Boxing Betting Analysis for April 2010 Bouts
Boxing is one of my favourite forms of sports betting although I probably do spend too much money on the pay-per-view packages. The problem is that there always seems to be a fight on that I really want to watch! Perhaps the sport news deliberately hype up the fights to seduce sports betting fans like me to buy the packages, but I thought I would share some of the great fights coming up in the next couple of weeks that you might want to have a punt on.
American boxing champion Kelly Pavlik puts his WBC & WBO Middleweight titles on the line as he faces a tough challenge from Argentinian fighter Sergio Gabriel Martinez. Pavlik is 3/5 favourite to beat Martinez who is the outside bet at 13/10. In boxing betting terms, these odds are fairly close so we can assume that Pavlik may have his hands full here. Martinez has won 44 out of 48 fights with 2 draws and 2 losses. Whilst he has 17 straight wins he has been criticised for not fighting class opponents. Martinez holds the WBC Super Welterweight crown but holds this by default after an injury to the previous champion.
Pavlik has won 36 out of 37 fights with one loss. His only loss was to ring legend Bernard Hopkins and he has respect in the boxing world for looking after himself between fights and does not follow the glamorous lifestyle enjoyed by other boxers between fights despite much success and fortune made in the ring. My thoughts on this bout are that Pavlik has a better record against a better class of opponent and is therefore good value at 3/5. Martinez is stepping up in weight and therefore Pavlik should be stronger and we have seen Ricky Hatton struggle when stepping up in the past to show it is not simply just filling out that is required.
This fight takes place on Sunday 18th April at 3.00am GMT.
On Saturday 24th April at 8.30pm British fighter Carl Froch steps back into the ring to fight Mikkel Kessler. Froch’s WBC Super Middleweight World Champion is on the line in this fight. Kessler’s only defeat was to Joe Calzaghe but he lost his first fight of the Super sixes tournament in a surprise loss to Andre Ward. Froch remains undefeated in his career so far but faces his biggest test as yet against Kessler. Froch knocked out Jermain Taylor late in round 12 recently and was behind on the cards before that point. Both fighters have something to prove in this contest.
Despite his recent poor recent fight Kessler is favourite at 11/20 and Froch is the underdog at 29/20. Froch’s last fight was a split decision win over Andre Dirrell and it is fair to say that he has not had a convincing fight, despite being undefeated in his career, since he knocked out Albert Rybacki two years ago. He needs to prove himself against a quality and classy opponent like Kessler before he is widely regarded as one of the best fighters in the world. Looking at his record you can see why Joe Calzaghe always refused to fight him; Froch is still not at the required level to get fights of that stature.
My tip here is to back Kessler to win on points which has odds of 2/1. Froch is a good fighter and always has a punchers chance but Kessler is a classy operator with bags of experience. If it goes the distance I expect Kessler will hold a lead on the judges scorecards, but Froch has a wily and cunning style that often makes scoring the rounds difficult. It will be a very interesting fight.
By Malcolm Clarke
