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.
Most of the boxing world's attention now turns to Feb. 5 and the Las Vegas showdown between Keith Thurman and Mario Barrios. It's a great piece of matchmaking and a fight that is almost sure to provide fireworks while setting the winner up for a big fight later in 2022.
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.
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.
Jan. 29 Warren, Ohio Ilunga Makabu (c) vs. Thabiso MchunuWBC cruiserweight title Fite Feb. 5 Las Vegas Keith Thurman vs. Mario Barrios Welterweights Fox PPV Feb. 5 Cardiff, Wales Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Liam Williams
Middleweights ESPN Feb. 5 Phoenix, Arizona Carlos Cuadras vs. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
Vacant WBC super flyweight title
DAZN Feb. 12 London Daniel Jacobs vs. John Ryder Super middleweights DAZN Feb. 19 Manchester, England Amir Khan vs. Kell Brook Welterweights TBD Feb. 19 Tijuana Jaime Munguia vs. D'Mitrius Ballard
Middleweights DAZN Feb. 26 Glasgow, Scotland Josh Taylor (c) vs. Jack Catterall Undisputed junior welterweight titles ESPN+ Feb. 26 Las Vegas Roger Gutierrez (c) vs. Chris Colbert
WBA regular super featherweight title 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 Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Roman Gonzalez
WBA and WBC junior bantamweight titles
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 March 19 TBA Vergil Ortiz vs. Michael McKinson Welterweights DAZN March 19 Houston Jermell Charlo (c) vs.
