Boxing schedule for 2021: David Benavidez vs. Ronald Ellis, Vergil Ortiz vs. Maurice Hooker on tap

After a tumultuous 2020 that saw many major fights canceled or postponed, boxing is ready to head into 2021. As many champions and pound-for-pound elites hung on the sidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic, boxing missed out on some big-time fights. However, as the year went out, fighters slowly started to trickle back into the ring, albeit not against the competition we would like to see.

But with guys like Anthony Joshua, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence, Canelo Alvarez and GGG all getting in some tune-up fights, things are looking bright for 2021. And things got rolling with a strong start from Ryan Garcia, who rallied from an early knockdown to stop Luke Campbell and claim the interim WBC lightweight title. Garcia, along with Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney are setting up the prospects of some tasty matchups over the next 12 months in the 135-pound division.

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As we exit February and head into March. we’re fresh off Canelo Alvarez making his return to the ring where he made quick work of mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Hoping to fight three times this year, Alvarez’s next bout was announced in short order as he is set for a super middleweight unification in May against Billy Joe Saunders. 

Now, it’s time for another super middleweight contender to step in the ring as David Benavidez returns to take on Ronald Ellis in a WBC super middleweight title eliminator. Benavidez has held that title twice since 2017, but dropped it once for a positive cocaine test and a second time on the scales last fall. A win here likely gets him in line to face either Canelo Alvarez or Caleb Plant.

Below is a running list of boxing main events for the 2021 year.

Note: This will be updated constantly with changes and additions.