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2021 was a wild year in the boxing ring with some shocking upsets and iconic moments that will live forever in the sport’s lore. This year is shaping up to provide more of the same, with Mark Magsayo already providing one big upset, taking down Gary Russell Jr. and capturing the WBC featherweight title on Jan. 22.
Plus, former unified welterweight champ Keith Thurman returned in February to sore a solid win over rising contender Mario Barrios. Thurman hopes to get back into title contention with Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford and Yordenis Ugas all potential targets to get more gold around his waist.
It’s been a solid start to the year, but things will continue picking up with some fights that are all but guaranteed to happen. Among those is the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua for three of the four recognized heavyweight world championships. Usyk dominated Joshua this past September to win the WBA, IBF and WBO titles. There is not yet a set date for the rematch but both sides are targeting April.
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As the calendar turns to March, some familiar faces are set for returns to the ring. Former champions Jose Ramirez and Jose Pedraza are set to battle it out at junior welterweight on March 4 in Fresno, California. It marks Ramirez’s first action since losing in the unification bout with Josh Taylor in 2021. Plus, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez is back when he takes on Julio Cesar Martinez at junior bantamweight on March 5. Gonzalez was originally expected to face Juan Francisco Estrada to complete their trilogy after he lost a split decision to the Mexican in 2021. But Estrada contracted COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw.
Below is a running list of boxing main events for 2022.
Note: This will be updated constantly with changes and additions.
March 4 | Fresno, California | Jose Ramirez vs. Jose Pedraza | Junior welterweights | ESPN+ |
March 5 | San Diego, California | Roman Gonzalez vs. Julio Cesar Martinez | Junior bantamweights | DAZN |
March 12 | Nottingham, England | Leigh Wood (c) vs. Michael Conlan | WBA regular featherweight title | DAZN |
March 19 | New York | Edgar Berlanga vs. Steve Rolls | Super middleweights | ESPN/ESPN+ |
March 19 | Los Angeles | Vergil Ortiz vs. Michael McKinson | Welterweights | DAZN |
March 26 | Minneapolis | Tim Tszyu vs. Terrell Gausha | Junior middleweights | Showtime |
March 26 | Leeds | Kiko Martinez (c) vs. Josh Warrington | IBF featherweight title | DAZN |
April 9 | San Antonio, Texas | Ryan Garcia vs. Emmanuel Tagoe | Lightweights | DAZN |
April 16 | Arlington, Texas | Errol Spence Jr. (c) vs. Yordenis Ugas (c) | Unified welterweight titles | FOX PPV |
April 23 | England | Tyson Fury (c) vs. Dillian Whyte | WBC heavyweight title | ESPN+ PPV |
April 30 | New York | Shakur Stevenson (c) vs. Oscar Valdez (c) | Junior lightweight unification | ESPN/ESPN+ |
April 30 | Las Vegas | Katie Taylor (c) vs. Amanda Serrano | Undisputed women’s lightweight titles | DAZN |
May 7 | TBA | Canelo Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol (c) | WBA light heavyweight title | DAZN |
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