Matchroom Boxing will return to The SSE Arena in Wembley for its next two cards: Josh Warrington vs. Mauricio Lara on Saturday, February 13, and David Avanesyan vs. Josh Kelly on Saturday, February 20.
The SSE was the venue for Matchroom's fall schedule at the end of 2020, concluding with Anthony Joshua's WBA, WBO and IBF title defence via ninth-round finish vs. Kubrat Pulev. And with tight restrictions remaining in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the indoor arena is back for an intriguing start to 2021 for Eddie Hearn's firm.
The two events kick off a stacked schedule that also features the highly anticipated rematch between Alexander Povetkin and Dillian Whyte on Saturday, March 6, Lawrence Okolie’s shot at the WBO cruiserweight crown against Krzysztof Glowacki on Saturday, March 20, and rising welterweight star Conor Benn vs. Samuel Vargas on Saturday, April 10.
Both Warrington-Lara and Avanesyan-Kelly will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and on DAZN in the U.S. and more than 200 countries and territories.
Warrington (30-0, 7 KOs) will look to remain unbeaten after facing Mexico’s Mauricio Lara (21-2, 14 KOs) ahead of a huge fight later in the year, while super-featherweight contender Zelfa Barrett (24-1, 15 KOs) defends his IBF Intercontinental title against Spain’s former super-bantamweight world champion Kiko Martinez (41-9-2, 29 KOs) in the chief support bout.
Elsewhere on the undercard, Leigh Wood (23-2, 13 KOs) clashes with unbeaten Reece Mould (13-0, 6 KOs) for the vacant British featherweight title, fast-rising super-lightweight talent Dalton Smith (6-0, 5 KOs) is in action, featherweight Hopey Price (3-0, 1 KO) meets Zahid Hussain (16-1, 2 KOs) and Ibrahim Nadim (2-0) steps up against Jonny Phillips (5-5, 2 KOs) at the same weight.
One week later, Russia’s European welterweight champion Avanesyan (26-3-1, 14 KOs) makes his long-awaited defence against Kelly (10-0-1, 6 KOs), while Anthony Fowler (13-1, 10 KOs) returns against Spain's Jorge Fortea (21-2-1, 7 KOs) in the co-main.
Plus, undefeated welterweights Florian Marku (7-0-1, 5 KOs) and Rylan Charlton (6-0-1, 3 KOs) meet in what promises to be an explosive 10-round battle, Amy Timlin (4-0-1) and Carly Skelly (3-0-1) rematch for the vacant Commonwealth super-bantamweight title after their split draw on the Usyk vs. Chisora undercard and heavyweight Johnny Fisher makes his professional debut.
John Drury, VP and general manager at The SSE Arena, Wembley, said: "We’re delighted to welcome Matchroom Boxing back to The SSE Arena, Wembley for our first events of 2021.
"We’re looking forward to another huge residency, with ASM Global’s VenueShield protocols keeping everyone at our venue safe and comfortable in a welcoming and Covid-secure environment."