Opetaia vs Glanton Predictions: Boxing has already had enough’a Zuffa

IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia will defend a 200lbs title against Brandon Glanton on Sunday, March 8. But whether that is the recognised world championships he holds or the newly-minted Zuffa Boxing title is to be determined as we go to press. The fight takes place at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Zuffa Boxing YouTube channel will stream the fight live.

Read on for my Opetaia vs Glanton predictions.

Opetaia vs Glanton Odds

Opetaia is the best cruiserweight on the planet and his 1/16 price reflects that designation. Glanton is marketed at 17/2. If you fancy the draw it’s on-site at 22/1 as we go to press.

Opetaia vs Glanton Fight Preview

Zuffa Boxing has been the name on everybody’s lips over the past couple of weeks. Paying Conor Benn a reported $15 million to fight 37-year-old champ-turned-gatekeeper Regis Prograis will do that for you. But when your firm is headed by UFC bossman Dana White, notoriety is as valuable as integrity.

Which leads nicely into Jai Opetaia. The Aussie is the IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion. The recognised lineal king, having beaten incumbent Mairis Briedis for that designation. But the IBF belt might not be on the line on Sunday night. 

Not because Glanton isn’t a suitable challenger. God knows that concept went out of the f**king window the second the WBC said 1-0 Rico Verhoeven was sound to hop over from kickboxing to fight the best heavyweight on the planet. But because the IBF do not want to share billing with Zuffa’s own belt.

A company-exclusive set of titles was part of the sales pitch from Zuffa. After all, their UFC stewardship has seen that company’s titles established as the belts in MMA. Dana and his dudes are insisting they intend to steer boxing towards one belt per division. Their plan for this appears to be… to add a fifth belt in each division. Even for boxing, that’s bollocks.

UFC were part of the nascent days of MMA. A vital ingredient in the sport’s primordial soup along with Bruce Lee’s discipline-melding Jeet Kune Do, Ali vs Inoki and Japanese organisations like Pancrase and Shooto. UFC helped create the sport of true, unified Mixed Martial Arts.

Boxing is too codified. Too ingrained. Too muddled. Zuffa are walking into a sport where four or more different people already claim to be a world champion in some weight categories. Responding to that landscape with ‘this needs more championships!’ is like listening to Pink Floyd’s nine-part monument to Syd Barrett, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and deciding 25 minutes just isn’t enough. ‘Have you tried adding another guitar solo, Dave?’

But here we are. More rich, stupid men throwing more money at something boxing doesn’t need. Jake Paul. Mike Tyson’s bare arse. Mayweather-Pacquiao II. Joey f**king Essex. This is boxing. It is designed, in 2026, to make the snowblind excesses of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage’s WWF pomp look positively restrained.

So Opetaia will fight a worthy challenger, quite possibly for an unworthy belt, on Sunday in Vegas. Glanton deserves this crack after a rousing war with Chris Billam-Smith last year. ‘Bulletproof’ followed that up with a sixth-round stoppage of tough cookie Marcus Browne. A decent challenger. But will he be fighting for a decent belt? Your guess is as good as mine, fight fans.

Nothing will ever kill boxing, I truly believe that. But the sport's stakeholders have lost their grip on what made people want to watch it in the first place. 

When Prince Naseem Hamed was vaulting over the ropes or jiving to Men In Black, was your experience enhanced by the colour of the belt he was wearing? 

When Joe Calzaghe emasculated Jeff Lacy in the most punch-perfect display British fight fans have ever witnessed, would you have preferred to see him doing it to David Coulthard or Danny Dyer? 

When Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward left sweat, blood, sinew and a huge lump of their soul on the canvas in three scintillating wars, did you ever stop and wish that, instead of two modern gladiators of the leather glove, you were watching Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler contest a rematch in their mid-50s?

Modern boxing asks you to make those exact choices. What will you choose?

Opetaia vs Glanton Full Card

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Opetaia vs Glanton Predictions

Opetaia is levels above Glanton. The challenger is a decent, deservedly-ranked foe. But the real quarry at cruiser is WBA/WBO boss Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez and the man he faces next; David Benavidez. 

Those are the boxers Opetaia needs to be matched with. If Zuffa wants to curry favour with a cynical boxing populace, they need to make sure their man plays the winner of that mouthwatering rumble. 

As for this one, Opetaia finishes it in rounds 7-9 by my reckoning. If you want to follow me into battle, 7/2 is your price.

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.