When asked about the newly launched Zuffa belt and what it would mean to add another title to his collection, Opetaia dismissed the idea that the hardware itself is very important.
“These things are just material,” Opetaia said during the press conference. “They sit in my house collecting dust on the wardrobes and stuff. It’s more about being a champion, being a world champion, having you up there. That’s what I’m chasing.”
The comment stood out as Opetaia used the same press conference to reiterate his ambition to become undisputed champion in the cruiserweight division, a goal that hinges entirely on capturing the sport’s major sanctioning body titles.
“It is my dream to become undisputed,” said Opetaia. “Unless everyone works together on that dream, I can’t achieve it.”
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 collect to prove they run a division.
The timing of the comment also came as Opetaia praised Zuffa Boxing during fight week, saying he was treated better there than anywhere else as the promotion unveiled its own championship belt.
Boxing has always had this strange habit. Fighters say belts are just pieces of metal, but they spend their careers chasing them because those titles still decide who’s on top.
Opetaia begins Sunday’s fight with Glanton living in the same reality. The belt may gather dust later, but the path he says he wants still runs straight through more of them.
Personally, I’ve always found it hard to accept that belts mean nothing if the entire sport still runs through them.
