The hype is almost over as Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua take to the ring for and eight round heavyweight contest in Miami. It will be a late one for UK punters with the fight scheduled to start in the early hours of Saturday morning writes Dave James.
I can’t quite believe this but Jake Paul is attracting an extraordinary level of betting support ahead of his headline clash with two time heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua this weekend.
Despite being a heavy underdog, Bet365 are reporting a remarkable 86 percent of bets have been placed on Paul to spring what would rank among the biggest upsets in boxing history when the pair meet in Miami in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The American is currently available at odds of 6/1, a price that has tempted a large volume of small stakes from punters chasing a major shock.
Few backers are realistically expecting a profitable outcome, but the sheer scale of interest reflects the global attention the fight has generated. Betting turnover is expected to rival the levels seen for Paul’s points victory over Mike Tyson last year.
Joshua remains a strong favourite with bookmakers and his promoter Eddie Hearn has publicly stated his desire for the former champion to secure a routine and early stoppage.
However, some uncertainty surrounds Joshua following his stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois last September, a loss which raised questions about his current form and resilience.
According to bet365, the bulk of serious money continues to favour a swift Joshua victory. More than 50 percent of bets in the round betting market have been placed on a first or second round stoppage by Joshua, while just eight percent of customers have backed Paul to score a shock first round win at odds of 100/1.
Bookmakers are seeing heavy interest in the outsider, but stressed that an upset would be costly.
He said bookmakers were seeing money for Paul as is often the case in crossover bouts, but a victory for the American would be a disastrous outcome for bookies inthe UK.
Freeth added that 43 percent of their round betting business is on Joshua to end the contest in the opening round, with an early finish the preferred result from a trading perspective.
Despite the unusual betting split in terms of volume, Joshua is still widely expected to claim a destructive knockout or technical knockout victory and kickstart what he hopes will be a third world title run in the new year, live on Netflix in front of a global audience.
As fight night approaches, the odds tell a clear story of public curiosity around Paul, but professional money continues to back Joshua to deliver a decisive and emphatic win.
