Zuffa Boxing fortified its roster with the dual acquisitions of Keith Connolly-represented fighters, Edgar Berlanga and Richardson Hitchinson, confirming the signing in a statement sent Wednesday to Boxing Social.
Both fighters join on multi-fight deals, Zuffa told Boxing Social.
“I’m here for the biggest fights on boxing’s best platform,” Berlanga said. “I’m here to put the super middleweight division on notice.”
“Zuffa Boxing is changing the game.”
A popular New Yorker, Berlanga, 28, is looking to rebound following a knockout loss to Hamzah Sheeraz — his second defeat in his last three fights, having lost to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez over 12 rounds in 2024.
“‘The Monster’ is back,” he said. “This is going to be a special journey.”
More decorated than Berlanga, Hitchins joins Zufa as an IBF super lightweight world champion, and silver medalist from the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Baku, eight years ago. In the last 30 months, he’s beaten Jose Zepeda, won the strap with a split decision win over Liam Paro, and finished George Kambosos in the eighth round of his first defense.
“This is a major step forward in my career,” said Hitchins, who looks forward to fighting “on the biggest stage against the world’s best fighters.
“With Zuffa Boxing in my corner, I’m going to show the world that I am a pound-for-pound, generational fighter.”
What Zuffa’s Signing Means
Hitchins’s status as an IBF champion could be under threat now that he’s joined Zuffa Boxing.
We have, after all, seen another IBF champion, Jai Opetaia, join Zuffa, only to end up stripped because he fought in an “unsanctioned” bout this year at the UFC-owned Meta Apex facility in Las Vegas — his triumphant bout over Brandon Glanton.
Per the IBF’s own rules, this declares the champion’s title, “vacant whether the champion wins or loses the bout.”
The IBF then moved to strip Opetaia.
The precedent has already been set. And if Hitchins debuts for Zuffa in an equally “unsanctioned” match, then he, too, risks losing his championship belt not in the ring, but through rule 5.H.
It will just be the latest in a long power battle between the upstart fight firm Zuffa, which only held its first event earlier this year, and the sport’s old guard.
