Zuffa Boxing 4: Jai Tapu Opetaia vs. Brandon Benard Glanton & Ricardo Salas vs. Jesus Saracho RBR.

Not saying he didn't, my point is he doesn't look terrifying enough to have the whole division supposedly ducking him.

 

Well they are, whether you think so or not.

 

What is it with people criticizing a fighter for not ending a fight by KO despite being a one sided mismatch? Opetaia put a beating on Glanton who has an iron chin and was never stopped once in his career. That says a lot more about Glanton being a tough MFer who was able to absorb Opetaia's best shots. Opetaia still got the job done and obliged to fight on the inside while Glanton never stopped trying and still came forward. Give credit for both of their efforts.

 

He couldn't put a dent in him but he could put a hematoma on him. Glanton looked like a Star Trek alien that walked into a bee hive by the end.

 

Some observations/questions:

- Agreeing with others here: Anyone who can take those kind of shots from someone as accomplished as Opetaia and keep coming is one tough hombre.

- I'm pissed but not surprised at IBF. Who now gets that belt? CBS? Or will there be some kind of bake-off between some combination of CBS, Masternak, Nyika...?

- Is the pipe dream of a unified CW belt now just that much further away from realization? $$ talks of course; will Dana White put up or raise the $$ to lure Zurdo, Badou Jack and/or the IBF's next beltholder into the ring with Opetaia?

- Speaking of Zuffo, was last night's event good, bad or indifferent for the organization?

 

Strongly disagree. Look at Benavidez's build, his skeletal structure. He is not big enough to compete at cruiserweight. He may look big against some of his previous opponents.

 

I am indifferent to Opetaia, but I can't deny his quality and he truly put a brutal beating on Glanton; it is testament to Glanton's chin, toughness and heart he saw the final bell. With respect to Opetaia's immediate future, I would say I'm a little worried his career could stagnate under Zuffa. Given Glanton was the best they could wheel out to fight for the inaugural Zuffa belt, it says implicitly that his next few opponents could be worse than Glanton, which will serve nobody. Hopefully they send an offer to CBS for Opetaia's next fight; Opetaia would be the strong favourite, but CBS has enough about him to make the fight intriguing and worth watching. Lastly, I'm pretty sure I've said it already, but Salas-Saracho was a cracker, and personally that fight justified my decision to stay up and watch the whole card. I really hope to see more of both in the near future.

 

Jai's career can't stagnate under Zuffa any worse than it did under Slow Eddie. He was defending against Italian pizza delivery men & 40 yo German sauerkraut salesmen. Glanton was a considerable step up from that. I'm sure the payday was as well.

Jai boxed beautifully against Glanton & is clearly #1 at Cruiser. The thieves at the IBF should give him back his belt - he paid the sanctioning fee, faced a rated opponent, made the weight (twice) & displayed the belt prominently during the press conference, face-off & after the fight.

 

They refunded his sanction fee tbf

 

How generous of them. They should refund his belt as well.

 

I'd love him to be IBF champ but he was naive to not see this coming

 

They obviously did see it coming which is why they complied with every IBF requirement to keep the belt.

 

I can't pretend to know the finer details

The ORGs are very apprehensive of Zuffa

Jai knew that

Guys unfortunately been caught in the middle

 

Tell that to the division.

 

According to White, the IBF rep flew in, collected the sanctioning fees and jumped on a plane home. Then the IBF stripped Opetaia.

If it is true, somebody needs to explain to the IBF about not having your cake and being able to eat it too.

Perhaps the IBF have refunded it? But I haven't heard that yet.