Home / Arts and Entertainment / Oscar De La Hoya Slams White Over Opetaia's Career
Oscar De La Hoya Slams White Over Opetaia's Career
13 Mar
Summary
- De La Hoya calls Jai Opetaia's Zuffa title a 'participation trophy.'
- Opetaia faces potential IBF title loss due to Zuffa disagreement.
- De La Hoya accuses Zuffa and The Ring of industry-wide collusion.
Boxing icon Oscar De La Hoya has publicly criticized Zuffa Boxing, its president Dana White, and Australian fighter Jai Opetaia. De La Hoya issued a stern warning to Opetaia, urging him to "wake up before they ruin your career."
De La Hoya's tirade followed Opetaia's win for the inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight title. The former champion dismissed the Zuffa belt as a mere "participation trophy." Opetaia is currently involved in legal action to retain his IBF world championship, which he risks losing because the IBF withdrew its sanctioning for the Zuffa bout.
Disagreements between the promoter and the IBF over the Zuffa title's classification, deemed a "trophy or token of recognition" by the IBF, led to the sanction withdrawal. De La Hoya also accused "The Ring" magazine of providing biased rankings for Opetaia's opponent, Brandon Glanton, and suggested industry-wide collusion against Opetaia.
De La Hoya urged Opetaia to disassociate from Zuffa, claiming the boxer is being used as a pawn and will be "tricked into a bunch of sh*t." The situation adds complexity to the cruiserweight division, with Opetaia hoping for unification bouts against champions like Noel Mikaelian or the winner of the Ramirez-Benavidez fight later in 2026.
