Source: Boxing Scene*<\/p>\n
Jai Opetaia has vacated the IBF title to face England\u2019s Ellis Zorro as part of this Saturday\u2019s \u2018Day of Reckoning\u2019 super card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
The physical sanctioning body title is no longer at stake, after the IBF rejected an appeal filed by Opetaia\u2019s team to permit a second consecutive voluntary defense.<\/p>\n
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that his decision has been communicated to the IBF, thus officially declaring the cruiserweight title vacant.<\/p>\n
Sydney\u2019s Opetaia (23-0, 18KOs) was previously ordered to next face mandatory challenger Mairis Briedis in a rematch to their thriller last July. IBF rules forbid consecutive voluntary defenses but will consider appeals extreme exceptions such unification bouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fought through absolute agony to win that belt and it saddens me to relinquish it,\u201d Opetaia said of his decision. \u201cBut the fact is, Briedis isn\u2019t ready to fight on December 23 and I need to stay active. I simply can\u2019t turn down a career-high payday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelts should be won and lost in the ring and I\u2019m still the Ring Magazine champion and all roads in the cruiserweight division go through me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The IBF will next order a vacant title fight between the two highest ranked and available contenders. Briedis (28-2, 20KOs) remains the mandatory, while former WBO super middleweight titlist Gilberto \u2018Zurdo\u2019 Ramirez (45-1, 30KOs) is one spot below.<\/p>\n
Opetaia-Zorro is one of two title fights booked as part of Saturday\u2019s eight-fight show. Six heavyweight non-title fights dominate the card, while Opetaia was slated to defend his cruiserweight crown and WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11KOs) risks his belt versus England\u2019s Lyndon Arthur.<\/p>\n
The event will move forward uninterrupted, just with one less belt in tow.<\/p>\n
Opetaia overcame a fractured jaw to dethrone Briedis in their lineal\/IBF championship last July in Australia\u2019s Gold Coast. He has since healed from that injury as well as shoulder surgery to move forward with his reign. His lone title defense thus far came in a fourth-round knockout of England\u2019s Jordan Thompson in an approved voluntary defense on September 30 at OVO Arena Wembley.<\/p>\n
Thompson and Zorro are similar in that they are unbeaten Brits but largely unproven on the contender stage.<\/p>\n
However, Thompson was ranked at the time he was approved as an opponent and after two previously assigned mandatories\u2014Mateusz Masternak and Richard Riakporhe\u2014refused to move forward with their respective opportunities to challenge Opetaia for the division\u2019s top prize.<\/p>\n
The win over Thompson was immediately followed by direct instructions issued to Opetaia to enter negotiations for an ordered rematch versus Latvia\u2019s Brieidis. The two sides failed to reach terms, which prompted the IBF to schedule a November 21 purse bid hearing.<\/p>\n
As previously reported by Boxing Scene, the session was canceled after it was learned that Opetaia would land on the December 23 Riyadh card. Briedis\u2014a former three-time cruiserweight titlist\u2014 agreed to not object to the fight but who fully expected the mandatory to still take place within the IBF\u2019s imposed deadline.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am the true king of the cruiserweight division and I\u2019ll be defending that prestigious Ring Magazine title on December 23,\u201d stated Opetaia. \u201cI look forward to getting that IBF belt back as soon as possible and adding all of them, one by one.\u201d<\/p>\n
*Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Source: Boxing Scene* Jai Opetaia has vacated the IBF title to face England\u2019s Ellis Zorro as part of this Saturday\u2019s \u2018Day of Reckoning\u2019 super card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The physical sanctioning body title is no longer at stake, after the IBF rejected an appeal filed by Opetaia\u2019s team to permit a second consecutive voluntary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[3322,3323,3324,59,3325],"class_list":["post-20722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-ay-opetaia-vacates-ifb-title","tag-day-of-reckoning","tag-december-23-riyadh","tag-featured","tag-saudi-arabia"],"yoast_head":"\n