The promotion’s first New York card finally has fights. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 19.

Zuffa Boxing put names to its July 26 New York debut on Tuesday, confirming two bouts for the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden card that until now had been carried only by reporting and a teaser. The official account announced Edgar Berlanga against Steven Butler as the headliner, with unbeaten IBF junior welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins facing Mexico’s Ricardo Salas in the featured supporting bout.

The event, branded Zuffa Boxing 09, is set for the smaller of Madison Square Garden’s two main rooms, the building that has run championship boxing for decades through its Felt Forum and Hulu Theater eras. The promotion set the date and venue back in late May with a poster and a promotional reel that contained no fighters. Tuesday’s post is the first official reveal of any matchups for the show.

Berlanga returns in Brooklyn

Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) makes his Zuffa Boxing debut roughly a year after his last appearance. The Brooklyn-born Puerto Rican has not fought since July 2025, when Hamzah Sheeraz stopped him in the fifth round. That result followed his decision loss to Canelo Alvarez in September 2024. Zuffa signed Berlanga and Hitchins to multi-fight deals in April, and the promotion has framed Berlanga’s arrival as a chance to reset his standing at super middleweight.

The opponent is a live test for a homecoming. Steven Butler, the Montreal veteran (37-5-1, 29 KOs), has won all four of his fights since moving up to 168 pounds, every one by knockout, and picked up the WBA Continental Americas belt along the way. The Canadian has shared the ring with elite names over a career that began in 2014. He arrives in New York carrying the kind of finishing record that makes a return fight dangerous rather than ceremonial.

Hitchins gets the co-feature

Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) is the more consequential name on the roster, and the bout against Salas marks his own Zuffa debut. The unbeaten Brooklyn fighter won the IBF junior welterweight title by split decision over Liam Paro in late 2024 and made his first defense with an eighth-round stoppage of George Kambosos Jr. last June. He has positioned himself as one of the city’s signature current fighters, and a Madison Square Garden appearance in his hometown is the kind of stage that move was built for.

Salas (24-2-2, 18 KOs) earned the assignment partly through public campaigning, calling for a shot at Zuffa’s best in the division before the matchup came together. He brings a heavy knockout ratio and the motivation of a fighter who chased this fight rather than being handed it.

Tickets and what comes next

Tickets for Zuffa Boxing 09 go on sale Friday, June 19. The promotion has not released a full undercard, and additional bouts are expected to be added in the weeks ahead. Reporting that preceded the card had also tied veteran Sergey Derevyanchenko to the July 26 date, though he was not among Tuesday’s announced fights.

The New York card is the clearest signal yet of how fast the TKO-backed promotion intends to move into a market long controlled by Matchroom, Top Rank, and Premier Boxing Champions. Building a debut around a recognizable hometown headliner in New York City with a reigning champion, rather than prospects, is a deliberate statement