Opetaia sues IBF to return cruiserweight world title

Boxer Jai Opetaia has started legal action in the United States to force the IBF to hand back the cruiserweight world title.

The Australian claims the sanctioning body acted unlawfully when it stripped him of his belt following his first fight with promotional outfit Zuffa Boxing.

Opetaia filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Nevada seeking to have his title reinstated, recover damages and legal costs, and prevent the IBF from naming another cruiserweight champion while the litigation continues.

The IBF declined to comment, with a spokesperson telling BBC Sport: "We will release a statement when it is appropriate."

The 19-page complaint - obtained by BBC Sport - claims rival governing bodies have discouraged champions from facing him, citing David Benavidez's decision not to pursue a fight after Opetaia was stripped and alleging the WBC threatened to strip Noel Mikaelian if he agreed to face the Australian instead.

"The conspirators and, most recently, the WBC have taken steps to freeze out Jai from other future bouts," the lawsuit says.

The complaint also names representatives from sanction bodies the WBC, WBA and WBO - BBC Sport has contacted them for comment.

The case centres on the fallout from 31-year-old Opetaia's decision to sign with Zuffa Boxing, the new promotion launched by UFC president Dana White and Saudi Arabian-owned Sela and American company TKO.

Opetaia's first fight under the promotion came against Brandon Glanton in Las Vegas in March. His IBF world title was due to be defended on the same night that Zuffa Boxing introduced its inaugural cruiserweight championship belt.

According to the complaint, the IBF initially approved those arrangements, accepted a $73,000 (£54,000) sanctioning fee and appointed an official to oversee the contest, before withdrawing its sanctioning less than 48 hours before fight night.

The lawsuit argues the IBF later treated the contest as a title unification because a Zuffa Boxing belt was also being contested.

Opetaia disputes that interpretation, arguing the organisation had already accepted the Zuffa belt was merely a "trophy or token of recognition", rather than the championship of another sanctioning body. He says there was no legitimate basis for the IBF to reverse its position.

The filing says Opetaia was "placed in an impossible position" by the late decision, forcing him to choose between withdrawing from a contest he had spent months preparing for and losing "his seven-figure compensation", or proceeding with the fight and "risk being stripped of his championship".

Opetaia chose to box, defeating Glanton by unanimous decision, before the IBF subsequently vacated his title.

The lawsuit further alleges the IBF's actions were "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".

There is precedent of a fighter being reinstated as a world champion following legal action.

In 2004, the WBC was forced into liquidation after losing a £17m legal battle against former champion Graciano Rocchigiani.

Rocchigiani won the WBC's vacant light-heavyweight title in March 1998 after it had been relinquished by Roy Jones Jr.

But Jones decided he wanted to keep the belt and the WBC reinstated him as champion in June 1998.

In addition to the compensation, the WBC was ordered to recognise Rocchigiani as champion from 1998-2000.

Zuffa Boxing launched in June 2025 with ambitions of challenging the established promoters and sanctioning bodies that dominate the sport.

The promotion currently recognises eight weight divisions, with one Zuffa champion crowned in each category.

White has previously stated that Zuffa Boxing will not rely on the traditional world titles awarded by the WBA, WBA, WBO and IBF.

White has also expressed his desire to make changes to Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, the 2000 US law introduced to protect boxers' rights and prevent conflicts of interest and monopolistic practices within the sport.

Changes to the legislation could potentially allow a Zuffa championship belt to be recognised as a legitimate world title, reducing the promotion's reliance on the existing sanctioning bodies.

Zuffa Boxing made its first major statement in February when it signed welterweight contender Conor Benn in a high-profile move away from Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing.

Earlier this month, four-division world champion Shakur Stevenson became the latest major name to join Zuffa Boxing.

Stevenson currently holds the WBO lightweight title, although it remains unclear whether he will be stripped of the belt following his move.

Benn, meanwhile, is scheduled to challenge Ryan Garcia for the WBC welterweight title on 12 September.

American light-welterweight Richardson Hitchins vacated his IBF title after signing with Zuffa, while pound-for-pound star Oleksandr Usyk recently relinquished his WBA (Super), IBF and WBC titles and has been linked with a potential move to the promotion.