Comments Thread For: Matchroom announce four shows to kick off 2026

[BoxingUpdates]

Matchroom Boxing have today signalled their intent with four shows scheduled for early next year.
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[drablj]

wood - warrington is just a money grab, final payday for two old boxers. they aren't holding any title hostage so i am ok with this. they are making money while blocking nobody.

nunez - navarrete is for #1 at super featherweight, an important fight.
muratalla - cruz is for #1 lightweight. top4 should be erased for moving up and crime. muratalla is #5 and cruz is top10 too.
murtazaliev - kelly is a mandatory fight. the winner will be free for voluntary unifications afterwards. it's on the same day as zayas - baraou unification.

overall a good start of the year which is usually a quiet period. hopefully turki will announce something interesting for january and february too.

[Tag, You're Hit]

ALL of these are fights I'm looking forward to. Good work, Matchroom. NONE of these should be PPV, though, so hopefully they're not.

My order of interest:
1. Muratalla vs Cruz. Should be a high level battle with potential for destruction, plus for a belt and likely the #1 spot at 135 since I think Shakur is done there. I have Cruz winning this one. Probably goes 12. Thinking 70/30.
2. Murtazaliev vs Kelly. Should be exciting. We'll get a better idea of what kind of level Bakhram is really at and it's taking place in boxings deepest and most exciting division. I'm leaning Bakhram, but Kelly has a real shot. I expect Murtazaliev by KO, but it could be Kelly by points. Thinking 55/45.
3. Navarrete vs Nunez. This should be a total baanger (gotta outwit the censorship). I think Nunez takes this by KO as Navarette is past his best, imo. Thinking 60/40.
4. Wood vs Warrington. While of no real significance, this should be a fun fight. Warrington was clobbering Wood until he got blitzed in typical Wood fashion. I'm taking Wood in this one again, though I think it'll go the distance. Thinking 60/40.

[SteveM]

4 very solid fights - but Hearn doesn't know how to promote - doh - and likely the one with the smallest crowd? The one in the USA unless the Mexican venue is small enough to cap attendance.

[kiaba360]

Murtazaliev (Main Events) and Kelly (Wasserman) headlining a Matchroom show is interesting. This is similar to Matchroom hosting Lopez/Kambosos, although that fight didn't lead to anything bigger for Hearn. I think this is signalling that the Kelly/Murtazaliev winner will be a potential option for Ennis.

[M312]

Murtazaliev (Main Events) and Kelly (Wasserman) headlining a Matchroom show is interesting. This is similar to Matchroom hosting Lopez/Kambosos, although that fight didn't lead to anything bigger for Hearn. I think this is signalling that the Kelly/Murtazaliev winner will be a potential option for Ennis.

Kelly has resigned with Matchroom.

[kiaba360]

Kelly has resigned with Matchroom.

Thanks for the correction. Just googled it to confirm. I've stopped paying close attention to the behind-the-scenes stuff, so I missed Kelly's move.

[Coverdale]

Thanks for the correction. Just googled it to confirm. I've stopped paying close attention to the behind-the-scenes stuff, so I missed Kelly's move.

In any case, what you said previously about the winner potentially facing Boots remains true.

[kiaba360]

In any case, what you said previously about the winner potentially facing Boots remains true.

I'd really like to see Ennis/Murtazaliev.

[Mammoth]

That's a solid schedule for beginning of the year fights.