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Zuffa Boxing

Zuffa Boxing returns Sunday with the Zuffa Boxing 05 card from the Meta Apex facility in Las Vegas. The three-fight main card is set for 9 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on Paramount+ and broadcast live on Sky Sports. The main event features a showdown of lightweight prospects Andres Cortes (24-0, 13 KOs) and Eridson Garcia (23-1, 14 KOs).

Zuffa Boxing is a new promotion headed by UFC president Dana White, a former boxing trainer who is now making his long-anticipated foray into the sweet science while still leading the world's top MMA promotion. Zuffa Boxing is a joint venture between TKO Group Holdings and Saudia Arabia's Sela promotion.  The boxing events are held in the Apex facility, a venue located at UFC headquarters in Las Vegas that is still the regular home for UFC Fight Night cards.

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Cortes (24-0, 13 KOs), 28, is a Las Vegas native who is ranked in the top five at lightweight by most major boxing sanctioning bodies. He previously fought under Top Rank, where he saw some national exposure with a handful of fights televised on ESPN. He is a versatile fighter who can win with fundamentals but also isn't afraid to stand toe-to-toe if that's what it takes to get a victory.

Garcia (23-1, 14 KOs) is a native of the Dominican Republic who heads into Sunday's bout on a six-fight winning streak. He is a sharp-shooting southpaw who uses an accurate lead right hand as both a jab and a power punch. He prefers to methodically pick his spots but, similar to Cortes, can get the better of close exchanges if necessary.

The Zuffa Boxing 05 card features eight total bouts starting at 6 p.m. ET, and many sportsbooks have posted boxing odds for the three main-fight cards. Those matchups and odds are as follows: 

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Zuffa Boxing 05 main card matchups, odds

  • Main Event: Andres Cortes (+120) vs. Eridson Garcia (-150), 10 rounds, lightweight
  • Co-main event: Mark Magsayo (-1400) vs. Feargal McCrory (+750), 10 rounds, lightweight
  • Azat Hovhannisyan (-220) vs. Eduardo Baez (+165), 10 rounds, featherweight

Zuffa Boxing 05 main event analysis, pick

Eridson Garcia (-150) vs. Andres Cortes (+120): We wondered if oddsmakers might favor Cortes, the Las Vegas-based fighter who is bound to have the advantage of crowd support and has received more widespread exposure because of his time with Top Rank. Meanwhile, Garcia suffered the only loss of his career, via knockout, against Jordan White in an August 2023 Showtime ShoBox main event. We believe oddsmakers got this one right and are going to side with Garcia. Although at 5-foot-8 he is just one inch taller than his opponent, Garcia fights as if he is much taller, adroitly using his 71-inch reach (versus 65 for Garcia) to measure distance and find accurate angles for his punches. Although Cortes is skilled and a relentless competitor, he has a habit of standing before his opponent as a stationary target. This is bad news against a precision puncher such as Garcia, who we expect to land the cleaner and more damaging blows on his way to a victory. 

Josh Nagel is the combat sports editor for Sportline and its lead boxing analyst. His 2025 boxing selections netted a profit of more than $2,500 for SportsLine members. Check out SportsLine here to see more of his analysis and predictions.