Matchroom Boxing Announce 2021 First Quarter UK Schedule

ByMichael Clifton

Matchroom Boxing has released its upcoming lineup for the first quarter of 2021. It has been a rough start of the year for UK boxing, with all January events canceled due to the increase of COVID-19 cases.

However, boxing will return in February, and Matchroom has put together several cards that should generate interest amongst boxing fans.

“Even in a pandemic I feel like this is the strongest start to a year Matchroom have had in a long time. It’s going to be a rough ride over the next couple of months but with plenty of drama and excitement along the way,” Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn said.

” We have some thrilling main events and stacked cards that feature some of the biggest names in British boxing returning to action as we look to make a real statement in 2021.”

The first event of the year will occur on February 13, when Josh Warrington (30-0, 7 KO) puts his IBF title on the line against Mexico’s Mauricio Lara (21-2, 14 KO). This fight will be Lara’s first outside of Mexico, and Warrington will want to make sure he gets the job done against the 22-year-old so he can target possible unification bouts later on in 2021.

The announced lineup for the February 13 card so far is as follows.

  • Josh Warrington vs. Mauricio Lara
  • Zelfa Barrett vs. Kiko Martinez
  • Leigh Wood vs. Reece Mould
  • Dalton Smith vs. Lee Appleyard
  • Hopey Price vs. TBA.

On Saturday, February 20, Russia’s European Welterweight Champion David Avanesyan (26-3-1, 14 KO) and the UK’s Josh Kelly (10-0-1, 6 KO) will finally lock horns. Their fight was initially set to take place on January 22, but the BBBofC announcement that it had suspended all boxing in the UK forced this fight to be rescheduled.

The announced lineup for the February 20 card so far is as follows.

  • David Avanesyan vs. Josh Kelly
  • Florian Marku vs. Rylan Charlton
  • Anthony Fowler vs. Jorge Fortea
  • Amy Timlin vs. Carly Skelly
  • Johnny Fisher vs. TBA

The card that is bound to get the the most attention will be the one set for Saturday March 6. Heavyweights Alexander Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KO) and Dillian Whyte (27-2, 18 KO) will resume hostilities in the main event, with Whyte looking to bounce back from a brutal fifth-round KO loss to Povetkin last August.

The announced lineup for the Saturday March 6 card so far is as follows.

  • Alexander Povetkin vs. Dillian Whyte
  • Ted Cheeseman vs. James Metcalf
  • Fabio Wardley vs. Eric Molina
  • Campbell Hatton vs. TBA
  • Youssef Khoumari vs. Kane Baker

Towering UK cruiserweight Lawrence Okolie (15-0, 12 KO) and Poland’s Krzysztof Glowacki will finally meet on March 20, with the two fighting for the vacant WBO Cruiserweight Championship. The pair were set to fight on the Anthony Joshua-Kubrat Pulev undercard , but after Glowacki tested postiive for Covid-19 , Okolie was forced to face an underwhelming Nikodem Jezewski. 

The announced lineup for the Saturday March 20 card so far is as follows.

  • Lawrence Okolie vs. Krzysztof Glowacki
  • Chantelle Cameron vs. Melissa Hernandez
  • Chris Billam-Smith vs. Deion Jumah
  • Ramla Ali vs. TBA
  • Solomon Dacres vs. TBA

To finish up the quarter Conor Benn (17-0, 11 KO) will defends his WBA Continental Title against Samuel Vargas (31-6-2, 14 KO) on Saturday, April 10. Benn is coming into this fight on the back of an impressive win over Sebastian Formella. The card will also see a rematch between Rachel Ball and Shannon Courtney who will be fight for the right to earn the WBA Bantamweight World Title.

The announced lineup for the Saturday April 10 card so far is as follows.

  • Conor Benn vs. Samuel Vargas
  • Rachel Ball vs. Shannon Courtney
  • Savannah Marshall vs. TBA
  • Felix Cash vs. TBA
  • Kash Farooq vs. TBA

What fights are you most looking forward to ?

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