IBHOF’s boxing and gambling expert Graham Houston surveys a busy weekend of betting action featuring a heavyweight clash between WBA heavyweight belt holder Trevor Bryan and Londoner Daniel Dubois.
Too many fights, too little time to break them all.It was another packed schedule. Let’s go there.
I love Daniel Dubois by KO against Trevor Bryan in a heavyweight title fight tonight in Florida. Dubois is a stronger warrior and superior physical specimen. Bryan may hit the box well enough to be competitive for a while, but he’s never faced anyone with the strength of Dubois.
Unfortunately, Dubois is now a most loved game (1/14 at Betfred). I didn’t think a challenger would be so popular in a heavyweight title fight in the history of the ring.
So we cannot bid on Dubois as a cash flow bet. What is the proposed market? Over/under has been set for 3.5 rounds with an entry price of 5/6 (-120) pick ’em. There might be some value there. Bryan seems like a pretty durable type. He has some boxing abilities. While Dubois defeated a lot of opponents Quickly, Nathan Gorman got him into the fifth round. And I think we’ll probably rate Bryan at least a little bit higher than Gorman.
With heavyweights anything can happen, at any time, especially with a puncher like Dubois in the ring, but I don’t think we’ll see a loss anytime soon. Dubois will probably be patient knowing he has 12 rounds left, and Bryan is playing at home. I think Bryan has enough ability and pride Stay in it for three and a half rounds though if you’re in the “more” proposition you’ll have your heart in your mouth every second the fight lasts.
Richard Riakporhe should punch too hard Because Fabio Turchi on a 12-round cruiser tour tonight in London. Nampaw Turchi is a strong, brave warrior but he is very popular and Riakporhe can really crack with the right hand. Turchi was a bit flustered during his loss to Tommy McCarthy but he remained resilient and kept trying to win. I believe he will try his best. Some stores offer Riakporhe to win in round 7-12 with the ratio 2/1 (+200). That might be worth a look.
And, back in the United States, we have Edgar Berlanga acting in a fight will tell us a lot about whether he can rise to the status of an opponent..
Berlanga used to look like a real KO machine – but not so much lately. He faces a tough veteran in Roamer Alexis Angulo at the theater downstairs in Madison Square Garden.
It’s hard to put much faith in Berlanga after recent performances but this looks like a winnable fight for New Yorkers of Puerto Rican heritage. Angulo gained 1.6 lbs from the 168 lbs weight limit for the exercise and appears to have refused to try to shed the excess. All that about what?
Betfred offers Berlanga at 4/11 (-275). That’s not a bad price when you consider that Angulo is 37 years old and barely won a starting spot against Zurdo Ramirez and David Benavidez.
Berlanga has a new coach in Juan De Leon, and he prepared in Puerto Rico for this fight, away from distractions at home in New York. So it looks like Berlanga is in focus.
There is likely to be massive support for Berlanga at the Garden, as the fight is tied to the Puerto Rico Day parade. And the wise matchmakers at Bob Arum’s First Class Boxing don’t make many mistakes.
If Berlanga is proficient, plays basic boxing, and doesn’t push himself too hard for KO, I think he can win rounds against the slow, single-paced Colombia veteran. Although Berlanga’s last three fights have covered the distance, he has enough strength to keep boxing opponents cautious even if he doesn’t actually take them out of the fight.
We have two British title matches on the same show at Telford, with the champion 122lbs Marc Leach defend against local boxers Liam Davies in the main event. In the main support competition, the old competitors Quaise “Kaisy” Khademi and Ijaz Ahmed meet for the title of 115 pounds vacant.
Leach, impressively outstripping Chris Bourke, offered for sale at 1/3 (-300). Davies plays boxing at home and he is a good boxer. But this is a big step for him.
However, Davies is undefeated and as always with an undefeated boxer, we cannot be sure of the level he can reach. In 4/11 (+275) I think Davies could be seen as an underdog play but he will have to overcome everything that he has shown before.
As for Khademi and Ahmed, they fought twice and each was very close – a narrow and somewhat controversial win for Ahmed, and a 12-round draw. The bettors consider Khademi to be the better fighter and he’s in favor at around 8/13 (-160). I think Khademi’s superior skill will probably get him over the edge this time, but Ahmed is the kind of over-brave who will be there for all he has and I don’t like to gamble with this kind of tenacious warrior.
Main image: Bryan (left) and Dubois (right) fight for the WBA heavyweight title tonight. Photo: David Martin-Warr / DKP.
