Zuffa Boxing 09: Berlanga v. Butler
Sun • Jul 26, 2026 • 5:00 PM
Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden,
New York, NY
Since July 6th
Primary Tickets : 2462 (📉251)
Primary Value : $354,951 (📉$30,997) pic.twitter.com/hjnHoCtQoE— BoxingTickets (@BoxingTixs) July 16, 2026
The figures point to Zuffa’s matchmaking as the bigger issue rather than the popularity of Berlanga and Hitchins.
Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) is returning for the first time since his fifth-round knockout loss to Hamzah Sheeraz last year in July 2025. Instead of matching the Brooklyn native against another top super middleweight such as Jaime Munguia or Osleys Iglesias, Zuffa paired him with Canada’s Steven Butler (35-5-1, 29 KOs), who has lost four times in the last seven years since 2019.
The Hitchins fight has the same problem.
Hitchins abruptly pulled out of his scheduled February 21 title defense against Oscar Duarte on the day of the fight. Instead of rescheduling one of the division’s more intriguing matchups, Zuffa moved him to welterweight against Ricardo Salas, a fight that has generated far less interest.
Neither matchup gives fans much reason to make the trip to Madison Square Garden. Berlanga is fighting a former title challenger coming off several high-profile defeats, while Hitchins is returning against an opponent with little name recognition after pulling out of his scheduled fight with Oscar Duarte.
There is still time for ticket sales to pick up before fight night, but the early numbers suggest Zuffa’s first New York card hasn’t connected with fans. Berlanga and Hitchins remain two of the promotion’s biggest signings, yet matching them against Steven Butler and Ricardo Salas has done little to build interest in the event.
