Berlanga vs. Butler Headlines Zuffa Boxing 09 at MSG
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Zuffa Boxing presents its ninth card Sunday at 8 p.m. ET from the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden, streaming on Paramount+, as the promotion — founded just six months ago — continues a rapid expansion built on big-name signings and new fight locations.
- Edgar Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs), a former super middleweight title challenger from Brooklyn, headlines against hard-hitting Canadian Steven Butler (38-5-1, 32 KOs) in a 10-round bout, looking to rebound from his fifth-round KO loss to Hamzah Sheeraz one year ago and a prior 2024 PPV loss to Canelo Alvarez.
- Richardson Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) vacates his IBF junior welterweight title to move up to welterweight and face Mexico's Ricardo Salas (24-2-2, 18 KOs) in the co-main event, after signing with Zuffa in April.
- A heated Thursday faceoff between Berlanga and Butler required the two fighters to be separated, with Butler calling the matchup 'a bad decision from his team' given Berlanga's year away from the ring.
- Undercard additions include veteran Sergiy Derevyanchenko — who challenged for titles against Daniel Jacobs, Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo and Jaime Munguia — making his Zuffa debut against Jalil Hackett, plus durable heavyweight Otto Wallin vs. Vladyslav Sirenko.
- DraftKings odds list Berlanga as a -370 favorite and Hitchins at -800, with the article's expert picks calling for Berlanga via TKO8 and Hitchins via UD10.
Why it matters: The Zuffa Boxing brand — backed by Paramount+ and the UFC parent company — is using Brooklyn-rooted stars and a Madison Square Garden venue to establish boxing credibility six months after launch, while both main and co-main events (Berlanga after back-to-back losses, Hitchins vacating a world title to move up in weight) serve as auditions for the promotion's next phase of growth.
