According to reporter Ben Damon and Fox Sports Australia, undefeated Jai Opetaia plans to vacate his IBF cruiserweight title to move forward with his scheduled bout with Ellis Zorro (17-0, 7 KO’s).
The bout with Zorro is scheduled to take place this Saturday night in Saudi Arabia, as part of a huge ‘Day of Reckoning’ card that features several of the top heavyweights like Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
Opetaia is reportedly going to make $450,000 for the bout – as part of a three fight agreement being worked out with the Saudis. The entire deal is reportedly going to earn him more than $2 million.
Last year, Opetaia captured the title when he shocked division king Mairis Briedis, but he suffered a broken jaw in the victory – which led to a long than expected recovery period.
Briedis is the mandatory challenger to the IBF crown.
A few months ago, the IBF allowed Opetaia to make a voluntary defense against Jordan Thompson.
The IBF issued a recent order, which denied Opetaia’s request to move forward with the planned fight against Zorro.
Opetaia’s team appealed the IBF’s decision, but the sanctioning body denied their request.
“We’ve made it clear to Jai’s team that he cannot fight Ellis Zorro for the title,” an IBF spokesperson said last week.
“We had already given Jai an exemption to fight Jordan Thompson in his last fight, so he can’t get another exemption to fight Zorro, who does not have a world ranking. In our rules, it can’t be done. He can’t have back-to-back exemptions.
“If we break the rules for Jai, it opens the floodgates for everyone else. The IBF have notified Jai’s team that he cannot fight Zorro — we’ve said his next fight has to be a mandatory against Briedis. If Jai Opetaia goes ahead and fights Zorro, he will be stripped of his IBF world title.”
Credit: Boxing Scene