{"id":416235,"date":"2026-01-17T23:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T23:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/416235\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T23:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T23:10:07","slug":"teddy-atlas-reacts-to-jai-opetaia-signing-new-promotional-deal-with-zuffa-boxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/416235\/","title":{"rendered":"Teddy Atlas reacts to Jai Opetaia signing new promotional deal with Zuffa Boxing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Teddy Atlas has voiced his opinion following the surprise announcement that IBF cruiserweight world champion <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnewsonline.net\/news\/fans-on-opetaia-signing-with-zuffa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jai Opetaia has signed with Zuffa Boxing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Dana White\u2013Turki Alalshikh-backed venture is set to launch later this year, with Irish super-welterweight Callum Walsh (15-0, 11 KOs) headlining an inaugural card against Carlos Ocampo (38-3, 26 KOs) featuring 10 unbeaten fighters at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/boxing\/news\/zuffa-boxing-media-rights-deal-paramount-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Zuffa Boxing is already pressing ahead with further events in the first quarter of 2026<\/a>, including a heavyweight main event on February 14 between Efe Ajagba and former world champion Charles Martin.<\/p>\n<p>Securing Opetaia\u2019s signature represents a major coup. The Australian is widely regarded as one of the two best cruiserweights in the world \u2014 alongside WBA champion Gilberto \u2018Zurdo\u2019 Ramirez \u2014 and one of the division\u2019s most destructive punchers, with 23 knockouts in 29 professional victories.<\/p>\n<p>Atlas, one of boxing\u2019s most respected analysts and the long-time voice behind The Fight podcast, reacted to the news on X by drawing a warning from another sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI guess they will do as they did with golf and other sports and buy up the stars one by one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Atlas was referencing LIV Golf, the Saudi Arabia\u2013funded men\u2019s professional tour backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which launched in 2022 in direct competition with the established PGA Tour. LIV\u2019s arrival sparked significant controversy, most notably drawing criticism from major champions including Rory McIlroy, before reshaping the professional golf landscape by signing many of the world\u2019s leading players.<\/p>\n<p>What that model might look like in boxing remains unclear. White has repeatedly stated that he has no interest in working with the sport\u2019s four major sanctioning bodies, yet Opetaia made his own ambitions clear in a video announcing the deal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSigned with Zuffa Boxing now. Pumped for the future. Exciting times. Let\u2019s get these big fights over the line. Unification, undisputed soon. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That message has only added to the uncertainty surrounding Zuffa\u2019s long-term intentions, particularly if Opetaia continues to pursue unification in a division governed by traditional sanctioning bodies.<\/p>\n<p>What is beyond doubt, however, is that this is a statement signing \u2014 one backed by significant financial muscle \u2014 and it may be only the beginning.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I guess they will do as they did with Golf and other sports and buy up the stars one by one<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeddyAtlasReal\/status\/2012348559312494635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">January 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                                            <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Teddy Atlas has voiced his opinion following the surprise announcement that IBF cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-416235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}