DAZN announces eight fight cards to start 2022

DAZN, in partnership with Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions, announced Friday eight fight cards for the first quarter of 2022.

Here are the fights below:

• Saturday, February 5: Jessie Vargas vs. Liam Smith – Headlining the event is former two-weight world champion Jessie Vargas Vs. former WBO light-middleweight champion Liam Smith with Rungvisai Vs. Cuadras fighting for the vacant WBC Super-Flyweight title also on the card. The show will be live worldwide on DAZN (excluding Thailand).

• Saturday, February 12: Daniel Jacobs Vs. John Ryder – Super-middleweight John Ryder looks to step up in 2022, taking on two-time middleweight world champion Daniel Jacobs in the UK. The event will be live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia).

• Saturday, February 19: Jaime Munguía vs. D’Mitrius Ballard – Mexican middleweight Jaime Munguía takes on D’Mitrius Ballard in a rescheduled middleweight battle between the pair for the WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title. The event will be live worldwide on DAZN (excluding Mexico).

• Sunday, February 27: Lawrence Okolie – WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie will defend his belt for the second time at the end of February with the opponent to be announced soon. The event will be live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia).

• Saturday, March 05: Estrada vs. Chocolatito III – Juan Francisco Estrada and Román ‘Chocolatito’ González run it back once more for a highly anticipated trilogy fight for the WBA and The Ring Super Flyweight titles. The event will be live worldwide on DAZN.

• Saturday, March 12: Leigh Wood vs. Michael Conlan – Leigh Wood defends his new WBA belt for the first time after producing a 12th-round knockout against Xu Can at Fight Camp, now facing WBA ‘interim’ featherweight champion Michael Conlan. The event will be live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia).

• Saturday, March 19: Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Michael McKinson – Knockout artist Vergil Ortiz Jr. looks to make it 19-0, taking on flawless British prospect Michael McKinson in the first defense his WBO International welterweight title. The event will be live worldwide on DAZN.

• Saturday, March 26: Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington II – Spanish two-weight world champion Kiko Martinez puts his newly acquired IBF featherweight belt on the line against old foe Josh Warrington – who actually beat the champion back in 2017. The rematch will be live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia)

“We ended 2021 with a bang and I can’t wait to get started in 2022,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “It’s going to be such an exciting year for Matchroom and DAZN with massive events all over the world, and I’m delighted with the early schedule we’ve put together – unifications, World title action and career-defining nights; there’s so much drama packed into these nights, and we’ve got plenty more to add soon.”

“Golden Boy finished off 2021 with incredible, action-packed fights on DAZN headlined by some of the biggest stars in the sport, Vergil Ortiz, Jr., Jaime Munguia, and Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez. These fighters are the future of boxing and we are delighted to continue to work with DAZN in 2022 on the upcoming events of these fighters,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman & CEO of Golden Boy.

Further fights and full undercard details to be announced shortly.