Uncrowned’s Darshan Desai first reported the news Wednesday. Opetaia’s attorney filed the 123-page complaint July 14 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.

The unbeaten Australian seeks reinstatement as IBF champion and believes the New Jersey-based governing organization stripped him in retaliation for signing with Zuffa Boxing, an emerging promotional company in which Ring owner Turki Alalshikh has a significant financial stake. Opetaia believes the IBF had no plans of sanctioning his Zuffa Boxing debut – a 12-round, unanimous-decision victory over Brandon Glanton on March 8 in Las Vegas.

Losing the IBF belt has prohibited Opetaia from securing title unification fights against WBA/WBO champ David Benavidez and WBC champ Noel Mikaelian.

Opetaia (30-0, 23 KOs), who still holds The Ring and Zuffa titles, signed with Zuffa Boxing in January. Much of the build-up to his fight against Glanton centered on whether the 30-year-old southpaw would retain his IBF belt while also fighting for Zuffa’s title.

The IBF withdrew its sanction of the Opetaia-Glanton fight late the night of March 6, following their final press conference, and returned its sanctioning fee to Opetaia the following day. Two weeks later, the IBF officially stripped Opetaia of the title, citing an issue with him and Glanton fighting for the Zuffa belt and stating it does not recognize that title.

The IBF previously stripped Opetaia before after he faced Ellis Zorro in December 2023, rather than making a mandatory defense against Mairis Briedis, from whom he won the title in July 2022. Opetaia beat Briedis by unanimous decision in their rematch in May 2024 and reclaimed the then-vacant IBF belt.