On September 17th from Las Vegas, Nevada, an outstanding 12-round battle between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KO’s) and Welterweight title-holder Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KO’s) is set within the MGM Grand, with many boxing analysts and pundits touting this match-up as the year’s biggest boxing event to watch.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. makes his return to the ring after a 16-month hiatus, and no one is doubting that the 5-division World Champion will be in the usual excellent shape he’s known for in order to take on Ortiz, 10 years his junior. While many are calling this fight simply preparation for the eventual rescheduling of Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao (likely to occur sometime in the middle of 2012), there is no doubt that Mayweather will put his best foot forward with a title shot on the line and all the boxing world eyes on what will be one of the biggest, most-watched fights of the year on HBO.
Meanwhile, the left-handed Victor Ortiz will seek to defend his WBC Welterweight title in the biggest match-up of his career, and try to silence both the critics as well as the bookmakers that have him currently sitting at a +450 underdog at Bodog Sportsbook (read the review of Bodog Sportsbook). However, Ortiz will have the mind and backing of Oscar De La Hoya, who no one doubts would like to see Mayweather fall to a Mexican on the 17th. If Ortiz can stand toe-to-toe with Mayweather into the later rounds, and catch him off guard with a well-placed left hook, many of you looking to cash in big on a huge underdog bet could be in for a big pay day…just don’t expect us to follow your lead into that bet.
Though it’s been said that Mayweather doesn’t enjoy facing southpaws, hasn’t been in the ring for almost 2 years, and will give up at least a few pounds to the Mexican-American Ortiz, Mayweather holds the advantage with faster feet and faster jabs and looks to be the favorite should this bout go the distance. I like Ortiz as a scrappy young fighter in the September 17th bout at the MGM Grand, but knowing the abilities of Floyd Mayweather Jr., and his propensity to be in great fighting shape regardless of the match-up, his skill set simply seems too strong for the 24 year old Ortiz to overcome.
Take note also in this bout that Bodog Sportsbook pins -140 odds on the fight going over 11 1/2 rounds, so for a 12 round fight there’s a very good chance we’ll see this come down to a final decision rather than someone kissing canvas. With such poor odds taking Mayweather to win this match-up, the -140 odds to go the distance start to look pretty good for online sports betting folks, especially when considering that Floyd Mayweather hasn’t touched the canvas in a decade, and Ortiz stood strong in his only TKO loss to Marcos Maidana in 2009. With two tough, powerful fighters in the ring it’s imaginable that one or even both of them will go down, but the odds of them staying down are extremely low with so much on the line. At any rate and no matter who you choose to win this fight, expect the WBC Welterweight Title bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Victor Ortiz to be one of the top-rated, most-watched boxing matches of 2011. There’s little doubt that the online sports betting on this match-up will be one of the best opportunities for wagering on boxing this year, so check out the betting lines soon, put your money on your pick to win, and find out why betting on boxing can be one of the biggest thrills for sports fans today.
Boxing Preview: Vitali Klitschko vs. Tomasz Adamek set for Sept. 10th
September 10th, 2011 will be an exciting day in the world of Professional Boxing, as Vitali Klitschko (42-2, 39 KO’s), the #1 ranked World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, faces Tomasz Adamek (44-1, 28 KO’s) in a Polish showdown from Wroclaw Stadium with the winner walking away with the WBC Heavyweight Championship.
While this fight certainly sounds like a strong match-up when viewing records, and taking into consideration that the challenger Adamek is fighting in his home country of Poland behind what will be a staunchly pro-Adamek audience, the more detailed tale of the tape tells a much different story, and one that doesn’t bode well for the Góral (Granite Chin).
Tomasz Adamek comes into the fight giving up almost 8 inches in height to Klitschko (6’2″ vs. 6’8″), and 30 pounds in weight, but perhaps most importantly comes in 5 inches shy in the reach category (80 inches for Klitschko vs. 75 for Adamek). Though Adamek comes off a unanimous decision win over the 6’6″, 285-pound Kevin McBride, the much faster and harder punching Klitschko could spell problems when Tomasz Adamek tries to come into the midsection to make his punches count. One big right hand connection from Vitali Klitschko could see this fight end early, so it’s essential that if Adamek is to overcome in this match-up, he’ll need to stay nimble and be prepared to withstand some crushing blows (which thankfully he’s known for). Not surprisingly however, most boxing writers and analysts give Adamek little chance at taking the crown away at home, coming in as a +400 underdog at Bodog Sportsbook. However, don’t expect to see Adamek roll over in this one, as his drive to capture a title at home is strong, his 6-0 record since moving up into the heavyweight division is no joke for a guy his size, and his strategy for using speed and stamina could pay off in later rounds…the only question being if he will make it that long.
Vitali Klitschko on the other hand certainly earns respect as far as online sports betting goes, commanding an early -600 odds to win at Bodog Sportsbook. In what could potentially be his last bout as a professional boxer, seeing the larger, more exciting brother of the Klitschko family in the ring for the last time is something that shouldn’t be missed, and there really isn’t any question that even at 40 years old Klitschko can stand toe-to-toe with any man in the heavyweight division. In fact his likely decision to retire has more to do with a lack of talent in his weight class, as if anything he’s gotten better as the years roll on, having never been knocked down in his career and has never been behind in a fight (his only loss coming in 2003 to Lennox Lewis, due to a nasty cut in a bout he was leading).
In the conclusion of the WBC Heavyweight bout scheduled for September, 10th, we fully expect to see Vitali Klitschko close out what has been an exciting career with a victory on the Polish fighter’s home turf. Though Adamek is sticking to a philosophy that speed and stamina can prevail against the larger, harder-hitting Ukrainian, the one problem with that thinking is to discount the abilities and stamina Klitschko himself possesses. If there is one fighter who has been consistently in top-form before every match, it is Klitschko, and while Adamek may be called the one with the granite chin, expect Klitschko’s to be just as sturdy, but further out of reach. Before the boxing great Vitali Klitschko moves onward in life behind his Ph.D and political leadership of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform Party, get set for a great competition featuring his brawn, not brains, to deliver a final win to cap a storied career in professional boxing.