Stripped Opetaia Cruises

To Unanimous Victory Over Glanton

And Inaugural Zuffa Cruiserweight Crown!

By: David Colon

Sunday, March 8th, Meta Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada: In the main event of Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing 4 card, streamed live on Paramount+ from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, 2012 Olympian, Ring Magazine and former IBF World Cruiserweight Champion (stripped immediately before the bout) Jai Opetaia claimed the inaugural Zuffa Boxing World Cruiserweight title with a dominant twelve-round unanimous decision over Atlanta, Georgia’s Brandon “Bulletproof” Glanton.

The bout began cautiously, with both fighters feeling each other out through the opening rounds. Opetaia, a southpaw, quickly asserted control, dictating the pace with superior hand and foot speed. From mid-range he consistently beat “Bulletproof” to the punch with active, accurate combinations.

Marked by calculated grappling and frequent clinches, the roughhousing continued throughout the contest. The 33-year-old Glanton never stopped pressing forward despite having a point deducted in round six for holding and another in round eight for low blows.

Opetaia controlled the spacing, often getting off first or firing the last shot, smothering Glanton’s attacks or pivoting out of danger. He continued to press forward, landing hard body shots and hooks, though he was deducted a point himself in round eleven for holding.

Remaining the more productive fighter and landing the cleaner, heavier punches, Opetaia rocked Glanton in the twelfth and final round and closed the show with the same composure he maintained all night, earning a definitive 119–106 scorecard across the board to capture the Zuffa title by unanimous decision.

With the victory, Opetaia reinforces his standing as one of the world’s premier cruiserweights, improving to 30-0, 23Ko’s. Glanton, coming off a sixth-round retirement win over Marcus Browne, slips to 21-4, 18Ko’s.

In the ten-round welterweight, co-feature, Tlalpan, Mexico’s, Ricardo “Magic Man” Rodriguez scored a convincing eighth round TKO stoppage of Auburn, Washington, southpaw, Jesus “Junior” Saracho.

Rodriguez imposed his identity and intentions early and never let go, walking down “Junior” with nonstop pressure from the opening round. “Magic Man” continued to advance behind a compact guard and a busy jab, forcing Saracho to move, reset and defend at a pace he couldn’t sustain.

Saracho limited to mostly isolated single shots, unable to keep up with Rodriguez’s volume body work and heavy short right hands steadily wore down “Juniors” legs breaking any rhythm turning his attack inside with three‑ and four‑punch combinations kept his foot on the gas cut off the ring bringing the fight to an end in round eight backing Saracho to the ropes for a heavy volley of undefended shots forcing referee Robert Hoyle stop it at 2:05 of the round.

Rodriguez unbeaten since a 2021 ten round split decision loss to Julio Luna Avila improves to 23-2-2, 17Ko’s, Saracho unbeaten in his previous four falls to 16-3-2, 12Ko’s.   

In a scheduled ten round welterweight bout, Los Angeles, California, based, 30-year-old, Belarusian, Vlad “Super Bad” Panin stopped Hamilton, New Jersey’s, Shinard "Showtime" Bunch in nine rounds.

Panin dominated "Showtime" Bunch throughout, out jabbing Bunch, consistently adding combinations to the head and body winning nearly every round, wearing down and finally closing the show with repeated unanswered / undefended combinations forcing referee Allen Huggins to finally step in and stop the one-sided contest at 2:29 of round nine.

The 30-year-old, Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English Language and Literature/Letters from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Panin running his latest KO streak to three improves to 24-2, 16Ko’s. The 26-year-old, Bunch, 2-2 in his last four bouts falls to 22-4-1, 18Ko’s.          

In a match of unbeaten featherweights, Whittier, California’s, Pablo “Shark” Rubio Jr. picked himself up from two third round knockdowns and battle back to an eight-round unanimous decision win over San Diego, California’s, Adan Palma.

The shorter, younger, 24-year-old, Palma took the fight to the “Shark” early keeping it in tight landing the heavier, cleaner shots through the first two rounds and exploding and flooring Rubio twice in round three first coming by way of a tight left hook, the second with a heavy right hand.

The well-conditioned, 29 year old, rest but don’t sleep “Shark” appearing on the verge of a statement knockout, tightened his guard, dug down surviving the round, turned it around in round four with all-in, grinding, front‑foot volume pressure attack, walking down and steadily outworking his fading San Diego opponent through a final stand seventh round pushing through to a resilient eight round 76–74, 77-73 times two unanimous decision win. Rubio Jr. holds onto his unblemished record at 15-0, 5Ko’s as Palma with his first loss slips to 14-1, 9Ko’s.

In eight round heavyweight action, Laredo, Texas, “Magician,” Joshua Jay Juarez remained unbeaten with an eight-round unanimous decision win over Davenport, Iowa’s, “Almighty” Jardae Anderson.

Juarez the busier, more active fighter dictated the action with his jab and movement, controlling distance for a tactical blue collar 79-73, 78-74, 77-75 unanimous decision win. Juarez improves to 15-0, 9Ko’s as the previously once beaten Anderson’s six bout win streak ends 11-2, 9Ko’s.

In an evenly matched battle of Texan featherweights, Dallas, “Raging Bull” Jaycob Ramos and San Antonio’s, Ethan Perez fought to a six‑round majority draw.

Following an early feeling-out process, seeing the 25-year-old, Dallas fighters standard speedy volume combination punching attack held at bay by the 21-year-old, San Antonio southpaws jab the action would pick up, Perez stunning Ramos early with a sharp straight left hand down the pipe, dropping him to the canvas in the opening seconds. Ramos recovered quickly, beating the count and firing back, but Perez controlled much of the round with follow-up counter combinations.

In Round three, Ramos turned the tide by catching Perez with a looping right hook, flooring him for an eight-count and sparking heated exchanges. The second half of the bout settled into a gritty rhythm with crowd-pleasing, close-range back-and-forth action. Ramos pushed the pace aggressively, while Perez responded with timely counterpunching. Both fighters remained vertical through the three closely contested rounds, splitting among the judges for a 57-55 Ramos, 56-56, 56-56 majority draw. The split leaves Perez at 8-0-1, 3Ko’s and Ramos shifts to 4-1-1, 1Ko.

In an, I’ll see you again down the line styled six round pairing of unbeaten lightweights, Las Vegas, Nevada, 18-year-old, Brady Ochoa and Salinas, California, 21-year-old, Adrian Miguel Serrano battled to a tightly contested majority draw.

The bout matching top prospects featured no knockdowns, with Ochoa slightly edging Serrano in total punches landed 105-104 enough to influence judge Robert Byrd scoring it 58-56 for Ochoa while judges Tim Cheatham and Patricia Morse Jarman both scored it 57-57 for a majority draw. Ochoa bumps over to 9-0-1, 2Ko’s while Serrano’s first draw coming in his pro debut moves to 6-0-2, 3Ko’s.       

In a six round featherweight preliminary bout, Coachella, California, Emiliano Alvarado extended his unbeaten record with a clear unanimous‑decision victory over Dominican Republic’s, Erick ‘El Flash” Rosado.

The unbeaten, 18-year-old, prospect controlled the fight with sharp jabs, footwork and combinations, highlighted by a crisp left hook dropping the more experienced veteran in round two setting the table and holding off Rosado’s occasional counters for a 59-54times three unanimous decision win. Alvarado stays undefeated at 11-0, 6Ko’s as the 26-year-old, Rosado 1-4 in his last five bouts drops to 16-5, 11Ko’s.