Zuffa Boxing confirmed the main card for its second show on Monday.
Former WBA 140-pound champ
Jose Valenzuela will square off against Diego Torres in its 10-round main event Sunday night at Meta Apex, UFC’s multipurpose facility in Las Vegas. Valenzuela (14-3, 9 KOs), of Renton, Washington, dropped back down to the lightweight limit of 135 pounds for an intriguing fight with Mexico’s Torres (22-1, 18 KOs).
Ukraine’s
Serhii Bohachuk is set to face Russia’s Radzhab Butaev in the co-feature on Paramount+, a 10-round middleweight match. The 10-round opener of the main card at 9 p.m. ET will feature former WBC light heavyweight champ
Oleksandr Gvozdyk versus Radivoje Kalajdzic.
Valenzuela will end an 11-month layoff against Torres. The 25-year-old southpaw hasn’t fought since
Gary Antuanne Russell soundly defeated him on points in their 12-round fight for Valenzuela’s WBA belt March 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Torres, 28, has won four straight fights since unbeaten IBF lightweight champ Raymond Muratalla beat him by eighth-round technical knockout in November 2023.
Bohachuk (26-3, 24 KOs) will attempt to bounce back from a
decisive defeat to Brandon Adams in their 10-round rematch on the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford undercard September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Butaev (16-1, 12 KOs, 1 NC) will compete for just the third time since Lithuania’s Eimantas Stanionis beat him by split decision in their WBA welterweight title fight in April 2022.
Ukraine’s Gvozdyk (21-2, 17 KOs) will end a nine-month layoff when he battles Serbia’s Kalajdzic (29-3, 21 KOs), who last fought in August 2024. Kalajdzic dropped a unanimous decision to former WBA secondary champ David Morrell in his most recent appearance.
Zuffa Boxing, which has added numerous boxers to its growing roster since last year, was formed by TKO and Sela, a leading entertainment company.
UFC president and CEO Dana White is the front man for Zuffa Boxing. Its leadership group also includes Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and owner of The Ring, Sela managing director and CEO Dr. Rakan AlHarthy and WWE president Nick Khan, who is also a TKO board member.
Zuffa Boxing made its debut on Paramount+ on Friday night.
Irish middleweight
Callum Walsh (16-0, 11 KOs) defeated Mexican veteran Carlos Ocampo (38-4, 26 KOs) by unanimous decision in the 10-round main event. Walsh suffered a knockdown when his glove touched the canvas in the sixth round, but he won comfortably on all three scorecards (98-90, 98-90, 97-91).
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.