Zuffa Boxing is set to crown its first-ever champion with the upcoming fourth card for the promotion scheduled on March 8 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Jai Opetaia, who has been the biggest name signed
to the Zuffa Boxing roster since first launching, will battle for the cruiserweight championship against 21-3 veteran Brandon Glanton. UFC CEO Dana White announced the matchup on Tuesday.
Undefeated with a perfect 29-0 record, Opetaia made quite a splash when he signed with Zuffa Boxing while already holding cruiserweight titles for The Ring and the IBF. Now the Australian slugger, who has scored knockouts in five consecutive fights, competes for the first-ever Zuffa Boxing title as the promotion moves forward after officially launching back in January.
As for Glanton, he enters the fight with a 4-3 record over his past seven outings, which includes wins over Marcus Browne, Alexey Egorov, and Emil Marcic. The 33-year-old veteran will surely be a decided underdog going against Opetaia, who is widely considered the top cruiserweight in boxing.
Of course, introducing titles is the next step for Zuffa Boxing while the organization continues to wait on potential approval of the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, which is currently winding its way through Congress.
The bill seeks to add the addition of United Boxing Organizations (UBO), which would allow UFC-style promotion in the sport of boxing. If the bill is passed and signed into law by President Donald Trump, Zuffa Boxing would be allowed to create its own rankings, hand out its own titles, and sign fighters to exclusive, long-term deals.
The bill just recently passed through the House Committee on Education and Workforce with a 30-4 bipartisan vote before being passed on to Congress for the next step in legislation.
As for Zuffa Boxing 4, the event goes down on March 8 — one night after UFC 326 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with Max Holloway clashing with Charles Oliveira in the main event, with the “BMF” title going up for grabs.
