In a dramatic turnaround that took place in one day, the International Boxing Federation has officially withdrawn its sanction for Jai Opetaia’s cruiserweight title defense against Brandon Glanton.

The withdrawal came hours after Zuffa Boxing posted on social media that the fight would feature the IBF cruiserweight championship, and after Opetaia himself confirmed at a press conference on Friday that the IBF belt was being defended. This announcement and withdrawal appear to have occurred in the same news cycle, ending a week of growing confusion surrounding the status of the title.

The fight, which will headline Zuffa Boxing 04 on Sunday at Meta APEX in Las Vegas, will now only feature the inaugural Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight championship and The Ring magazine title. Opetaia (29-0, 23 KO) still holds the IBF belt as of this writing, but the sanctioning body’s rules could force an immediate vacancy. In accordance with Principle 5.H. An IBF champion who competes in an unsanctioned competition within the recommended weight limit forfeits the title regardless of the result.

A week of mixed signals

The timeline tells the story. Earlier this week This was reported by Salvador Rodriguez from ESPN that the IBF gave Opetaia an ultimatum: defend the IBF title or fight for the Zuffa belt, but not both. The IBF refused to allow his championship to appear alongside the newly created promotional title. An IBF spokesman said the organization was still considering the matter and would not make a public statement. Opetaia responded by completely denying the reports. He was unequivocal at the press conference. At another point in the week, he told The Sun that the reports were fabricated. Then on Friday, Zuffa released the IBF title as part of the fight settlement. A few hours later, the IBF withdrew the sanctions.

It is unclear whether Zuffa’s statement forced the IBF’s hand or if the timing was coincidental. It is clear that the sanctioning body made its decision after Zuffa publicly stated that the title was at stake.

What’s going on with the belt?

The IBF withdrawal raises an immediate question: Will Opetaia be stripped of her title? The principle is clear. If the champion fights in his weight class in an unsanctioned fight, the title is declared vacant – win or lose. Opetaia has been through this before. At the end of 2023, the IBF stripped him of his eligibility to fight Ellis Zorro on the Riyad season card, instead facing mandatory challenger Mairis Briedis. He regained the belt six months later with a unanimous decision over Briedis in May 2024 and has since made four successful defenses.

If the IBF strips Opetaia again, the sanctioning body is expected to order a fight between the highest-ranked available contenders to fill the vacancy. This reshuffles the cruiserweight division at a critical time. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez will defend his WBA and WBO titles against David Benavidez on May 2 at T-Mobile Arena. Opetaia targeted the winner to gain undisputed status. Without the IBF belt, this fight – if it happens – would be a unification fight rather than an undisputed coronation.

The bigger picture

The withdrawal is the clearest signal yet that the IBF – and potentially other major sanctioning bodies – will not passively co-exist with Zuffa’s parallel title structure. As BoxingInsider detailed last week, the conflict has always come down to whether the IBF will enforce its own rules or look the other way. The answer came on Friday and it was execution.

The contradiction at the heart of the Zuffa Boxing model remains unresolved. Dana White has openly stated that he wants to eliminate sanctioning bodies. His most significant player needs these bodies to achieve his intended career goal. Opetaia has repeatedly stated that the reason he is fighting is to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion. This requires holding all four major titles at once – IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO – and that has become much more arduous.

Sunday’s Zuffa Boxing 04 main card begins at 9 p.m. ET on Paramount+, and Opetaia is the bulky favorite to become the promotion’s first champion. He will almost certainly win. Whether he wakes up on Monday still holding the IBF belt is a completely different fight – and one that neither he nor Zuffa Boxing has won.

Hours after Jai Opetaia said he would defend his IBF cruiserweight title against Brandon Glanton on Sunday while also fighting for the inaugural Zuffa Boxing Championship, the IBF announced it will no longer sanction title defenses.

In a Friday evening statement, the IBF said it had withdrawn sanction for the fight after being misled that Zuffa’s championship would be nothing more than an item that would be “characterized as a trophy or token of recognition.”

At a press conference earlier Friday in Las Vegas, Opetaia said the IBF and Zuffa Boxing titles were on the line in what would be considered a unification fight.

However, Zuffa Boxing is not a sanctioning body recognized by the IBF and “does not adhere to the same mandatory regulations applicable to the organization.”

“An unsanctioned contest is a fight for which the IBF has not formally approved sanction or for which a sanction has been formally withdrawn,” the IBF said in a statement. “If a champion enters an unsanctioned fight within the designated weight limit, the title will be declared vacant regardless of whether the champion wins or loses the fight.”

If Opetaia takes the fight, he will be stripped of his title for a second time; the first was in 2023 when he fought Ellis Zorro instead of his mandatory opponent, Mairis Briedis.

Opetaia signed with Zuffa Boxing in January with the intention of maintaining her undisputed status while competing for her inaugural title.

“We just want to be unchallenged and then spend time with our families,” Opetaia said in a recent interview with ESPN. “We’re talking about it unchallenged. If we’re not here to be unchallenged in this game, then what are we doing?”

“I feel like I was the better player. My reach, distance and speed were kind of better than his,” Stevenson said on The Joe Rogan Experience, recalling the rounds they played during training camp early in his professional career.

Shakur added that Lomachenko’s conditioning and striking were an advantage at the time as the Ukrainian prepared for the fight during camp.

“From the standpoint of being in shape and throwing more punches, I think he was better to some extent,” Shakur said. “He was preparing for his fight and I was preparing for my fight too.”

The sessions took place in 2017, when Lomachenko was preparing to fight Guillermo Rigondeaux. Stevenson, then a juvenile midfielder who had won an Olympic silver medal, was brought into camp as a sparring partner.

Lomachenko entered the professional ranks after one of the most successful amateur careers in boxing history. Unlike Stevenson, who won an Olympic silver medal, Lomachenko won two Olympic gold medals and set a record widely reported as 396 wins and one defeat.

That lone loss came to Russian Albert Selimov in the final of the 2007 World Amateur Featherweight Championship. Lomachenko later avenged this defeat twice in his amateur career, including a victory over Selimov at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Shakur said the experience stuck with him because he felt he was able to hold his own against one of the most respected technicians in the sport at the time.

Looking back, Stevenson stated that he believed Lomachenko may have looked at the situation differently after seeing how Stevenson performed during those rounds.

“If I’m Lomachenko and I know he weighed 126 pounds at the time. He was a kid growing into his 30s,” Stevenson said. “Now I see him grown up, bigger and stronger, and I see what he did as a kid. I would probably test the waters with him. I really wouldn’t want to see that guy.”

The two fighters have never faced each other in the professional ranks, despite competing in nearby divisions for part of their careers.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Loma won world titles in multiple divisions and earned a reputation as one of boxing’s most technically gifted fighters. Since then, Shakur has been on his own path, winning titles in three divisions and establishing himself as one of the most defensively gifted fighters in the sport.

While sparring sessions remain part of boxing history, Stevenson suggested that the experience may facilitate explain why a fight between the two never materialized once both fighters had reached championship level.