Showtime finalizes loaded schedule of 9 cards, at least 18 bouts from March to July

Spence, Ugas, Charlo brothers, Davis, Benavidez, Fulton, Tszyu, Ennis, Magsayo, etc. all set for action

Mar 15, 2022

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Showtime on Tuesday unveiled a strong spring and early summer schedule of Premier Boxing Champions card that includes nine events, including two pay-per-views, over five months between March and July.

While several of the bouts have either already been announced or widely reported on there were still a few surprises and it was still impressive to see Showtime, which celebrated its 36th anniversary of televising boxing last week, lay it all out at once with a depth of fights that include many of boxing’s elite boxers such as Errol Spence Jr., Gervonta Davis, Jermell Charlo, Jermall Charlo and David Benavidez.

The slate includes 18 fights with more televised undercard bouts will be added.

“It’s a good time to be a boxing fan and Showtime viewer with so many high-level, consequential matchups on our schedule,” Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said in announcing the schedule. “We continue to grow the sport at every level, from our grassroots series ‘ShoBox’ to crowning unified and undisputed champions across boxing’s deepest divisions.

“When you consider the competitive nature of these fights, the star power of fighters like Errol Spence Jr., ‘Tank’ Davis, David Benavidez, the Charlo brothers — and the youthful vitality of Stephen Fulton Jr., Jaron Ennis and Brandun Lee — it’s never been clearer that Showtime is the destination for the most compelling fights and will be for years to come. This Showtime boxing lineup is hands down the most potent of any network or platform in 2022.”

The two most significant fights are:

The three-belt welterweight unification fight between WBC/IBF titlist Errol Spence Jr. and WBA titlist Yordenis Ugas, who meet April 16 (Showtime PPV) at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, in Arlington, Texas.

The rematch of their draw last year for the undisputed junior middleweight championship between WBC/IBF/WBA titlist Jermell Charlo and WBO beltholder Brian Castano, who will meet again on May 14 at a site to be announced in Southern California.

Here’s a look at the full schedule:

March 26 at The Armory in Minneapolis

Australian junior middleweight Tim Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs), the WBO’s mandatory challenger and son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu and onetime Showtime cornerstone fighter, will make his American debut against former title challenger and 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) in the main event. In undercard fights, lightweight up-and-comer Michel Rivera (22-0, 14 KOs) meets Joseph Adorno (14-0-2, 12 KOs) and junior welterweight Elvis Rodriguez (12-1-1, 11 KOS) faces Juan Jose Velasco (23-2, 14 KOs).

April 9 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas

Southpaws Erickson Lubin (24-1, 17 KOs) and Sebastian Fundora (18-0-1, 12 KOs) square off for the vacant WBC interim junior middleweight title. On the undercard, former junior middleweight titlist Tony Harrison (28-3-1, 21 KOs) meets Sergio Garcia (33-1, 14 KOs) and junior middleweight Kevin Salgado (14-0, 9 KOs) faces Bryant Perrella (17-3-1, 14 KOs), who is coming off a draw with Harrison last April.

April 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas

Errol Spence Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) and Yordenis Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs), who is coming off a win over Manny Pacquiao that sent him into retirement, headline the pay-per-view card but Showtime will air two preliminary bouts on the network as a lead in to the PPV. In one bout, Radzhab Butaev (13-0, 10 KOs) will defend his WBA “regular” welterweight title against mandatory challenger Eimantas Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs) with the winner to be mandated to face the main event winner. Also, junior welterweight prospect Brandun Lee (24-0, 22 KOs) will face Zachary Ochoa (21-2, 7 KOs).

May 14 at Southern California (venue TBA)

Jermell Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) and Brian Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) fought an action-packed and disputed draw — most had Castano winning — last July and now they will meet again. In the co-feature, rising welterweight contender Jaron Ennis (28-0, 26 KOs), the 2020 prospect of the year, will face Custio Clayton (19-0-1, 12 KOs) in an IBF title elimination fight that will make the winner a mandatory challenger for the Spence-Ugas victor.

May 21 at Phoenix (venue TBA)

Two-time super middleweight titlist David Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) and former middleweight titleholder David Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs), both heavy punchers, will meet for the vacant WBC interim super middleweight title in the main event with junior middleweight prospect Yoelvis Gomez (5-0, 5 KOs) taking on veteran Jorge Cota (30-5, 27 KOs) on the undercard.

May 28 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York

Gervonta Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) will defend his WBA “regular” lightweight belt against Rolando “Rolly” Romero (14-0, 12 KOs) in a Showtime PPV fight that was originally scheduled for this past Dec. 5 in Los Angeles. However, Romero was dropped from the fight due to a sexual assault allegation, which has since been dropped, and Davis instead narrowly outpointed replacement foe Isaac Cruz. Now, Davis-Romero has been rescheduled. This will be Davis’ fourth consecutive Showtime PPV main event.

June 4 at The Armory in Minneapolis

Stephen Fulton Jr. (20-0, 8 KOs), who unified the WBO and WBC junior featherweight belts by majority decision over Brandon Figueroa in an action-packed fight of the year contender in November, will defend the straps against former unified titleholder Danny Roman (29-3-1, 10 KOs). In the co-feature, David Morrell (6-0, 5 KOs), a Cuban defector based in Minneapolis, will defend his WBA “regular” super middleweight belt against Kalvin Henderson (15-1-1, 11 KOs).

June 18 at Houston (venue TBA)

Despite talks of WBC middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) facing undefeated top contender Jaime Munguia, he will instead face Maciej Sulecki (30-2, 11 KOs), who has lost the two times he faced elite opposition, to Demetrius Andrade in a world title fight and Daniel Jacobs. The fight is in Charlo’s hometown on the Juneteenth holiday weekend and will be his first fight since his only bout of 2021 on the same weekend, also in Houston.

July 9 at San Antonio (venue TBA)

Mark Magsayo (24-0, 16 KOs) dethroned Gary Russell Jr. to win the WBC featherweight title on Jan. 22 and will make his first defense against mandatory challenger and former junior featherweight titlist Rey Vargas (35-0, 22 KOs).

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