A look ahead to the remainder of 2021’s biggest boxing bouts
There may only be just under five months left of 2021, but there are still plenty of big boxing bouts to look forward to between now and the end of the year. It’s a shame that we won’t be treated to the much-anticipated all-British heavyweight unification bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury over the coming months, but the pair will still be in action before the year is out, whilst YouTuber Jake Paul will take to the ring for his fourth professional fight, in a bout that is sure to attract millions on PPV.
So, without further ado, read on as we take a quick look at four big fight nights due to take to place before the end of the year…
August 21st: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas – Errol Spence Jr vs Manny Pacquiao
Veteran Manny Pacquiao isn’t ready to hang up his boxing gloves just yet. The only eight-division world champion in the history of the sport, the 42-year-old is set to trade blows with Errol Spence Jr at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where the American’s WBC and IBF welterweight titles will be on the line, alongside the vacant The Ring belt. The 31-year-old is the heavy odds-on favourite in the boxing odds, and an eighth-career defeat for ‘PacMan’ could spell the end of his illustrious boxing career, as the Philippine Senator is set to turn his attention to running for President in his home country next year.
August 29th: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland – Jake Paul vs Tyron Woodley
Whether we like or not, these kinds of bouts are starting to gain a lot of traction in the boxing world, and it wouldn’t surprise us if Paul vs Tyron Woodley sold more PPVs than any of the other fights on this list. The YouTuber’s last bout against former UFC fighter Ben Askren, whom he knocked out in the first round, sold over 1.3 million PPV. In comparison, Fury vs Deontay Wilder II sold only around 800,000! A former UFC welterweight champion, Woodley, who won 19 of his 27 appearances in the Octagon, doesn’t have any boxing experience, and Paul is the odds-on favourite to extend his record to 4-0.
September 25th: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London – Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk.
WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Joshua will return to the ring for the first time this year to take on Oleksandr Usyk at the state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London. ‘AJ’ may be heavily tipped to beat the Ukrainian on the best boxing tips sites. However, defeating Usyk, who is unbeaten in his 18 professional bouts, will be no easy feat. After beating Tony Bellew in 2018, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist moved up to heavyweight from the cruiserweight division and he hasn’t looked back since, dispatching of Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora to earn a crack at Joshua. It promises to an exciting bout!
October 9th: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas – Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder III
Wilder is the man that crushed our hopes of seeing Fury and Joshua going to toe-to-toe this year. Despite being easily beaten in their second encounter at the MGM Garden Arena in Vegas back in February 2020, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ demanded that ‘The Gypsy King’ honoured their third-fight agreement, and an arbitration case forced the pair into the ring. Everyone will be hoping that Fury can breeze past the American in similar fashion to how he did last time out, as a defeat would be catastrophic to Fury vs Joshua taking place in 2022.