Jai Opetaia Says Belts “Collect Dust,” But Still Wants Them All

Jai Opetaia brushed off the importance of championship belts during the final press conference for his fight with Brandon Glanton, saying the trophies themselves mean little once the bout is over. The remark sounded unusual from a fighter who continues to talk about becoming the undisputed champion at cruiserweight.

Opetaia defends his IBF title against Glanton on Sunday in Las Vegas on the latest Zuffa Boxing card.

Asked about the newly introduced Zuffa belt and what it would mean to add another title to his collection, Opetaia dismissed the idea that the hardware itself carries much importance.

“These things are just material,” Opetaia said during the press conference. “They sit in my house and collect dust on the wardrobes and stuff. It’s more being a champion, being a world champion, having your last name up there. That’s what I chase.”

The comment stood out because Opetaia used the same press conference to repeat his ambition of becoming undisputed champion in the cruiserweight division, a goal that depends entirely on winning the sport’s major sanctioning-body titles.

“It’s my dream to become undisputed,” Opetaia said. “Unless everyone works together toward that dream, I can’t accomplish that.”

Those two ideas do not sit comfortably together. Belts may end up sitting on a shelf once the night is over, but they remain the same prizes fighters must gather to prove they run a division.

The timing of the remark also came while Opetaia praised Zuffa Boxing during fight week, saying he had been treated better there than anywhere else while the promotion unveiled its own championship belt.

Boxing has always carried this strange habit. Fighters say belts are only pieces of metal, yet they spend their careers chasing them because those titles still decide who stands at the top.

Opetaia heads into Sunday’s bout with Glanton living inside that same reality. The belt may collect dust later, but the path he says he wants still runs straight through more of them.

Personally, I’ve always found it difficult to accept that belts mean nothing when the entire sport still runs through them.