“It’s my dream to become undisputed,” Jai Opetaia reminded everyone during the pre-fight presser of his Zuffa debut. But his dream faces a challenge. The IBF is considering stripping him of his cruiserweight belt for fighting Brandon Glanton on Zuffa Boxing 04, a bout they deemed unsanctioned, leaving the Australian champion’s ambitions feeling distant. To become an undisputed champion, he needs to unify the remaining alphabet titles of the WBC, WBO, and WBA. So what’s the solution to Opetaia’s predicament?

Zuffa Boxing still needs a foothold in mainstream boxing. With their belt still unrecognized – at least by traditional stakeholders, Opetaia has to find a path to secure his legacy. While much of the boxing world empathizes with him, a few, like Roy Jones Jr., believe Opetaia has no other choice but to pull out of Dana White’s boxing promotion if he wants to become an undisputed champion. When a Fight Hub TV reporter highlighted the developments surrounding Opetaia and asked about his team considering a legal route to the IBF issue, Jones Jr. urged Opetaia to return to ‘regular’ boxing.

“Give up that Zuffa belt and return to regular boxing cuz that Zuffa belt is not going to allow you to become (the) undisputed champion,” Jones Jr. said. “(It) is not for you because (the) undisputed champion goes years and years beyond that Zuffa belt, and that Zuffa (is) going to mean the same cuz like I said, if he doesn’t like you, he isn’t going to even rank your Zuffa belt.”

“You have no chance if that goes; if that takes everything else out of the way, you and he don’t like you never going to be world champ if you don’t like your manager or your promoter. You’re never going to be world champ; no, it’s not fair.”

The reporter pointed out how some have started questioning whether Opetaia made a wise decision by joining Zuffa. Roy Jones Jr. acknowledged that the Sydney native has landed himself in a quagmire he hardly understood at the time.

In the bigger picture of traditional boxing, according to Jones Jr., there’s little recognition for Dana White‘s boxing promotion or what it offers.

Roy Jones Jr. critiques Zuffa as Opetaia faces a crossroads

Against this backdrop, Jones Jr. has not fully welcomed the UFC CEO’s boxing venture. In a previous interview with Fight Hub TV, he labeled Zuffa as “bad for boxing,” especially considering fighter pay issues, with many MMA fighters raising concerns over the difference in payouts compared to boxers.

“It’s good for the sport in some areas, but overall, no,” he said. “Because if you got the UFC already and your guys leave the UFC and make more money in boxing one night than they make in their whole career in the UFC, that’s a problem. So you got to balance the problem. Balance the problem with your sport, and then make it better. Okay, but don’t go take my sport and do the same as your sport cuz your sport got a level of how high it can go. I don’t want that. Why would I want that? I’m crazy if I go for that.

Setting aside the former world champion’s perspective, Jai Opetaia finds himself in a challenging spot.

After initial reports about the IBF stripping him of their title surfaced, the New Jersey-based sanctioning body appears to have softened its stance following Opetaia’s emotional appeal about how becoming an undisputed champion remains his big dream.

If Opetaia stays put as the IBF champion, he will have a window of opportunity when David Benavidez challenges unified champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez on May 2, Cinco de Mayo weekend, giving Opetaia a chance to target the fight’s winner.

That will leave only WBC champion Noel Mikaelyan to defeat to claim the four belts Opetaia so badly wants, but first, the tussle with the IBF needs to be resolved.