Boxing Challenge: Zuffa Era begins with Opietaia win

   Jai Opietaia's victory over Brandon Glanton was as dominant as one could see, but it could be more significant for what happened outside the ring, as Opietaia was stripped of his IBF cruiserweight title before the bell rang.

In the ring, the bout was forgettable as Opietaia puffed up Glanton's eyes and forehead and did about everything a fighter could do short of scoring a knockdown.

Honestly, the fight could have been stopped in the corner of Glanton in the late rounds, and I would not have complained.

Glanton was penalized for holding and low blows, and somehow Opietaia was penalized for holding, which was the only thing preventing Opietaia from a perfect score with all three judges scoring the fight 119-106 for the Australian.

The real fun was outside the ring where despite paying the sanctioning fees, the IBF still took their title away in a snit over the Zuffa championship.

I'm no Zuffa apologist but this is all on the IBF.

Yes, Dana White (Zuffa head) has made his statement about the boxing status quo but their fighter (Opietaia) has made it clear that he wanted to unify all four titles, and they are trying to make that happen with their cooperation to date.

I could do without the Zuffa title but it's not a major problem yet.

There will be a showdown eventually but for now, Zuffa has played by the standard rules and deserves the recognition of being right.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 26 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 24 Pts (1)

TRS: 22 Pts (1)