Showtime boxing fight schedule: Wilder-Ortiz, Santa Cruz-Mares headline early slate
The first half of 2018 has plenty to offer boxing fans
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1 min read
The late winter and spring of 2018 is fixing to be a busy one for Showtime Sports and Premier Boxing Champions.
Although a handful of important title bouts were previously announced, Showtime formally revealed the sites and dates, along with announcing new matchups Wednesday during a "Boxing Upfront" in New York. In all, 10 events were highlighted over the first half of the year in a lineup featuring 12 world championship bouts.
The news conference, which featured many of Showtime's top fighters in attendance, was highlighted by the previously announced March 3 WBC heavyweight championship bout between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz and the June 9 rematch WBA featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares.
Among the fights already announced is a Feb. 17 card from Las Vegas featuring welterweights Danny Garcia and Brandon Rios, along with a WBC super middleweight title rematch between David Benavidez and Ronald Gavril. The March 3 Wilder-Ortiz card will include a co-main event of Jermall Charlo and Hugo Centeno Jr. for the interim vacant WBC middleweight belt.
A March 10 card in San Antonio, which was rescheduled from February due to injury, will see Sergey Lipinets defend his IBF junior welterweight title against Mikey Garcia. In the co-main event, Rances Barthelemy will face Kiryl Relikh in a rematch.
| Fight | Weightclass | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
Danny Garcia vs. Brandon Rios | Welterweight | Feb. 17 | Las Vegas |
Deontay Wilder (c) vs. Luis Ortiz | Heavyweight title | March 3 | Brooklyn |
Jermall Charlo vs. Centeno | Middleweight title | March 3 | Brooklyn |
Mikey Garcia vs. Sergey Lipnets (c) | Junior welterweight title | March 10 | San Antonio |
Rances Barthelemy vs. Kiryl Relkih | Super lightweight title | March 10 | San Antonio |
Erislandy Lara vs. Jarrett Hurd | Middleweight unification | April 7 | TBD |
Adrien Broner vs. Omar Figueroa | Super lightweight | April 21 | Brooklyn |
Gervonta Davis vs. TBD | Junior lightweight | April 21 | Brooklyn |
Keith Thurman vs. TBD | Welterweight title | May 19 | Brooklyn |
Adonis Stevenson (c) vs. Badou Jack | Light heavyweight title | May 19 | Canada |
Leo Santa Cruz (c) vs. Abner Mares | Featherweight title | June 9 | Los Angeles |
| Jermell Charlo vs. TBD | Super welterweight title | June 9 | Los Angeles |
| Errol Spence Jr. vs. TBD | Welterweight title | June 16 | Dallas |
