Boxing
Xander Zayas unites at 154; Baraou accepts the result
This confidence came after a tense card reading. One judge scored it 116-112 for Baraou. Two gave Zayas the same result. He admitted that the waiting forced him. “When I heard the decision, I was a little scared,” he said. “But honestly, I felt like I nailed it. I won at least eight or nine rounds. Maybe he got three or four.”
Zayas detailed the problem he had to solve during the fight. “I hurt my left hand in the ninth round,” he said. “I was jabbing a lot and he has a demanding head, so I hurt my hand. But I worked it out, like all champions. Champions find a way to win.”
Zayas got back on his feet, jabbed and scored with compact combinations, allowing Baraou to press and reach too far. When Baraou found success on his right hand in the fifth set, Zayas maintained his discipline. In the ninth neat right hand, Baraou wobbled and briefly pulled Zayas into a rally. He corrected his course and boxed well until the end.
Baraou accepts the result without complaint
Baraou did not object later. “Congratulations to him,” he said. “I’m proud of his performance. He beat me fair and square. He deserves it. I’ll come back stronger.”
Zayas currently has two lanes of 154 each, tightening the mandatory time frame and raising the price of each decision. His own words indicate growth under pressure, not domination without cost. Injured hand. Close tabs. Corrections made in real time.
Against experienced junior middleweights who cut through the ring and maintain a high pace, these changes will have to happen sooner. The belts speak of a unified champion. From his comments, it appears that the fighter is still learning to close out rounds without allowing the judges to do so. The next defense will test whether that lesson sticks when the pressure starts earlier and margins tighten.
Jai Opetai’s fight against Brandon Glanton is still moving forward, but veteran reporter Dan Rafael says the issue that caused the IBF title to be removed from the fight had to do with how the belt was presented during fight week. Rafael reported that IBF president Daryl Peoples believes that the organization’s title was shown as secondary to Zuffa’s belt during a recent press conference.
This explanation makes the argument about the presentation rather than the match itself. Rafael wrote that Peoples objected to the way the belts were arranged at the press, with Zuffa’s belt posed for the cameras while Opetaia held the IBF title rather than raising it in the usual manner towards the audience.
“The IBF withdrew sanctions and sent the overseer home after the journalist because IBF President Daryl Peoples felt disrespected by the belt being placed secondary to Zuffa’s,” Rafael wrote on social media.
Fight week photos reflect the arrangement Rafael described. At the final press conference on Friday, Zuffa’s belt was centered and Opetaia held the red IBF title at his side. Saturday’s weigh-in had a similar effect. Zuffa’s belt was raised over the fighters on the restart, while Opetaia continued to hold the IBF Championship on his chest. This sequence appears to have irritated the sanctioning authority.
Rafael also reported another unusual detail related to the fight. Even after the IBF dropped its sanctions, Opetai and Glanton were still expected to adhere to IBF weight rules ahead of the morning fight. Rafael said that no competitor can weigh more than ten pounds over the cruiserweight weight limit of 200.
Rafael later noticed that the IBF belt continued to appear in promotion for the event. Opetaia held the title at media events and discussed it publicly, and graphics broadcast by Zuffa covered the championship. Rafael’s account points to the dispute that raged over Zuffa’s title belt relationship during press events.
Opetaia entered fight week as the IBF cruiserweight champion after regaining the belt in a rematch victory over Mairis Briedis in 2024. The Australian continues to wear the physical belt while promoting his fight against Glanton. Once he steps into the ring and takes part in an unsanctioned fight, the IBF Championship will no longer move forward with him.
The fight remains scheduled, and reports from Rafael indicate that the split was due to belt politics and presentations at public events. The episode shows how rigorously sanctioning bodies guard the status of their championships as modern promoters introduce competitive titles.
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