There are plenty of fights taking place in May 2022, but the one catching our eye is the match up between Mexican Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (57-1-2) and Russian Dmitry Bivol (19-0).
As the undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world and a four-weight world titleholder, Canelo is one of - if not the - hottest ticket in boxing right now.
He made history in November last year when he was crowned the first undisputed champion at super-middleweight in the four-belt era.
After securing the WBC, WBA and WBO belts over the preceding 11 months, Canelo overcame American underdog Caleb Plant with an 11th-round technical knockout victory to also take the IBF title.
At that point it very much looked like Canelo would challenge for a world title in a fifth division. It almost happened but a planned fight against WBC cruiserweight champion and Congolese-South African Ilunga Makabu didn’t go ahead after Makabu was forced into a mandatory defence of his title.
Instead, Canelo signed a deal with Matchroom Boxing that has him returning to the light heavyweight division to challenge long-reigning undefeated WBA (Super) champion Bivol.
Although the clear underdog in the fight, Bivol has a strong record at this weight, winning his first WBA interim light heavyweight title in 2016 in what was only his seventh professional bout. He defended the full WBA world title a year later, and was designated Super champion in 2019.
The fight against Canelo will be Bivol’s fourth defence of the WBA (Super) title, and his ninth world title defence in total.
Saturday 7 May at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas – Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom
- Canelo Alvarez vs Dmitry Bivol (WBA Light-Heavyweight Title)
- Montana Love vs Gabriel Valenzuela (Super-Lightweight)
Friday 13 May at O2 Indigo, London, UK – Kalle Sauerland’s Wasserman
- Josh Kelly vs Xhuljo Vrenozi (Super-Welterweight)
- Linus Udofia vs Denzel Bentley (British Middleweight Title)
Saturday 14 May at Burj Al Arab Helipad, Dubai, UAE – FrontRow and ROQU Media
- Floyd Mayweather vs Don Moore (Exhibition)
- Anderson Silva vs Bruno Machado (Weight TBC)
- Badou Jack vs Opponent TBC (Cruiserweight)
Saturday 14 May at Accor Arena, Paris, France – All Star Boxing
- Tony Yoka vs Martin Bakole (Heavyweight)
Saturday 14 May at Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA – Al Haymon’s PBC
- Jermell Charlo vs Brian Castano 2 (WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO Super-Welterweight Titles)
- Jaron Ennis vs Custio Clayton (Welterweight)
Saturday 14 May at Forum, Los Angeles, USA – Triller Fight Club
- Sergey Kovalev vs Tervel Pulev (Cruiserweight)
- Kubrat Pulev vs Andrey Fedosov (Heavyweight)
Saturday 21 May at O2 Arena, London, UK – Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom
- Joshua Buatsi vs Craig Richards (Light-Heavyweight)
Saturday 21 May at Pride Park Stadium, Derby, UK – Frank Warren’s Queensberry
- Zach Parker vs Demetrius Andrade (Super-Middleweight)
Saturday 21 May at Minneapolis, USA – Al Haymon’s PBC
- David Benavidez vs David Lemieux (Super-Middleweight)
Saturday 28 May at Barclays Center in New York, USA – Al Haymon’s PBC
- Gervonta Davis vs Rolly Romero (WBA ‘Regular’ Lightweight Title)
