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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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Other unified and undisputed champions will also be in action in 2022. Undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor is set to defend his belts on Feb. 26 against Jack Catterall. Also, at some point in the year, unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. will defend the belts he won in a shocking November upset of Teofimo Lopez. Kambosos’ opponent and next date are not set but the options are seemingly endless for Kambosos.
Below is a running list of boxing main events for 2022.
Note: This will be updated constantly with changes and additions.
Feb. 26 | Glasgow, Scotland | Josh Taylor (c) vs. Jack Catterall | Undisputed junior welterweight titles | ESPN+ |
Feb. 26 | Las Vegas | Chris Colbert vs. Hector Luis Garcia | Super featherweight title eliminator | Showtime |
Feb. 27 | London | Lawrence Okolie (c) vs. Jose Pedraza | WBO cruiserweight title | DAZN |
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 19 | Los Angeles | Jermell Charlo (c) vs. Brian Castano (c) | Junior middleweight unification | TBD |
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 |
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