The International Boxing Federation has responded to World Boxing News following a report that claimed Jai Opetaia may have to choose between defending his IBF cruiserweight title or fighting for the newly created Zuffa Boxing belt.
After ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez reported that the IBF had asked Opetai to make a decision on the title he will fight for this weekend, WBN sought a direct explanation from the governing body.
The IBF responded: “The IBF is not making any public statements about this fight at this time. We will contact you as soon as we are able to make a statement.”
The response neither confirms nor denies Rodriguez’s claims, but opens up debate over whether both titles are on the line, especially without ratified changes to the Ali Act that would formally recognize or regulate promoter-controlled championships.
Rodriguez cites sources
Rodriguez stated via social media: “Sources: The IBF has asked Jai Opetai to make a decision on the title he will fight for this weekend. He can either defend the IBF title or fight for the promoter’s belt, but not both.”
The report cites “sources” and the IBF has not publicly confirmed any formal order, ruling or deadline.
However, the confirmation that a statement will be issued makes it clear that the problem is dynamic and not hypothetical.
Zuffa title meets management
These are the first real management frictions to come to airy since Zuffa Boxing confirmed it would introduce its own championship structure.
As WBN reported when Zuffa announced his cruiserweight title, signing the current IBF and Ring Magazine champion was a intelligent move.
Aligning Zuffa’s fresh cruiserweight belt with its existing global recognition would immediately raise the credibility of the promoter’s title.
If the sanctioning body imposes a choice between championships, a lane change ceases to be a branding choice and becomes a structural separation.
This would mark the first direct collision between Zuffa’s internal title model and the rules set by its governing body.
As of now, there is no public order, no confirmed date, and no declaration that Opetaia must leave anything.
But the IBF is preparing an official statement that suggests clarity is imminent.
If the federation confirms Rodriguez’s report, Opetaia will face a direct decision between defending the sanctioning body’s long-established championship or competing for Zuffa’s internal title.
Unless otherwise clarified by the IBF, this may signal a path to enable short-term flexibility.
Zuffa’s championship strategy has remained theoretical until now, with matters pending in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The IBF’s next move will determine whether Zuffa’s internal championship model can operate within boxing’s established sanctioning framework, or whether a formal separation of the two systems will begin soon.
About the author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
“Well, he has his team there and I’m not criticizing anyone, but in both fights his tactics weren’t good,” Peter said in an interview with Sport Boxing.
“It worked out badly because look, if we have a little guy here who can throw, let’s say, a welterweight who can throw a thousand punches, and we have a heavyweight, will a heavyweight fighter throw a thousand punches with him? No.”
“Or maybe he’ll step in and take one good shot? Absolutely.”
“So basically yes, the strategy was just wrong. It doesn’t mean Usyk was better than him. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t say anything. You misunderstand the tactics and they are wrong.
“And you know, when you look at Usyk’s structure and what he does, when he distances himself and tries to box an elite boxer who is lighter than you and who is giving away pounds, he will ping you all over the shop. That should be noticed,” Peter Fury said.
Tyson Fury announced his return earlier this year and is expected to have a preparatory fight before the start of his scheduled series with Anthony Joshua. Queensbury promoter Frank Warren recently confirmed that Fury’s next opponent could be announced in the coming days, with the long-awaited fight against Joshua expected to take place later this year.
Usyk remains at the top of the heavyweight division and has been ordered to fight WBC interim champion Agit Kabayel. Warren also confirmed that negotiations for the fight are ongoing.
Fury’s third meeting with Usyk has not been announced. Peter Fury, however, remains convinced that the strategy used in the first two fights determined the result.
Jorge Kahwagi achieved something almost impossible in professional boxing. The Mexican politician retired with a perfect record of 12-0, knocked out every opponent he faced, and finished his entire career in just 15 rounds.
On paper, this looks like one of the most devastating runs the sport has ever seen. In fact, many boxing fans wondered if they even believed it.
Perfect record
Kahwagi turned professional in 2001, despite having no boxing experience. Over the next fourteen years, he set an undefeated record, won regional titles, and never once heard the final bell.
Twelve fights brought twelve victories. All twelve victories were by knockout in just fifteen rounds.
The numbers are tough to understand even now.
Several of Kahwagi’s opponents entered the ring in defeat. Others seemed hopelessly outmatched.
But the record continued to grow as the politician and businessman rose through the cruiserweight ranks without ever being seriously tested.
By the time he retired in 2015 after returning from a ten-year hiatus for one final fight, Kahwagi owned one of boxing’s most remarkable undefeated records.
Why fans never bought it
The controversy surrounding Kahwaga was not in itself. This is how some of these victories turned out.
His last fight against Ramon Olivas remains the fight most frequently mentioned in discussions about Kahwagi’s career. The break came after seemingly minimal contact, prompting criticism from fans and observers.
Doubts have already surrounded previous victories, including the victory over veteran Roberto Coelho.
Whether these doubts were justified or not, the damage was done and many fans never accepted Kahwagi’s record at face value.
WBC
Boxing has seen this before
Kahwagi’s record may be extraordinary, but in boxing there is always controversy when it comes to results.
As WBN reports, while John Riel Casimero faces a fight-fixing investigation in 2025, debates continue to arise in the contemporary era about what happens inside the ropes.
Long before that, Roy Jones Jr. denied winning Olympic gold in Seoul despite dominating Park Si-hun in what many still consider the greatest heist in boxing history.
More than thirty years later, Park returned the medal to Jones.
The Kahwagi case falls into a different category, but the result is often the same. Once fans stop believing what they’re watching, the debate never really stops.
Still one of the strangest
Few fighters retire with a perfect record, and even fewer retire after every knockout victory.
Kahwagi handled both, finishing his entire professional career in just 15 innings, and those numbers remain remarkable.
More than a decade after his retirement, the debate surrounding his record has never really died down.
That’s why Jorge Kahwagi’s perfect 12-0 record remains one of the strangest in boxing history.
About the author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
One of the most coveted fights in boxing right now is the lithe heavyweight clash between unified champion Dmitry Bivol and WBC ruler David Benavidez for the undisputed 175-pound crown.
However, two-division world champion Teofimo Lopez believes that the fight could end in a “massacre”.
“The Mexican Monster” has since won the unified cruiserweight crown, but maintains he would be willing to cut weight to face Bivol and claim the undisputed honors.
Speaking on Inside The Ring programLopez renamed Benavidez the “Massacre Monster” when discussing the potential fight, believing the age difference between the two lithe heavyweight champions could be crucial to the outcome of the fight.
“I’m going to call Benavidez a ‘massacre monster’ because, man, [that performance against Ramirez] it was nasty. It’s really nasty, really.
“He [Benavidez] enters its flowering period, while the other [Bivol] is on the way out. You have to think about these things too.”
Bivol fulfilled his IBF obligation by defending his belts against Michael Eifert last weekend, but the WBO ordered him to face mandatory challenger Callum Smith in order to retain the WBO belt.
As a result, it appears that a potential Bivol-Benavidez clash will have to wait until 2027, with Beterbiev also being considered for the trilogy.
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