has slowed down, but I would stay at cruiserweight if I was him.”
Opetaia has dominated the division since his first win over Briedis in July 2022. He relinquished the IBF belt in 2023 to knock out Ellis Zorro in a round, then won back the belt vs. Briedis in May 2024.
Billam-Smith, who lost the WBO title to Ramirez last year, told ESPN that Opetaia has done what champions do.
“He’s been hurt a couple times but he came through it,” Billam Smith said. “He knows what to do when he gets hurt, and not start swinging punches in a tear up.
“Cinkara gave him a few issues, but then it went as expected. Briedis hurt him too. But he’s not had the higher level wins yet because his opponents have not asked questions of him.”
Glanton, who rebounded from the Billam-Smith loss with a Round 6 TKO win over former light heavyweight title challenger Marcus Browne in October, will be competing in his first world title fight and starts as a big underdog. As of Thursday, Glanton is +800 to win per DraftKings Sportsbook.
Opetaia has heavy potential
If Opetaia one day steps up to heavyweight, he would become only the latest in a long line of cruiserweight champions to do so — successfully. Former cruiserweight champions Lawrence Okolie and Murat Gassiev are currently among the top contenders at heavyweight, a division ruled by former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian, who is an inch taller than Opetaia, beat Anthony Joshua in 2021 in his third heavyweight fight and went on to become undisputed champion in a second weight class. Usyk, who was cruiserweight king from 2016 to 2018, has made five heavyweight title defenses.
Others such as David Haye and Evander Holyfield have also shown a cruiserweight can win a title at heavyweight.
After unifying the cruiserweight titles in a first defense in 2008, Haye overcame huge height and weight disadvantages to win the WBA heavyweight title from Nicolai Valuev in 2009. Haye went on to make two heavyweight title defenses.
Holyfield was the most impressive to move up, though. He became undisputed heavyweight champion with a KO over James Douglas in 1990, two years after Holyfield had reigned as undisputed cruiserweight champion. “The Real Deal” made five cruiserweight title defenses, then three successful heavyweight title defenses as undisputed king before three more reigns as champion produced four successful defenses.
Another lighter fighter to step up to heavyweight was Roy Jones Jr., who skipped the cruiserweight division, jumping from light heavyweight to beat John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title in a dominant victory in 2003. Jones weighed 193 pounds to Ruiz’s 226 pounds, winning the title six months after making the light heavyweight limit.
Boxing is in his blood
Opetaia comes from a boxing family. His grandfather, Billy (Tapuloa) Opetaia, who was born in Samoa and based in New Zealand, fought as a middleweight in the 1960s. His father, Martin (Tapu) Opetaia, had seven professional bouts in the 1990s and 2000s, and is now a boxing coach. His great grandfather, Aitula Opetaia, was also a boxer in the 1950s.
Jai continued the family tradition when he represented Australia at the 2012 Olympics in London at just 17 years old.
Opetaia lost his first bout in the heavyweight competition, which would be won by Oleksandr Usyk, at the ExCel. Eleven years later, Opetaia returned to London to make a first defense of his IBF cruiserweight title, a fourth-round TKO over Jordan Thompson at Wembley Arena.
