Boxing betting fans who felt neglected with all the hoopla surrounding March Madness will have the wagering spotlight cast on them this April as sportsbooks accommodate players with lines and betting propositions on a trio of highly competitive bouts this month. Television will be an unwitting accomplice in driving up handle when HBO broadcasts two of the bouts and Showtime airs the remaining one.
The action begins when Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik (36-1, 32 knockouts) defends his WBC and WBO middleweight belts against Sergio Gabriel "Maravilla" ("Wonder") Martinez (44-2, 24 KOs) before HBO's cameras in Atlantic City on April 17. While Pavlik was the favorite at all 11 books surveyed, you could lay as little as -160 (bet $160 to win $100) or as much as -225 on the champion. Thus, by properly weighting your bets, you could actually Dutch the books by laying -160 on Pavlik and taking +175 (bet $100 to win $175) on Martinez.
The over/under on the scheduled 12-rounder is 9 1/2 rounds with bettors laying -180 that the bout reaches the midway point of the 10th round or taking +140 that the fight ends sooner than that. Another way to play it is to lay -140 that the bout goes the distance or bet even money that it does not.
Gamblers also can bet on one of the fight's five possible outcomes: Pavlik by KO, TKO or DQ, +225; Pavlik by decision, +225; Martinez by KO, TKO or DQ, +450; Martinez by decision, +200; or a 12-round draw, +2800.
Showtime and HBO share broadcast duties the following week with a pair of quality bouts stretching from Denmark to California.
In a super middleweight showdown, WBC champion Carl "The Cobra" Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) and former WBA champion "Viking Warrior" Mikkel Kessler (43-2, 32 KOs) will meet on Showtime in Herning, Denmark, April 24. Froch is undefeated and Kessler is coming off a loss to Andre Ward in November but Kessler opened as the favorite. Most books have Kessler, who was born in Copenhagen and thus will have a home ring advantage, listed as about a -125 favorite. Take back +105 on Britain's Froch.
We saw as many as four separate totals on the scheduled 12-round fight, 7 1/2 rounds, 8 1/2 rounds, 9 1/2 rounds and 11 1/2 rounds, as well as a proposition on whether the fight goes the distance. The fewer number of rounds, the bigger the price on the "under." Pick your poison.
As you'd expect with a tight man-to-man line, odds are well-matched in the "Method of Victory" prop, as well: Kessler by KO, +300; Kessler by decision, +175; Froch by KO, +225; Froch by decision, +400. You can get +2500 that the two battle to a 12-round draw.
Some bookmakers also are offering a "Knockdown" prop: Either is knocked down, -400; Froch is knocked down, -110; Kessler is knocked down, -110; both are knocked down, +275; either is knocked down in the first round, +600; Froch is knocked down in the first round, +1200; Kessler is knocked down in the first round, +1200. What fun!
Some 5,600 miles removed from Denmark, Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola (28-1, 25 KOs) and Tomasz "Granite Chin" Adamek (40-1, 27 KOs) will meet before HBO cameras in a heavyweight bout in Ontario, California, April 24. Adamek, the former cruiserweight champion who only moved up to heavyweight in the last year, opened as a -150 favorite. The Polish slugger will be giving away about 40 pounds to Arreola, the +130 underdog. Arreola ran up 27 straight wins before retiring after 10 brutal rounds with champion Vitali Klitschko, last September.
In a matchup featuring Arreola's vaunted knockout power against Adamek's documented "granite" chin, most sportsbooks are using 9 1/2 rounds as the total for the fight with "over" listed as the -160 favorite and "under" offered at +120. Gamblers also can lay -150 that the bout does not go 12 full rounds or take +110 that it does.
Adamek is +350 to win via knockout or +150 to earn and decision while Arreola is +150 to KO his opponent and +700 to win via decision. At +3000, a draw would be profitable to bettors but also is considered unlikely.
For the truly clairvoyant, sportsbooks also are offering odds ranging from 20/1 to 66/1 for choosing the exact round an individual fighter ends a bout. Yeah, good luck with that.
April looks like a very interesting month for boxing betting fans.
