Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (24-0, 19 KOs) walked through Ellis Zorro (17-1, 7 KOs) to retain his world championship by first-round blowout at Kingdome Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night.
As the old adage goes, you don’t get paid for overtime.
The fight was as quick as it was clinical. Opetaia landed five of 11 power punches, according to CompuBox. The last one was a savage left cross from the 28-year-old Australian southpaw that landed flush on the chin and laid out Britain’s Zorro, 31, at the 2:56 mark of the opening frame.
No count was necessary.
“He was very hesitant; he wasn’t engaging much,” Opetaia said. “He was a bit too hesitant and he got clipped.”
The bout took place midway through the mammoth “Day of Reckoning” card headlined by the heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Otto Wallin and supported by a seven-fight undercard including Deontay Wilder versus Joseph Parker.
The win came at the end of a tumultuous week for Opetaia, who relinquished his IBF title on Monday after the New Jersey-based sanctioning body refused to sanction his fight against Zorro.
“Belts should be won and lost in the ring, and I’m still the Ring Magazine champion,” Opetaia said at the time. “All roads in the cruiserweight division go through me.
“I am the true king of the cruiserweight division and I’ll be defending that prestigious Ring Magazine title on December 23. I look forward to getting that IBF belt back as soon as possible and adding all of them, one by one.”
Opetaia needed less than three minutes to put Zorro away. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
The beef with the IBF arose after it ordered Opetaia to face previous victim Mairis Briedis (28-2, 2o KOs) in his very next bout despite the 38-year-old Latvian veteran being injured and a deal already in place for the rematch to take place early next year.
The Zorro bout stood to disadvantage no-one, but still the IBF would not sanction it.
“We respect the IBF’s rules, which are in place to protect the boxer in the mandatory position,” Opetaia’s manager said. “However, this was one extremely bizarre circumstance where the mandatory boxer was actually happy to not have it immediately enforced as he’s injured.
“We were left with three options: vacate, be stripped if Jai fights on December 23, or wait for Briedis.
“There’s an old saying that you can’t eat trophies. Jai cannot turn down the life-changing money on offer for the Zorro bout and we need the activity. So we will respect the IBF rules and vacate the belt.
“Jai will instead be defending the most recognizable belt in boxing, the Ring Magazine belt.”
Speaking exclusively to The Ring on Monday, Opetaia made it clear that his goal remains to be known as the premium 200-pound boxer on the planet.
“I still believe I’m the best in the division, whether I have the IBF belt or not. I am still the Ring champion and I’m very proud to hold that belt,” he said.
“I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing and keep winning these fights, and I believe the belts will come back or we will continue to get the other belts.
“It sucks that this has happened. The IBF pretty much forced it, but it is what it is. We are looking forwards not backwards, so bring it on.”
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