FOLLOWING hot on the heels of DAZN announcing their subscription price increase is news, long-awaited at that, of Sky Sports’ boxing schedule and roster of boxers for what remains of 2021.
Both schedule and roster owe to the deals Sky Sports have struck with promotional outfits Boxxer and Top Rank and these deals now make Sky Sports the only place where boxing fans will be able to watch Top Rank events in the UK. To put it another way, this gives fans British access to world-class fighters like Terence Crawford, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Teófimo López, Naoya Inoue, Jamel Herring and Shakur Stevenson.
Closer to home, and kicking off the schedule on October 2, is an event at Wembley’s SSE Arena headlined by Chris Eubank Jnr and Sven Elbir, which includes, on its undercard, a better fight between European welterweight champion David Avanesyan and Britain’s Liam Taylor, plus the return of Richard Riakporhe.
What follows that on October 16 is a card topped by a heavyweight fight between Hughie Fury and Christian Hammer, on the undercard of which Savannah Marshall and Lewis Ritson will both also see action.
Then, on December 18 in Glasgow, Scotland, undisputed super-lightweight champion Josh Taylor will defend his crown against England’s Jack Catterall, in what is Taylor’s first fight since outclassing Jose Ramirez to win all four super-lightweight belts in May.
Finally, Sky Sports have also stressed the importance of the female fighters on their roster, paying special attention to Top Rank’s Mikaela Mayer and Maiva Hamadouche, who soon meet in a super-featherweight title unification, and Caroline Dubois, Savannah Marshall, and Claressa Shields, all of whom will appear on Sky Sports after signing agreements to fight on Boxxer shows.
The Sky Sports Boxing schedule so far:
11th September – FIGHT NIGHT INTERNATIONAL: Oscar Valdez vs. Robson Conceicao, WBC Super-Featherweight Title
25th September – SKY SPORTS BOX OFFICE: Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk, IBF, WBA & WBO World Heavyweight Titles; Lawrence Okolie vs. Dilan Prasovic, WBO cruiserweight title
2nd October – FIGHT NIGHT: Chris Eubank Jr vs. Sven Elbir – 12 rounds, middleweight; David Avanesyan vs. Liam Taylor, European welterweight title; Richard Riakporhe vs. Krzysztof Twardowski, eight rounds, cruiserweight.
16th October – FIGHT NIGHT: Savannah Marshall vs. Lolita Muzeya, WBO middleweight title; Hughie Fury vs. Christian Hammer, 12 rounds, heavyweight.
24th October – FIGHT NIGHT INTERNATIONAL: Jamel Herring vs. Shakur Stevenson, WBO super-featherweight title.
6th November – BOXXER TOURNAMENT
18th December – FIGHT NIGHT: Josh Taylor vs. Jack Catterall, undisputed world super-lightweight title.
Starting list of BOXXER fighters include:
Heavyweight – Hughie Fury
Heavyweight – Steve Robinson
Heavyweight – Nick Campbell
Cruiserweight – Richard Riakporhe
Cruiserweight – Mikael Lawal
Cruiserweight – Scott Forrest
Super-Middleweight – Germaine Brown
Middleweight – Chris Eubank Jr.
Middleweight – Brad Rea
Super-Welterweight – Joe Pigford
Lightweight – Adam Azim
Welterweight – Hassan Azim
Super-Lightweight – Lewis Ritson
Middleweight – Mark Dickinson
Middleweight – Savannah Marshall
Super-Welterweight – Georgia O’Connor
Lightweight – Caroline Dubois
Middleweight – Claressa Shields
Welterweight – April Hunter
Bantamweight – Ebonie Jones
Top Rank fighters include:
Undisputed Super-Lightweight Champion – Josh Taylor
Super-Featherweight – Oscar Valdez
Super-Featherweight – Jamel Herring
Super-Featherweight – Shakur Stevenson
Undisputed Lightweight Champion – Teófimo López
Welterweight – Terence Crawford
Lightweight – Vasiliy Lomachenko
Light-Heavyweight – Joe Smith Jr.
Super-Featherweight – Mikaela Mayer
WBC/IBF Light Heavyweight Champion – Artur Beterbiev
WBA/IBF Bantamweight Champion – Naoya Inoue
WBA Middleweight Champion – Ryota Murata
