Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are set to meet in one on Saturday A rematch of their massive May clash. While that fight, arguably the greatest heavyweight fight of the era, was the first undisputed heavyweight champion crown of the four-belt era, the IBF stripped Usyk of only three world titles on the line for the second time. their titles.
Usyk won the first clash by majority decision in a very tight fight in which Fury built an early lead before Usyk took over down the stretch. It was a fair result but the close scorecards gave Fury reason to hold on to the belief that he almost earned a first-time victory.
Usyk, who holds the honors of undisputed champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, currently sits as a -150 favorite as oddsmakers and the public have indicated they still see the fight as close to a 50/50 contest.
Also, more heavyweights support the main event. Rising teenage phenom Moses Itauma is back in action as he takes on veteran Demsey McKean. The 19-year-old has thrilled early in his career, scoring eight knockouts in 10 professional fights. His last was most impressive when he stopped veteran Mariusz Wach in the second round in July. He gets a durable veteran in McKean, who is coming off the first loss of his professional career when he was stopped by Filip Horgovich in August.
And rising prospect Johnny Fisher returns to the ring as he faces another prospect in Dave Allen. Fisher is 12-0 with 11 knockouts and Allen is 23-6 with 18 knockouts on his resume.
Let’s take a look at the three best bets marked on the card, which is thin on big names outside of the main event.
Alexander Usyk (+170) by decision
Usyk faced some tough moments early in the first fight but once he got a feel for Fury’s approach, the Ukrainian champion took the fight. What’s most incredible about that momentum switch is that Usyk didn’t just outbox Fury, he outmuscled a much larger man around while repeatedly hitting him. We heard that Fury was completely focused on this fight, not even talking to his family as he prepared for a better approach to the rematch. A fully dialed-in Fury has every chance of winning this fight. After all, he is one of the best fighters of his generation, with talent, power and size that would be a handful for any heavyweight in history. Fury, however, is 36 years old and has a lot of hard miles on his body in and out of the ring. I don’t believe he can change his approach to boxing completely enough to confuse a boxer with Usyk’s skill and adaptability. Even though Usyk hurt Fury in the first fight, the safe play here is to stop Usyk’s repeat performance — perhaps a little too comfortably — and decide again.
Either fighter will be knocked out: No (+140)
While I wouldn’t be shocked if one was knocked out, the added knowledge provided by the first fight means a slightly different approach to the rematch. Fury knows Usyk can hurt him, which adds an extra layer of caution to how he approaches. Meanwhile, Usyk has learned how to avoid Fury’s power and bludgeoning to the inside and will likely want to avoid that same early hit from Fury. Despite knocking down both fighters sitting as -190, it seems no knockdown is safe play.
Serhii Bohachuk vs Ismail Davis under 8.5 rounds (-130)
Bohachuk was scheduled to face Israel Madrimov in a major fight when Madrimov pulled out citing medical reasons. Fairly or not, many assumed that Madrimov had indeed withdrawn as it had already been announced that he would fight Virgil Ortiz in February if he did not lose to Bohachuk. Whether or not Madrymov saw a better payday and a bigger fight and didn’t want to risk losing to Bohachuk will never really be known, but it does mean that Davis enters the fight as a late replacement. Davis was also a late replacement in his previous fight, losing a majority decision to Josh Kelly. Bohachuk is a tougher test than Kelly, as Davis showed, sitting as a +600 underdog. Bohachuk gave Ortiz everything he could handle in their August clash, knocking him down twice en route to a majority decision loss. Bohachuk has scored stoppages in all but one of his 24 wins, and against late replacements, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him repeat that feat. The best line to take advantage of is to take the under on 8.5 rounds as Bohachuk is -360 to win by knockout. Davis doesn’t have great power but you also get a small cushion with the under on if he somehow manages to crack Bohachuk.
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