Jai Opetaia has vacated his IBF cruiserweight world title after being left with little option by the sanctioning body’s strict rules.
The Australian boxer shot to stardom in July 2022 as he shocked well-established world champion Mairis Briedis and dethroned him in a thrilling fight.
Opetaia suffered a serious broken jaw injury in the victory, which kept him sidelined for the remainder of last year.
When he was finally ready to return in 2023, the IBF ordered him to defend his belt against British contender Richard Riakporhe.
However, after an almost two-month long process of failed negotiations, Riakporhe pulled out on the day of purse bids.
This meant that the IBF had to assign a new mandatory challenger for Opetaia in August.
Next in the rankings was Briedis, and so a rematch was then ordered between the pair.
While negotiations began, the IBF sanctioned a voluntary defence for Opetaia which saw him ruthlessly knock out Jordan Thompson in September.
Now, a deal is in place for the Opetaia vs Briedis rematch to take place in 2024, but the champion wanted to stay active with another voluntary defence against Ellis Zorro beforehand.
Opetaia was offered ‘life-changing money’ for a two-fight deal to box in Saudi Arabia and was offered a slot on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin and Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker ‘Day of Reckoning’ event.
However, the IBF ruled that they would not allow permission for a second voluntary defence before the overdue mandatory and rejected the Zorro fight.
This is despite the fact that Briedis’ camp did not object to it.
As a result, Opetaia was left with an ultimatum – pull out of the fight against Zorro or be stripped of his IBF cruiserweight world title.
The Australian has chosen to jump before being pushed and now vacated the belt of his own accord in order to accept the Saudi deal.
He still has the prestigious Ring Magazine belt, but has lost his world title.
A statement from Opetaia’s team read: “IBF world cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia has decided to vacate his world title belt. The move comes before his scheduled December 23 bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia against Britain’s Ellis Zorro.
“With mandatory contender Mairis Briedis currently unavailable due to injury, Opetaia’s team were hopeful that they would be able to defend the belt against Zorro.
“However, the IBF declared that Briedis must be Opetaia’s next opponent, despite the fact Briedis’ team had also agreed to step aside to let the Zorro bout take place while the former champion recovers and a deal in place to face Opetaia in February.
“An appeal was sent to the IBF on behalf of Matchroom, Tasman Fighters, Queensberry Promotions and Wasserman Boxing, outlining that all parties involved were prepared to accommodate the proposed fight with Zorro but this was denied.”
Opetaia said: “‘I fought through absolute agony to win that belt and it saddens me to relinquish it.
“But the fact is, Briedis isn’t ready to fight on December 23 and I need to stay active. I simply can’t turn down a career high payday. Belts should be won and lost in the ring and I’m still the Ring Magazine champion and all roads in the cruiserweight division go through me,” he continued.
“I am the true king of the cruiserweight division and I’ll be defending that prestigious Ring Magazine title on December 23. I look forward to getting that IBF belt back as soon as possible and adding all of them, one by one.”
