Fight Week
For the third week in a row, lightweights take center stage.
Friday night is slow, but boxing action heats up bigtime on Saturday.
- On ESPN, former world champions Vasiliy Lomachenko and Richard Commey collide inside the “Big Room” at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The 33-year-old Loma is currently an 8:1 favorite.
- On Showtime, WBC bantamweight champ Nonito Donaire will defend his belt against Reymart Gaballo at the “War Grounds” aka Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
- On DAZN, unbeaten welterweight Conor Benn faces former champ Chris Algieri at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.
- There is also a world title twin bill in Dubai. WBO bantamweight champ John Riel Casimero defends against Paul Butler and IBF flyweight champ Sunny Edwards defends against Jayson Mama. Ex-champ Donnie Nietes vs. Norbelto Jimenez is also on that card. The card, which marks the debut of Richard Schaefer’s Probellum, will likely be streamed somewhere. Stay tuned for info.
Fight Week
A few charges on Monday. This Saturday is the first really busy Saturday of 2022 with cards on FOX and DAZN, plus $104.98 worth of PPVs. Here is the lineup:
PPV – 3PM ET/Noon PT ($29.99)
Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Liam Williams (middleweight)
Claressa Shields vs. Ema Kozin (female middleweight)
Note: Twice delayed card finally happening
FOX – 7PM ET/4PM PT
Abel Ramos vs. Luke Santamaria (welterweight)
Note: Lead-in to the Thurman-Barrios PPV
DAZN – 8PM ET/5PM PT
Jesse Rodriguez vs. Carlos Cuadras (WBC superfly title)
Note: Rodriguez steps in as a late sub for Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
PPV – 9PM ET/6PM PT ($74.99)
Keith Thurman vs. Mario Barrios (welterweight)
Leo Santa Cruz vs. Keenan Carbajal (super featherweight)
Luis Nery vs. Carlos Castro (super bantamweight)
Note: Thurman returns for the first time since losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2019.
Fight Week
Huge boxing weekend coming up, highlighted by the long overdue grudge match between Amir Khan and Kell Brook. Four back-to-back shows on Saturday will keep you busy watching all day and night.
FRIDAY
Showtime, ShoBox Tripleheader (9PM ET/PT)
Caribe Royale Resort, Orlando, Florida
The main event will see undefeated lightweight prospect Jamaine Ortiz (14-0-1, 8 KOs) against Nahir Albright (14-1, 7 KOs) in a ten round bout. The co-feature matches unbeaten super middleweights Joe George (11-0, 7 KOs) and Sean Hemphill (14-0, 8 KOs) in an eight-rounder. The telecast opens with undefeated welterweight Paul Kroll (9-0, 6 KOs) squaring off against Marquis Taylor (12-1-1, 1 KO) in another eight-round battle.
SATURDAY
ESPN+ (9:30AM ET, 6:30AM PT)
RCC Boxing Academy, Ekaterinburg, Russia
WBC lightweight eliminator between Zaur Abdullaev (14-1, 8 KOs) and Jorge Linares (47-6, 29 KOs). Abdullaev’s only loss is to Devin Haney. Three-division world champion Linares aiming for another title try.
ESPN+ (1PM ET, 10AM PT)
AO Arena in Manchester, England
The long-simmering rivalry between British stars Amir Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) and Kell Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) will finally come to a head in a 149-pound catchweight battle. Tickets sold out in 10 minutes when they went on sale in December.
PPV (6:30PM ET, 3:30PM PT)
Cabaret du Casino in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Unbeaten heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov (13-0, 13 KOs) will defend his NABF title against former world title challenger Mariusz Wach (36-7, 19 KOs) in a PPV stream. Price: $59.99 Canadian
DAZN (9PM ET, 6PM PT)
Bullring by the Sea, Tijuana, BCN, Mexico
Undefeated middleweight and former junior middleweight world champion Jaime Munguía (38-0, 30 KOs) fights in his hometown against fellow unbeaten D’Mitrius Ballard (21-0-1, 13 KOs).
