Sunday, March 8, 2026 | Meta APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada
Live on Paramount+ | Prelims: 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT | Main Card: 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM PT
Zuffa Boxing stages its first world title fight on Sunday night when IBF and Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia headlines an eight-fight card against Brandon Glanton. The bout will crown the promotion’s inaugural cruiserweight champion, with the Zuffa Boxing and Ring Magazine titles officially at stake. The IBF has confirmed Opetaia still holds its belt and Glanton is ranked 15th, making him eligible, though the promotion has not confirmed whether the IBF title will be on the line.
Main Event — Cruiserweight (12 Rounds) — Zuffa Boxing and Ring Magazine Cruiserweight Championships
Jai Opetaia (29-0, 23 KOs) vs. Brandon Glanton (21-3, 18 KOs)
Opetaia, 30, is a southpaw from Sydney, Australia, who stands 6-foot-3 with a 76-inch reach. He won the IBF cruiserweight title in 2022 with a unanimous decision over Mairis Briedis — fighting through a jaw broken in two places — vacated it during a mandatory dispute, and reclaimed it by defeating Briedis again in May 2024 in Riyadh. He has stopped his last four opponents: David Nyika (KO4), Jack Massey (TKO5), Claudio Squeo (TKO5), and Huseyin Cinkara (KO8). The Cinkara knockout was a runner-up for the 2025 CBS Sports Knockout of the Year. Before turning professional in 2015, Opetaia represented Australia at the 2012 London Olympics as the nation’s youngest-ever Olympic boxer at age 17. He signed with Zuffa Boxing in January through a co-promotional deal with Australian promoter Tasman Fighters.
Glanton, 33, fights out of Atlanta and Riverside, California, at 5-foot-11 with a 79-inch reach from an orthodox stance. A former football player who transitioned to boxing at 21, Glanton turned professional in 2017 and competed in the 2015 U.S. Olympic Trials as a super heavyweight. He won the WBO Global cruiserweight title with a second-round knockout of Mario Aguilar in 2022 and scored a majority decision over Efetobor Apochi. His three losses came by decision to David Light, Soslan Asbarov (who later received a six-year ban for a failed drug test), and WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith in April 2025. He has never been stopped and is coming off a sixth-round TKO of former WBA light heavyweight champion Marcus Browne last October. The Ring ranks Glanton No. 10 at cruiserweight.
Main Card
Vlad Panin (23-2, 15 KOs) vs. Shinard Bunch (22-3-1, 18 KOs) — Welterweight (10 Rounds)
Panin, 29, is a Belarus-born, Los Angeles-based fighter who goes by “Super Bad” and built his early career under Top Rank. A UCLA graduate, he stands 6-foot with a 75-inch reach and fights from an orthodox stance. Bunch, 28, from Queens, New York, carries an 18-knockout stoppage rate and has shown willingness to engage throughout his career. Both fighters have operated at the fringe contender level at 147 pounds without securing a breakout win.
Ricardo Salas (22-2-2, 16 KOs) vs. Jesus Saracho (16-2-2, 12 KOs) — Welterweight (10 Rounds)
An all-Mexican welterweight matchup. Salas, 27, from Mexico City, holds the IBF North American welterweight title and is ranked 11th by the WBO and 4th by the IBF at 147 pounds. He is on a six-fight winning streak. Saracho, 24, carries a 75 percent knockout ratio. Both fighters are coming off extended layoffs — Salas has not fought since August 2025.
Adan Palma (14-0, 9 KOs) vs. Pablo Rubio Jr. (14-0, 5 KOs) — Featherweight (8 Rounds)
An unbeaten-versus-unbeaten featherweight bout. Palma, 24, from San Diego, carries a 64 percent knockout rate and has fought on Golden Boy undercards. Rubio, 29, from Los Angeles, is 14-0 with a volume-based approach and a 36 percent stoppage rate. Someone’s zero goes at 126 pounds.
Undercard
Joshua Juarez (14-0, 9 KOs) vs. Jardae Anderson (11-1, 9 KOs) — Heavyweight (8 Rounds)
Juarez, from Laredo, Texas, brings an unbeaten record into a heavyweight bout against Anderson of Davenport, Iowa. Both fighters carry comparable knockout numbers at the heavyweight level.
Emiliano Alvarado (10-0, 6 KOs) vs. Erick Rosado (16-4, 11 KOs) — Featherweight (6 Rounds)
Alvarado, still just 18 years old, returns after appearing on the Zuffa Boxing 03 undercard three weeks ago. The Coachella, California, native is now 10-0 and making his second consecutive appearance on a nationally streamed card. Rosado, from the Dominican Republic, brings 16 wins and 11 knockouts as the most experienced opponent Alvarado has faced.
Brady Ochoa (9-0, 2 KOs) vs. Adrian Serrano (6-0-1, 3 KOs) — Lightweight (6 Rounds)
Two unbeaten lightweights meet over six rounds. Ochoa, from Gilbert, Arizona, is 9-0. Serrano, from Salinas, California, is 6-0-1 with three stoppages.
Jaycob Ramos (4-1, 1 KO) vs. Ethan Perez (8-0, 3 KOs) — Featherweight (6 Rounds)
Ramos, from Dallas, makes his second Zuffa Boxing appearance against Perez, an unbeaten featherweight from San Antonio with eight professional wins.
