Zuffa Boxing Doubles Down: Valenzuela v Torres Preview and Prediction

Jose Valenzuela (1.14) v Diego Torres (5.50) (Lightweight)

6 AM Monday SA time

After decades of talking about getting involved in boxing, his first love, UFC head honcho White got into the ring (metaphorically speaking) and offered fight fans a glimpse into the future by staging the first event under the Zuffa Boxing banner last weekend.

We knew the historic card would be short on star power and would instead serve as a platform to introduce rising stars like Callum Walsh, the winner of the night’s main event, to a wider audience. 

While not as smooth as a UFC event, which was to be expected, the production was solid. Emanating from the newly upgraded Meta APEX, it was aesthetically pleasing and the promised brisk pacing was a welcome change from the long breaks between fights that have frustrated boxing fans for ages.

The fights could’ve been better, with the night producing just two stoppages, but they weren’t stinkers, either. It was very much a middle-of-the-road starting point in all aspects.  

Walsh, a promising Irish southpaw who’s been under White’s wing for a while, extended his unbeaten record to 16-0 with a dominant decision victory over Carlos Ocampo in the 10-round middleweight main event. “King” did get knocked down in the sixth, but was irked rather than dazed by the left hook, and was miles better than the Mexican veteran.

“Am I absolutely thrilled with our first one? No. We have a lot of work to do this year,” White said during the post-fight press conference, adding, “Tonight was a solid night. The fights were great, and watch what we do over the next year. We’re just going to get better and better and better.”

Die-hard UFC fans will know that White has an infamous blue phone that he uses to communicate with the production team during an event. He admits that he spent more time on it than usual, but says it was all regarding minor issues.

“I have a whole list of stuff that we’ll go through on Monday, meaning me and the team,” he said. “But, like I’ve been saying, it took 25 years to get the UFC where it is today and it is a very well-oiled machine. We’ll do it in much less time on the boxing side.

“I was on the phone more than I am usually on the phone… Nothing really bad, but it’s just, I have a certain . I know where I want this to be, and I’m impatient. We’re building a whole new team here and a lot of people have never done this before, so it’s going to take some time.

“But one of the things that we wanted to do, and what we did a great job of, was if you watch this at home on TV, they don’t feel like you were in the APEX. You don’t see any UFC stuff. It’s all Zuffa Boxing, Paramount, you know? We literally transformed the APEX into what looked like a different arena tonight.”

Once the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act passes through Congress into law, Zuffa Boxing will be able to operate as it prefers and crown its own world champions.

Before then, though, former WBA super lightweight champion Jose Valenzuela and Diego Torres are tasked with headlining the new promotion’s second act in a lightweight contest scheduled for 10 rounds this weekend.

Zuffa Boxing represents an opportunity to start fresh for Valenzuela, who has travelled a rocky road in recent years and surrendered his title in a one-sided decision loss to Gary Antuanne Russell last time out, last March.

The 26-year-old is 2-3 in his last five fights, a run that began with the first defeat of his professional career, a third-round knockout loss to Edwin De Los Santos in September 2022. “Rayo” went on to drop a controversial decision to Chris Colbert three months later, but set the record straight by winning the rematch by knockout in December 2023.

That victory propelled Valenzuela into a title opportunity against Isaac Cruz in August 2024, where he outpointed “Pitbull” by split-decision to capture the 140-pound WBA world title. His reign was short-lived, however, as he was unable to defend the belt against Russell earlier this year.

The Mexican southpaw has had to wrestle with his title loss for almost a year, and as he steps back into the ring with his record at 14-3 with nine knockouts, he’s refreshed, refocused and determined to reinvent himself at lightweight.

For Torres, this is a breakout opportunity. A knockout artist with a record of 22-1 with 19 KOs, the 28-year-old has been a regional darling up to this point, almost exclusively fighting on home soil in Mexico.

Facing a former world champion in the main event of a card broadcast on Paramount+ in several countries around the globe, “Azabache” can put himself on the map with a victory this weekend.

However, the fact that his lone defeat – to Raymond Muratalla in November 2023 – came in his only fight outside of Mexico should be worrying to his local fans. He has since won four fights in a row, including stopping Ridwan Oyekola in his most recent bout in August, so he’ll have momentum on his side.

More valuable than that, though, is experience. Yes, Torres has more fights than Valenzuela. However, I’m talking about high-level experience – fighting for world titles on big stages. That will give Valenzuela a big advantage, and his superior technical boxing – his crisper striking, movement, angles and ring IQ – should see him avoid massive punches and triumph on the scorecards.

Prediction: Valenzuela by decision.

Best Bet: Valenzuela by decision (check markets).