Fight Week
The return of undisputed super lightweight champion Josh Taylor highlights this weekend’s ring action. There’s also a Sunday DAZN card, a Showtime tripleheader and probably a Rigo stream.
THURSDAY
The semifinals of the World Cup Boxing Series’ (WCBS) inaugural “4-Man Lightweight Tournament” Luis “Koreano” Torres (14-0, 9 KOs) vs. Rodolfo “Rudy” Flores (14-5, 6 KOs) and Isai “Gaga” Hernandez (11-2-2, 7 KOs) vs. Irving “Poderoso” Castillo (11-2, 7 KOs) from Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, on UFC Fightpass.
FRIDAY
Two-time Olympian and world rated middleweight contender Kanat “QazaQ” Islam (28-0, 22 KOs) faces former world title challenger Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly (25-2, 10 KOs) in Plant City, Florida. There will be a PPV stream for this event.
SATURDAY
Former world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (20-2, 13 KOs) will fight Vincent Astrolabio (16-3, 12 KOs) in Dubai. No stream announced yet.
Undisputed super lightweight champion Josh Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) defends against WBO #1 Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs) on ESPN+ from Glasgow, Scotland.
Unbeaten super featherweight Chris “Primetime” Colbert (16-6, 6 KOs) takes on late sub Hector Garcia (14-0, 10 KOs) in a WBA ellininator in the SHOWTIME main event at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Also on that card, IBF junior bantamweight world champion Jerwin Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KOs) defends his title against Fernando Martinez (13-0, 8 KOs.
SUNDAY
DAZN presents WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie (17-0, 14 KOs) defending his belt against Michal Cieslak (21-1, 15 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London.
Fight Week
Two terrific boxing telecasts this weekend. One on ESPN+ Friday and the other on DAZN Saturday.
FRIDAY
Former world champions Jose Ramirez and Jose “Sniper” Pedraza collide in a twelve-round junior welterweight clash at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The winner will be positioned to fight for a world title later this year. The entire Ramirez-Pedraza card will stream live on ESPN+.
SATURDAY
Future Hall of Famer Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez returns to action just under a year after his controversial loss to rival Juan Francisco Estrada, taking on Julio Cesar Martinez, the WBC world champion at flyweight. Streamed live from the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, on DAZN. This should be an all-out war.
Fight Week
We have boxing action on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this week, including a world title fight
ShoBox returns Friday with a tripleheader topped by undefeated super welterweight Ardreal Holmes (11-0, 5 KOs) against Vernon Brown (13-1-1, 9 KOs) live on SHOWTIME from Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel in Deadwood, South Dakota.
The highlight Saturday is WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood (25-2, 15 KOs) in first world title defense against 2-time Olympian Michael Conlan (16-0, 8 KOs) at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, streamed live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia as usual). Former IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (44-10, 17 KOs) is in the co-feature against unbeaten Gary Cully (13-0, 7 KOs).
On Sunday, there will be a live stream featuring welterweight Samuel Vargas (31-7-2, 14 KOs) taking on Przemyslaw Runowski (19-2, 5 KOs) from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Fightzone.uk is streaming the event worldwide and completely FREE. Vargas is known to boxing fans for his previous fights against Errol Spence, Danny Garcia, Amir Khan, Vergil Ortiz, and Conor Benn.
Get ready for April/May PPV frenzy
With the Tank-Rolly PPV, there are now four major pay-per-view shows scheduled in a seven week span:
April 16: Errol Spence vs. Yordenis Ugas
(WBC, WBA, IBF welterweight titles)
April 23: Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte
(WBC heavyweight title)
May 7: Canelo Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol
(WBA light heavyweight title)
May 28: Gervonta Davis vs. Rolly Romero
(WBA lightweight title)
In addition, there will be plenty of smaller shows presented on niche PPV providers.
Start saving now.
Fight Week
Plenty of good fights this week with big names like Regis Prograis, Vergil Ortiz Jr., and Edgar Berlanga seeing action.
THURSDAY
UFC Fightpass returns with super middleweight Cam Kilic (15-1, 10 KOs) against Antonio Louis Hernandez (6-12-2, 4 KOs) on a Hollywood Fight Fight show at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello, California.
