Fri, July 24, 2026
Boxer Jai Opetaia sues IBF for removing his cruiserweight world title
31-year-old Australian boxer, Jai Opetaia, is suing the International Boxing Federation (IBF) for removing his cruiserweight world title after his first fight with Zuffa Boxing, a professional boxing promotion led by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) boss, Dana White, and backed by premium American sports and entertainment company, TKO Group, formed by the merger of the UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and Saudi Arabia’s entertainment, events, and sports marketing company, Sela.
Opetaia has won the IBF cruiserweight world title twice, once in 2022 and again in 2024, and has a record of 30 wins with 23 stoppages, and is now taking legal action in the US District Court for the District of Nevada after the IBF removed his IBF cruiserweight world title (won in 2024) on March 24, 2026, after he won the Zuffa world cruiserweight title against American Brandon Glanton on March 8, 2026, in Las Vegas.
Opetaia was due to defend his IBF world title on the same night he chose to compete in Zuffa’s cruiserweight championship, where he became the inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight champion. Opetaia alleges that the IBF approved this but stated that he would have to pay a £54,000 sanction and that an official would have to accompany him to oversee the Zuffa competition. Opetaia claims that the IBF removed this sanction less than 48 hours before fight night.
He claims that the IBF changed its stance because it viewed him competing in the Zuffa competition as a unification fight as he already held the IBF title, and he entered a fight where the Zuffa cruiserweight title was also being awarded. Opetaia disputes this, claiming that the Zuffa win was just a “trophy or token of recognition,” and that the IBF initially accepted this.
He seeks to have his title reinstated and to recover damages and legal costs, claiming that the IBF changed its stance last minute which placed him in “an impossible position” because he risked either losing “his seven-figure compensation” with Zuffa or “being stripped of his championship.”
The boxer alleges that rival governing bodies have prevented boxers from competing against him. He claims that American boxer, David Benavidez’s, decision not to compete against him concerned the rival bodies and also claims that the World Boxing Council (WBC) threatened to remove Armenian-German boxer, Noel Mikaelian’s, title if he chose to fight him.
The lawsuit, acquired by BBC Sport, alleges: “The conspirators and, most recently, the WBC have taken steps to freeze out Jai from other future bouts.”
It also claims that the decision to remove Opetaia’s IBF title was “the product of coordinated, industry-wide collusion designed to penalise Jai for signing with Zuffa Boxing and to deter other athletes from doing the same.”
Dana White has expressed his desire to change the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act (2000) to make it easier for boxing promoters to operate and organise fights. However, critics argue that this could reduce protections for boxers.
