It’s a fairly one-sided weekend of boxing – the type of weekend where it becomes hard to squeeze value out of the selected markets on offer. There are a number of cards with champion taking on an under-matched challenger; a fairly common occurrence in our sport.
A four-fold on the following four winners is priced up as 1/2 (BetVictor). If markets become available for the method of victory then single bets would return well, however, a four-fold on the winners market is the safest option this weekend.
Kal Yafai vs Norbelto Jimenez
Yafai is Britain’s longest-reigning world champion, however, the 25-0 30-year-old is struggling to land a big fish and a big pay day in the sport. Super flyweight unification has to be the priority following this straight-forward defence in Providence. Jimenez has eight losses on his record – sure, they all came in his first 11 fights, but “Meneito” hasn’t boxed anywhere near this level on previous occasions. It should all be a bit much for the challenger, with Yafai running rings around him.
Richard Commey vs Ray Beltran
Commey may be adapting to life as a champion, but the 32-year-old has shown more than enough since his back-to-back losses in 2016 to prove he belongs at this level. The Ghanaian holds fire in both hands with an aggressive approach proving successful at lightweight; his relentless desire to throw punch after punch makes him a fighter who’s very easy on the eye.
This output should prove pivotal against an ageing Beltran. The former world champion is enjoying a twilight period in his career but will struggle to find that one-punch power to trouble the champion. Beltran will march forward but is likely to get picked off by Commey, who could make this a miserable night for the challenger at range. Beltran will bring the fire, but Commey has too much over the championship distance. It could be a fun fight for the opening 4-5 rounds, until Commey starts cantering towards the finish line.
Demetrius Andrade vs Maciej Sulecki
With an awkward southpaw stance and a well-conditioned gas tank capable of cantering into the championship rounds of fights, “Boo Boo” is the dark horse of the middleweight division – that’s if you are willing to consider a world champion a “dark horse”. It may take Sulecki the first half of the fight to work out the slick style of the WBO titlist, and by then, it will probably be too late for the Polish challenger to make a real mark on the fight. Sulecki has been hurt in three of his last four fights, sure Andrade isn’t known for being a killer, but he packs a big enough left hand to trouble “Striczu” when he begins to run out of ideas. I can see a late stoppage coming off the back of an Andrade flurry.
Andrade by TKO, KO or disqualification
Jermall Charlo vs Brandon Adams
Jermall will be looking to silence the critics against Adams following his controversial win last December against Korobov. The Russian had plenty of success against Charlo, with his southpaw stance allowing left hand after left hand to connect. Adams is better suited to the champion, with the challenger expected to keep his distance in a fight where he needs to stay out of range of Charlo’s length. Adams may try and outbox the champ in the early stanzas but will eventually be backed up – as soon as the pair engage in a fire-fight there will only be one outcome. Adams has shown improvements over The Contender series, but this is a huge step up.
Charlo by TKO, KO or disqualification
