Yet another heavyweight superfight without a home or a date has already created a buzz among bettors.
A fresh news cycle of rumors have run rampant of a forthcoming collision between lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and unified titlist Anthony Joshua. The pair of heavyweight behemoths from England have plenty of work ahead before clearing a path for what is already being billed as the biggest fight in British boxing history.
Early odds favor Fury (30-0-1, 21KOs), as is the case for a far more likely third bout with Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41KOs), which event handlers hope to stage in the 4th quarter of 2019. For the all-British showdown versus Joshua, the most attractive odds have Manchester’s Fury opening at -200 (bet $200 to win back another $100), according to gambling aggregate website Oddschecker.com while Watford’s Joshua (23-1, 21KOs) is at +175 (bet $100 to win another $175).
“It's been a dream fight for a number of years, which at times looked unlikely to happen, especially through Fury's struggles with his personal demons, and AJ's loss to Andy Ruiz,” Pete Watt, spokesman for Oddschecker.com told BoxingScene.com. “It had been rumored just this week that Fury was set to fight on Christmas Day in the third part of his trilogy with Deontay Wilder."
Although the fight isn’t close to being officially made, it does mark the first time that Joshua is listed as a betting underdog over the course of his stellar career. The 2012 Olympic Gold medalist and two-tour unified heavyweight titlist even came in as the betting favorite for his rematch with Andy Ruiz last December, six months after suffering the lone loss of his career in a 7th round knockout.
Joshua was a 33-1 favorite heading into the first fight, and a modest 2-1 in their rematch where he claimed a 12-round decision. Chances are he would have been a favorite over Fury at any other point in their respective careers prior to last June.
Some of that has resonated in recent trends.
“Interestingly AJ has received the majority of bets during the past 24 hours, with 71% of bets going on the Londoner,” notes Watt. “It's the 'People's Champion' Tyson Fury who has been most backed since the market opened taking 61% of bets, compared with just 36% for AJ, and 3% for the draw.”
Odds for a draw opened at +2800 according to Fox Bet, but has already been bet down to +2500.
While Fury is the clear favorite, the range for him as well as the underdog odds on Joshua provide means for healthy action. Bet MGM has Fury at -186, and Joshua already closing in at +137.
BetOnline.ag has the fight even closer, with Fury opening at -150 and Joshua at +120.
The latest rumors have such a fight taking place next summer, although that seems highly unlikely—at least if the plan is for the bout to come with every heavyweight title at stake.
Fury reclaimed the lineal championship and WBC title following a 7th round stoppage of Wilder in their rematch this past February. The two are due to fight for a third time later this year, although the bout has yet to secure a date or location due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and uncertainty of when the sport can resume staging events with big crowds (or crowds of any kind).
The winner will be mandated to face Dillian Whyte, with a current deadline in place of February 2021 to satisfy that demand.
Joshua regained the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts in his win over Ruiz last December. He is next due to face IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14KOs), with WBO number-one contender Oleksandr Usyk impatiently waiting in the wings for his overdue title shot.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
