Andres Cortes-Eridson Garcia headlines Zuffa Boxing card on April 5
Mar 8, 2026 • 6:34 PM ET
Photo: Mikey Williams / Top RankLAS VEGAS – Lightweights Andres Cortes and Eridson Garcia will meet in the main event of Zuffa Boxing 5 April 5 at the UFC Apex, the promotion announced Sunday.
Las Vegas’ Cortes, 24-0 (13 KOs), and the Dominican Republic-born Garcia, 23-1 (14 KOs), are both top-10 ranked junior-lightweights by the WBO, with No. 4 Cortes, 28, also ranked by the IBF and WBC while Garcia is in the WBA top 15.
Cortes fought for Top Rank dating to the COVID era, and closed his union with the promotion in October, taking a fight at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, as Top Rank functions without a broadcast/streaming deal.
He defeated Derlyn Hernandez-Gerarldo by fourth-round knockout.
Garcia fought four times last year, closing the year impressively by upsetting Japan’s Taiga Imananga on the December 27 card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
BoxingScene previously reported the Zuffa Boxing Easter card will feature a co-main event pitting former WBC featherweight champion Mark Magsayo versus former WBA junior-lightweight title challenger Feargal McCrory.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
