American prospect to face tough test on Zuffa card.
On the 26th of July, Edgar Berlanga and Richardson Hitchins will both feature as the “double main event” to Zuffa Boxing 9, and the two Americans will be facing off against very interesting opponents in their debuts under the promotion.
Berlanga will be taking on Steven Butler, a Canadian puncher who is almost guaranteed to bring fireworks. Hitchins will be taking on Ricardo Salas, and all you need to know about him is that he’s a heavy-handed Mexican.
It’s a show that has already been praised for the quality of its matchups, and that’s even with just two of the bouts on the card being announced.
However, reports suggest that a third well-matched contest will be added to the bill, and it pits an American prospect against a former three-time world title challenger.
The combatants in question are Jalil Hackett (12-1, 9 KOs) and Sergiy Derevyanchenko (16-6, 11 KOs).
Hackett is a 23-year-old who owns wins over the likes of Peter Dobson and Roberto Cruz Jr., the latter of which arrived on Zuffa Boxing 2 earlier this year.
Derevyanchenko is a tough and experienced operator from Ukraine. Known as “The Technician”, he has lost close–and in some cases, controversial–decisions to Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Carlos Adames, and Jaime Munguia.
His two other defeats have arrived at the hands of Jermall Charlo and Christian Mbilli. On all of these occasions, Derevyanchenko was unable to be beaten inside the distance.
Three of those fights were for middleweight world titles, with the 40-year-old having marked himself out as one of the most durable men at the world level of the sport.
For Hackett, Derevyanchenko represents a very tough assignment, but one that will likely make for some very good viewing.
The 10-round middleweight bout is understood to be agreed to, but not yet signed.
Per source, 3-time title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko & Jalil Hackett are penciled in to meet in a 10-round 160 bout on Zuffa Boxing’s July 26 card at MSG Theater. The fight is agreed to but not signed, the source said. Zuffa announced the top 2 bouts this week: 168 Edgar…
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) June 11, 2026
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