Matchroom Boxing, DAZN unveil eight-card schedule through May
Includes Joshua, Taylor-Serrano II, Callum Smith, "Bam" Rodriguez
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Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn and broadcast partner DAZN put the finishing touches Monday on an eight-card schedule that begins Feb. 18 and goes through May.
While none of the events came as much of a surprise — some had either already been announced and others widely reported — specifics were laid out and made official, including the return of former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua against Jermaine Franklin on April 1 at The O2 in London.
Here’s a look at the schedule in addition to Joshua’s return:
March 11: Callum Smith vs. Pawel Stepien
Former super middleweight champion and current WBC light heavyweight mandatory challenger Smith (29-1, 21 KOs), 32, will have a hometown fight at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England, where he will face Pawel Stepien (18-0-1, 12 KOs), 32, of Poland, who will be taking an enormous step up in competition and fighting outside of his home country for the first time.
Smith has won both of his fights by early knockout since moving up to light heavyweight in 2021 following a one-sided decision loss to Canelo Alvarez that cost him his world title in December 2020.
Smith is looking to stay active awaiting his mandatory title shot against unified champion Artur Beterbiev that is supposed to happen later in the year as long as Smith wins.
“Pawel Stepien is just what I need going into the Artur Beterbiev fight,” Smith said. “He hasn't ever tasted defeat and he's ranked in the top 15 by three governing bodies. He is certainly no walkover and I know I can’t afford to make any mistakes.”
On the undercard, junior welterweight Liam Paro (23-0, 14 KOs), 26, an Australian southpaw, will defend his regional belt against Robbie Davies Jr. (23-3, 15 KOs), 33, who is from Liverpool.
Also, red-hot super middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco (17-0, 14 KOs), 21, of Los Angeles, will fight in England for the first time when he faces Jack Cullen (21-3-1, 9 KOs), 29, of England.
Among the other undercard bouts, British heavyweight Johnny Fisher (7-0, 6 KOs), 23, will face Italy’s Alfonso Damiani (6-2, 2 KOs), 37, in an eight-rounder and junior welterweight Campbell Hatton (9-0, 3 KOs), 22, the son of British legend Ricky Hatton, will face an opponent to be named in a six-rounder.
March 18: Cyrus Pattinson vs. Chris Jenkins
Welterweight prospect Pattinson (5-0, 3 KOs), 28, will be at home at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England, to take on former British champion Chris Jenkins (23-6-3, 8 KOs), 34, of Wales, in the main event of the prospect-oriented NXTGEN card.
Featured on the undercard will be 2020 British Olympic silver medalist Pat McCormack (3-0, 2 KOs), 27, in an eight-round welterweight bout against Dario Socci (15-7-2, 6 KOs), 34, of Italy.
April 8: Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vs. Cristian Gonzalez
In a fight that has been set for weeks, but hadn’t been formally announced, Rodriguez and Gonzalez will fight for the vacant WBO flyweight title at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in Rodriguez’s hometown of San Antonio.
Late last year, Rodriguez vacated the WBC junior bantamweight title and announced he would move down to flyweight, where the WBO ordered him to face Gonzalez for the 112-pound title left vacant by Japan’s undefeated Junto Nakatani, who moved up in weight.
Rodriguez (17-0, 11 KOs), a 23-year-old southpaw, had a breakout 2022 in which he was a strong fighter of the year candidate. At age 22, he became the youngest active world titleholder when he handily outpointed former titlist Carlos Cuadras on six days’ notice and moved up two weight classes.
Then Rodriguez thrilled the San Antonio fans in his first defense by knocking out former two-time champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in the eighth round followed by a decision against Israel Gonzalez before vacating the belt to move down.
Gonzalez (15-1, 5 KOs), 23, of Mexico, has won nine fights in a row but will be taking a major step up in opposition.
April 22: Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov vs. Joe Cordina
IBF junior lightweight titlist Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (17-0-1, 14 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Tajikistan, and mandatory challenger and former titlist Joe Cordina (15-0, 9 KOs), 31, will headline at Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, Wales, Cordina’s hometown.
Cordina scored a spectacular second-round knockout of Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa to win the title in Cardiff in June but when he could not make a mandatory defense against Rakhimov before it was due — because of a serious hand injury — he was stripped.
Rakhimov rallied from a third-round knockdown and stopped England’s Zelfa Barrett, who will be on this undercard against an opponent to be named, in the ninth round to win the vacant title in November with Cordina promised a chance to regain the belt when he was healthy enough to return.
May 20: Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano II
In one of the most heavily anticipated women’s fights of all time, undisputed lightweight champion Taylor will defend against undisputed featherweight champion Serrano in a rematch, which will take place at a venue to be determined in Dublin, Ireland. It will be Irish national hero Taylor’s first pro fight in her home country.
The fight was announced in the ring at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, on Saturday night moments after Serrano outpointed Erika Cruz in a blood-soaked action-packed fight to unify all four titles to become undisputed champion.
Taylor was ringside and joined her in the ring following the bout for Hearn’s announcement of the much-anticipated rematch. They met for the first time last April in an epic battle at the sold-out Madison Square Garden main arena.
Taylor (22-0, 6 KOs), 36, narrowly defeated southpaw Serrano (44-2-1, 30 KOs), 34, a Puerto Rican based in Brooklyn, New York, by disputed split decision in perhaps the greatest women’s fight ever.
In fights that were announced last month:
Leigh Wood will defend the WBA featherweight title against Mauricio Lara on Feb. 18 at Motorpoint Arena in his hometown of Nottingham, England. The fight will be Wood’s first defense since “super” titleholder Leo Santa Cruz vacated in December rather than make a long overdue mandatory defense against then-secondary titleholder Wood, who was left as the lone WBA beltholder in the weight class.
The fight will also be Wood’s first fight since retaining the secondary title in a dramatic 12th-round comeback knockout of Michael Conlan, whom he spectacularly ejected from the ring, last March, also at Motorpoint Arena, in the 2022 knockout of the year.
Wood (26-2, 16 KOs), 34, and Lara (25-2-1, 18 KOs), 24, of Mexico, were previously scheduled to fight on Sept. 24, but it was canceled when Wood suffered a torn biceps and then was ordered to face Santa Cruz.
Lightweight contender Angel Fierro (20-1-2, 16 KOs), 24, of Mexico, will defend a regional title against Eduardo Estela (14-1, 9 KOs), 33, of Uruguay, in the main event on March 4 at the Polideportivo Arena in Culiacan, Mexico.
Smith and Cordina photos: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Rodriguez: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing; Taylor-Serrano photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing
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DAZN have kindly changed their UK subscriptions to coincide with this Matchroom announcement.
You can now pay 3 ways....
(1) Monthly: £9.99 / month - on a 12 month contract (i.e. got to pay for the full year).
(2) Annual Saver: £99 / year
(3) Flexible: £19.99 / month - cancel with 30 days notice.
It's gonna be interesting to see how much higher DAZN's subscriptions in the UK get over the next few years. I'm happy enough at the moment but that could change depending on the cost and which fights they put out over the next few years.
This Matchroom schedule has some decent enough fights, I particularly like Wood vs Lara & Rakhimov vs Cordina, and as all but two events are in the UK or Ireland we won't have to stay up until 5am on a Sunday (usually) morning to watch them.
Eight? I counted six.