Eddie Hearn has offered his take on Jai Opetaia, his former fighter, being stripped of his IBF belt in a decision made less than 48 hours before colliding with Brandon Glanton.
The Australian was supposed to defend his world cruiserweight title against Glanton on Sunday, headlining his first Zuffa Boxing card at Las Vegas’ Meta Apex.
As it happened, though, the IBF had withdrawn its sanction of the contest towards the end of last week, declaring that it does not recognise the inaugural Zuffa belt as a world title and that the belt would be vacant upon the fight going ahead.
Because of this, Opetaia came away from his dominant points victory over Glanton just the Ring Magazine and Zuffa champ. He did, however, continue to hold the IBF belt in the ring and at the post-fight press conference in the hopes that the decision would be reversed.
In response to the decision, Zuffa Boxing promoter Dana White criticised the sanctioning body, highlighting that the hard-hitting southpaw has always paid his sanctioning fees. He also hinted the move could lead to a lawsuit.
From the perspective of Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn, who shared his thoughts with Ariel Helwani, it would seem that White has been caught in a web of his own making.
“In my opinion, it’s total propaganda. You [White] literally came out and said the [sanctioning] bodies are a disgrace, they’re not welcome in what you’re doing and you will not be acknowledging them.
“Now you’re crying because they didn’t sanction one of your fights? Which one is it? You clearly said you will not be recognising [sanctioning] bodies. Now, you’re slating the [sanctioning] body for not sanctioning the fight.
“I feel sorry for Jai Opetaia, because Jai Opetaia was told he will be defending his IBF world title.”
Since announcing his Zuffa Boxing promotion, White has indeed taken a firm stance against the sanctioning bodies, outlining his ultimate desire to make them all obsolete. He has since dialled back slightly, saying that he will work with fighters who have had dreams of holding the sport’s widely recognised titles from a young age.
