Boxing Betting: Matchroom vs. Queensberry
There’s no stopping Saudi Arabia now. When it comes to professional sports, especially combat sports, the General Entertainment Authority – as piloted by Turki Al-Sheikh, one of the top advisers for the Royal Court – is sparing no expense to bring the world’s marquee events to Saudi soil.
We just saw one of those events last week: the big heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, which Usyk won via split decision as a small underdog on the boxing odds at Bodog Sportsbook. It was one of the most important fights in recent history, drawing a crowd of A-listers that included everyone from former heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield to soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and his $2-million diamond-encrusted wristwatch.
Now we’ve got another major boxing event coming up in Riyadh this Saturday. DAZN is calling it “Queensberry vs. Matchroom 5v5,” and it’s a show unlike any other, pitting top fighters from the Queensberry promotion (run by Frank Warren) and Matchroom Sport (run by Eddie Hearn).
The original card for Saturday was headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between Montreal resident Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, but that was kiboshed when Beterbiev blew out his meniscus in training. Not to worry; with so many big-name fights on this stacked card, all the Saudis had to do was move the “co-main event” up one spot. Here’s what you’ll find on Bodog’s boxing betting lines as we go to press.
Main Event: Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder
This is a golden opportunity for Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) to get his mojo back. The former WBC heavyweight champ hasn’t been the same since losing back-to-back fights to Fury, and Wilder is a small +125 underdog for Saturday’s main event. However, the Alabama native is the younger fighter in this contest at age 38, and carries significantly more power in his overhand right.
Having said all that, Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) is the –165 favourite at Bodog for a reason. He may be near the end of his career at 41, with a five-inch reach disadvantage in this matchup, but Zhang’s recent form has been better than Wilder’s. Both men are coming off losses to Joseph Parker; Wilder was completely outclassed by unanimous decision last December 23, while Zhang fell by a narrow majority decision on March 8 to drop the WBO interim title.
Zhang also floored Parker twice during their fight. A bit more activity would have given the Chinese southpaw the win that day, and it’s not hard to see Zhang making the necessary corrections against Wilder, who has an extra three months of ring rust to shake off.
Daniel Dubois vs. Filip Hrgovic
The new co-main event for Saturday might actually be the most important matchup on the card. Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs) is the undefeated rising star from Croatia, and the only other man to earn a victory over Zhang. Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs), representing London, is still looking for big things despite losing his heavyweight title shot to Usyk last August.
Given their respective records, it’s understandable that Hrgovic is the –260 favourite on Bodog’s boxing lines, but Dubois’ loss to Usyk happened in part because of his previous bout against Joe Joyce, who earned the upset via 10th-round TKO after causing extreme swelling to Dubois’ left eye. The lingering pain from that eye ultimately led Dubois to concede his fight against Usyk in the ninth round.
Then you had that controversial “low blow” that Dubois landed on Usyk in the fifth. Replays clearly showed it was a body shot, but Usyk was granted up to five minutes to recover after hitting the canvas. To be fair, Usyk dominated the fight overall, but this should have been a knockdown – and possibly a knockout – for Dubois. He might be undervalued at +190 versus Hrgovic in this situation.
Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Austin Williams
Here’s another promising tilt between two middleweights who are already near the top of the ladder. Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KOs) is the team captain for the Queensberry camp; Williams (16-0, 11 KOs) is Matchroom’s best fighter at 160 pounds, having just signed up with the promotion in late February.
This one’s probably more of a toss-up than Bodog’s boxing odds would suggest. Sheeraz is the favourite at –230, with the smaller Williams trailing at +175, and again, it’s hard to argue against Sheeraz after the 6-foot-3 Londoner dominated each of the dozen opponents he’s faced over the past five years.
Don’t sell Williams short, though. This is a man on a mission. “My goal is to be the greatest, most influential fighter of all time,” Williams told the world upon signing with Matchroom. The Milwaukee-born Houston resident is undefeated, he’s a southpaw, and he’s going to be a handful for Sheeraz to deal with this Saturday.
Dmitry Bivol vs. Malik Zinad
Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) is still putting his WBA and IBO light heavyweight titles on the line in Riyadh, but he won’t get the chance to become undisputed champion now that Beterbiev (WBC, WHO, IBF) is out of the picture.
Not yet, at least. Assuming Bivol gets past Zinad (22-0, 16 KOs), the two champions still intend to fight somewhere in the near future. And it’s a fair assumption given that Bivol is priced at –5000 on Bodog’s boxing odds board, well ahead of Zinad at +1400.
Zinad is no tomato can, but he’s also yet to face a high-quality opponent inside the squared circle. Being pressed for time, Al-Sheikh may have decided it was worthwhile to give the 30-year-old Libyan some valuable pay-per-view exposure in this slot; still, having Zinad on the main card is a bit of a stretch. Maybe they’ll even move it to the undercard before fight night.
Raymond Ford vs. Nick Ball
Saturday’s other title bout will have Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) putting his WBA featherweight strap on the line against Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs), who narrowly missed out on the WBC title this past March when he fought Rey Vargas to a controversial split draw, after knocking down the champion in Rounds 8 and 11. Ford is the –165 favourite at press time, with Ball the +125 underdog.
This might be the best matchup on the card. Ford needed a heroic late knockout of Otabek Kholmatov to win the belt, also in March; the man they call “The Savage” was behind on the scorecards when the fight was stopped with just seven seconds left on the clock. However, Ford also has the southpaw advantage is this particular contest, and the size advantage as well. It’s anyone’s to win.
Willy Hutchinson vs. Craig Richards
Saturday’s presumptive opener for the main card features the veteran light heavyweight Richards (18-3-1, 11 KOs) taking on young Hutchinson (17-1, 13 KOs), and not only is this a battle between English and Scottish boxers, it’s also a microcosm for the entire Matchroom vs. Queensberry rivalry.
Getting Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn on the same page for this all-British affair took a lot of time and effort. Richards has been groomed for this moment for quite some time, although his stock slipped somewhat after otherwise competitive decision losses to Bivol and Joshua Buatsi. Hutchinson, the former youth amateur champion, stepped to the front of the line this March with a second-round TKO win over Martin Houben.
The boxing odds at Bodog say this is the closest matchup on the card, with Richards priced at –170 and Hutchinson at +130. The underdog’s only loss was to Lennox Clarke in 2021, but that was at super middleweight, prompting Hutchinson to move up to 175 pounds. He’s predicting a knockout win inside three rounds; while that might be a bit bold, “Braveheart” has yet to see the eighth round in his four victories at light heavyweight.
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However you choose to bet at Bodog, we’ve got all the boxing odds for Saturday’s card ready and waiting for you. This figures to be one of the biggest nights on this year’s boxing calendar, so make your picks now, and enjoy the show.