Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime put on an extravagant event this week, assembling 21 champions or top contenders in Manhattan to announce their broadcast schedule for the first half of 2018.
The lineup is a formidable list of matchups that could lead to even bigger fights in the second half of the year and reaffirms PBC as a continuing source of some boxing’s best talent. Showtime televised Errol Spence’s successful defense of his IBF welterweight title against Lamont Peterson last Saturday night at Barclays Center, and will offer 14 fights on nine cards, including 10 world title fights through June.
The schedule resumes Feb. 17 in Las Vegas, where former welterweight champion Danny Garcia (33-1, 19 KOs) faces Brandon Rios (34-3-1, 25 KOs) and WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez (19-0, 17 KOs) defends in a rematch with Ronald Gavril (18-2, 14 KOs).
On March 3, Showtime returns to Barclays Center, where WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) defends against Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (28-0, 24 KOs), and Jermall Charlo (26-0, 20 KOs) takes on Hugo Centeno Jr. (26-1, 14 KOs) in a middleweight bout.
On March 10 in San Antonio, Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) fights for a championship in a fourth weight class when he challenges IBF junior welterweight champion Sergey Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs). Rances Barthelemy (26-0, 13 KOs) and Kiryl Relikh (21-2, 9 KOs) will also square off in a rematch for a vacant WBA junior welterweight title.
On April 7, IBF junior middleweight Jarrett Hurd (21-0, 15 KOs) and WBA 154-pound champion Erislandy Lara (25-2-2, 14 KOs) meet in a unification bout at a site to be determined. This could be the most anticipated fight of the bunch.
On April 21, Omar Figueroa (27-0-1, 19 KOs) and Adrien Broner (33-3, 24 KOs) will tangle in a super lightweight bout, while former junior lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (19-0, 18 KOs), who was stripped of his IBF super featherweight title for not making weight in his last fight, will also be on the card.
On May 19, Adonis Stevenson (29-1, 24 KOs) will defend his WBC light heavyweight title against former WBA light heavyweight champion Badou Jack (22-1-2, 13 KOs) in Canada, while unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman returns to the ring in Barclays Center against an opponent to be determined.
On June 9, multi-division champion Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1, 19 KOs) and Abner Mares (31-2-1, 15 KOs) stage a WBA featherweight title rematch at the Staples Center. Charlo, the undefeated super WBC welterweight champion, will be featured in the co-main event. Spence also returns to action in June.
Overall, it’s a half year of boxing that features 10 events, 12 world champions, 14 undefeated fighters and 12 world championship fights. The majority of the fighters are linked with PBC.
“Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime have assembled an audacious schedule that seeks to bring order to the chaos that often engulfs the sport,” said Tim Smith, vice president of communications for Haymon Boxing. “With many of these matches scheduled over the next six months, fans can see a clear path to a unified champion in the hottest divisions in boxing. It’s a major step in the right direction.”
Barclays Center drew 12,107 for Spence’s win over Peterson and hopes to do big business on March 3 when Wilder takes on Ortiz.
“Every time I’ve promised a knockout I’ve done that,” Wilder said. “Come March 3, I promise I’m going to knock him out, too.”
Meanwhile, HBO begins its 2018 schedule Saturday night with a double-header. Lucas Matthysse (38-4, 35 KOs) of Argentina meets Tewa Kiram (38-0, 28 KOs) of Thailand for the vacant WBA welterweight title and Jorge Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) of Venezuela takes on Mercito Gesta (31-1-2, 17 KOs) of the Philippines from the Forum in Inglewood, Calif.