FRIDAY
Probellum presents cards on consecutive nights from the Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Night One includes heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov (9-0, 9 KOs), super featherweight Jono Carroll (21-2-1, 6 KOs), and female lightweight Estelle Yoka Mossely (9-0, 1 KO) in separate bouts. U.S. streaming is TBA.
Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing returns to the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, New York, with super bantamweights Oleh Dovhun (13-0, 5 KOs) and Geram Eloyan (7-2, 6 KOs) meeting in the main event. FITE+ will stream the card.
SATURDAY
DAZN deliver #1 welterweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr (18-0, 18 KOs) against Michael McKinson (21-0, 2 KOs), plus welterweight Blair Cobbs (15-0-1, KOs) in tough against Alexis Rocha (18-1, KOs). The event take place at the USC Galen Center in downtown Los Angeles.
ESPN+ counters with super middleweight KO artist Edgar Berlanga (18-0, 16 KOs) against former GGG foe Steve Rolls (21-1, 12 KOs) plus hot super welterweight prospect Xander Zayas (12-0, 9 KOs) against Quincy LaVallais (12-2-1, 7 KOs) from the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City.
Fightzone.uk returns with a free stream from Newcastle, England, featuring heavyweight David Allen (19-5-2, 16 KOs) against 38-year-old Milen Paunov (5-8, 4 KOs).
Day Two of Probellum’s boxing weekend at the Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Former super lightweight champion Regis Prograis (26-1, 22 KOs) takes on Tyrone McKenna (22-2-1, 6 KOs) is on the card, plus IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards (17-0, 4 KOs) against Muhammad Waseem (12-1, 8 KOs) and former champ TJ Doheny (22-3, 16 KOs) against Cesar “Corazon” Juarez (27-10, 20 KOs). U.S. TV is TBA.
Fight Week
Another mega-boxing Saturday on tap with Showtime, ESPN, and DAZN all presenting live fight cards. Plus don’t forget about the return of Erik “El Terrible” Morales in a PPV exhibition.
The day opens with IBF featherweight champion Kiko Martinez (43-10-2, 30 KOs) defending his world title against Josh Warrington (30-1-1, 7 KOs) at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. Martinez previously lost a majority decision to Warrington, so not an easy first defense.
That evening, Showtime and ESPN go head to head.
Showtime presents the long-awaited USA debut of unbeaten WBO #1 rated junior middleweight Tim Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs) against 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) from the Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tszyu, of course, is the son of ring legend Kostya Tszyu.
ESPN counters with the return of former world champion Miguel Berchelt (38-2, 34 KOs) against Jeremia Nakathila (22-2, 18 KOs) at Resorts World Las Vegas. Berchelt is moving up to the lightweight after losing his WBO 130lb belt by KO against Oscar Valdez 13 months ago. Nakathila is best known for taking Shakur Stevenson the full twelve rounds.
For those who prefer legends boxing exhibitions, you can order the $21.99 PPV on Fite headlined by ring legend Erik Morales against former world champ Orlando Salido from the Mesquite Arena in Mesquite, Texas.
Fight Week
With the NCAA college basketball tournament wrapping up this weekend, not too many stateside boxing promoters have anything scheduled in opposition. The two most notable cards of the week are in Europe.
On Friday, Mikey Garcia-conquerer Sandor Martin meets Jose Felix in a super lightweight clash on DAZN from Barcelona, Spain.
On Saturday, Claressa Shields’ arch-rival Savannah Marshall defends her WBO female middleweight belt against Femke Hermans at the Newcastle Arena in Newcastle, England. Sky Sports will air the bout in the UK. No US carrier yet.
Also Saturday, ESPN+ streams a card from the BUAP Arena in Puebla, Puebla, Mexico, featuring WBC female bantamweight champion Yuliahn “Cobrita” Luna defending against Mayeli Flores.
So slim pickings this weekend, but all hell breaks loose next weekend with GGG-Murata, Kingry-Tagoe, Lubin-Fundora, both Moloneys and much more.